A self-described “selfie tourism” spot (ugh, we know) in the city of Bandung is in the middle of a plagiarism controversy, as it appears its vivaciously colorful installation of art exhibits aren’t exactly unique to the location.
Rabbit Town, which opened in January this year, admittedly sounds like a fantastic recreational spot for the whole family, filled with games and cute animals (bunnies!). But its main attraction is its art installations, which as one netizen pointed out, in a now viral thread on Twitter, are dead ringers for iconic art installations from abroad.
This installation, for example, called the “Patricco Sticker Room” at Rabbit Town, is seemingly an exact replica in both form and function of celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who held an exhibition at the National Gallery Singapore last year.
Oh wow, congratulations Bandung Creative City. pic.twitter.com/ksCuE0aOFn
— SBTND13 (@sobatindi3) March 22, 2018
These two frozen delights-inspired installations are clearly identical to the originals at the Museum of Ice Cream in LA.
"Don't listen what people say."
lol soal copyright jg tutup kuping aja kali ya pic.twitter.com/D05lSHQW77— SBTND13 (@sobatindi3) March 22, 2018
Still from LA, Chris Burden’s famous “Urban Lights” were seemingly replicated for Rabbit Town’s “Love Light” (sic).
"Pak, ini apa gak terlalu mirip?"
"Ya gpp lah cuma tiang tiang jejer, gakkan ada yg ngeh ini dari art." pic.twitter.com/kfl4naW1Ul— SBTND13 (@sobatindi3) March 22, 2018
As the netizen pointed out in another tweet, it’s ironic that these ripoff exhibits are in Bandung, since the West Java capital is often touted as a hub for creative minds.
Reproducing famous works of art isn’t always frowned upon (take Shenzhen’s Window of the World theme park, for example), but at the very least, the maker of the reproduction must acknowledge where they copied/drew inspiration from. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Rabbit Town, as Diet Prada, an Instagram account famous for calling out fashion copies from around the world, pointed out:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgrAOfFlbpF/?taken-by=diet_prada
Comments on Rabbit Town’s Instagram account are turned off (smart move), though it’s not known if that has anything to do with the plagiarism scandal.
Rabbit Town has not released any statement regarding the accusations. Coconuts Jakarta has reached out to them for comment.
