Seabad Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Project Overview

To commemorate the centenary of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s birth in 2025, we built seabadpram.com, a digital platform that archives and celebrates the legacy of one of Indonesia’s most influential literary figures. The site is one of the key initiatives of the #SeabadPram movement, designed to provide accessible, structured, and interactive access to Pramoedya’s bibliography, biography, archives, and critical discourse.

Technical Architecture

I served as one of the developers behind the project. The platform was architected using Next.js App Router with React Server Components to leverage server-side rendering and minimize client-side JavaScript, enabling a faster and more responsive experience, especially on older devices or under constrained network conditions. All content is managed through a headless CMS (Payload), allowing editors and contributors to collaborate and publish efficiently.

The frontend is served via Cloudflare CDN to ensure global reach with minimal latency, while the application itself is deployed on a self-managed VPS, giving us full control over backend processes, resource usage, and deployment workflows.

User Research and Collaboration

We conducted collaborative user research with the Pramoedya Ananta Toer Foundation and Pusat Dokumentasi Sastra H.B. Jassin, involving interviews and working sessions with literary archivists, editors, and community organizers. This feedback was critical in shaping both the information architecture and content strategy, ensuring that the site meets the needs of students, researchers, activists, and the broader literary community.

Performance Optimization

Given the site’s target audience—which includes many users in areas with poor internet infrastructure—we deliberately optimized for low-bandwidth conditions. Techniques included streaming partial data through server components, preloading lightweight cover images, caching static assets via Cloudflare, and lazy-loading media in high-density sections like the “Arsip” (Archive) and “Bibliografi” (Bibliography) features.

Key Features

We structured the site into six major sections:

• Bibliografi: An interactive gallery of 53 published works, including metadata, translated editions, and censorship history.
• Linimasa: A seven-part authorized timeline covering Pramoedya’s life journey.
• Arsip: A growing repository of photos and correspondence from Pramoedya’s years in Buru and beyond.
• Artikel: A submission-based space for essays and event documentation.
• Kontak: A gateway for permissions, collaboration, and official requests.
• #SeabadPram: A live aggregation of public participation via social media.

Community Involvement

This project continues to evolve throughout 2025 as a public literary archive and collaborative documentation effort. We welcome contributions from the public—whether in the form of unpublished book covers, critical essays, or new archival materials—making seabadpram.com not just a memorial, but a living, participatory platform that honors Pramoedya’s enduring spirit of resistance, literacy, and justice.

Media Coverage

• The Jakarta Post