Introduction

Rifki Akbar Pratama [b. Yogyakarta] devotes himself to the confluence of history and psychology, the emotional histories of the left, intertemporal choice, and politics of affect as a researcher. His research on the political economy of affect and emotion, presented at the Midlands Conference in Critical Thought, continues to shape his work.

Together with the Yogyakarta-based transdisciplinary research collective KUNCI Study Forum & Collective, he dwells on critical pedagogy, artistic practice, and knowledge production through the School of Improper Education. In affiliation with Ufuk for the Jakarta Biennale 2021, he examines the attention economy that entraps exhibition-making, alongside experimentation in harvesting as an aesthetic and redistributing access, resources, and happiness through collective-offbeat-publishing.

His latest inquiry—developed with Studio Malya and Reza Kutjh—approaches historical memory-work through Yang Menyelinap Tak Mau Lesap (2025). Based in Yogyakarta, he writes on contemporary art and develops alternative formats for criticism with Heresy Study Club.