Ambon reborn from darkness in Tantyo's photos

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne, Australia

A photography exhibition consisting only of black and white works has a unique ability to draw its visitors' attention.

The photographs, unencumbered by the sensual frills frequently offered by colors, and free of the risks of appearing kitsch, immediately draw the viewer's subconscious and perceptive capacities to the seriousness of the topic and the collective theme of the exhibition.

This is certainly the case with Tantyo Bangun's Reborn: Ambon After the Conflict, held at Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne. The spatial environment created at the Yasuoka Hiraoka Myer Gallery itself prepares visitors the moment they walk in. The images are confronting, and there is nowhere to escape.

Devastation and grief fight with hope and optimism throughout the display. In the background, the drive for normality among the community is so palpable the pain of witnessing it brings different emotions on to the surface.

Ambon and the rest of Maluku have suffered four years of sectarian conflict, ostensibly triggered by an argument on a public bus early in 1999. When photographer Tantyo Bangun visited Ambon at the beginning of 2002, he was touched by the strong determination of a community to overcome the years of communal violence and crisis.

"This was particularly felt among the civilians themselves," Tantyo said.

When he returned in August and September this year, Tantyo was nonetheless surprised at how quickly the community had reorganized their lives to normality.

He was struck by the contrast of this normality and the lack of physical infrastructure, and felt the residual grief in the people who were so determined to put the terrible past behind them.

The first photograph, Tantyo's professed favorite, shows two- year-old Stella, who was born in a refugee camp at the marine base in Halong. Squatting amid the ruins of her grandmother's house in Hative Kecil, the image enhances the powerful contrast of a past in ruins but a beginning full of hope.

This hope is also apparent in a photograph titled Peace to Our Nation, showing schoolchildren from both Christian and Muslim communities taking part in the Independence Day ceremony on Aug. 17.

Indeed, the ever-presence of children plays an important part in the ambience of optimism in this photographic display, since the young have such an enviable resilience which can bring out a sense of fun in the starkest, saddest physical environment.

Children can improvise with a minimum of effort. A river or a waterhole, regardless of the circumstances, is a source of unlimited enjoyment for them. No sports ground? Not to worry. Any patch of ground can be quickly turned into a make-believe football ground. What about a goalpost? That can be improvised from recycled materials too. The size? Who cares?

The important thing is, it can accommodate a ball, even if nothing else can fit, such as shown in Mini Goal, a picture of fun and cheeriness where Muslim and Christian communities find amusement together.

Tantyo remembers how difficult it was for him to take photographs at times. Just when he was buoyed by optimism he came across grief and hardship.

Some of his photographs convey this grief. In Working Alone, for instance, we see an old man working among the ruins of his house in Hative Kecil, his two sons having been killed in the clashes.

There is also the haunting image of a woman, holding back tears while behind her people prepare her husband's grave, in Tending Her Husband's Grave.

Pictures of absurdity and incongruity add to the overall perception of the abnormality of the situation in Ambon. We see antiriot troops entering a village while civilians walk by, unperturbed. And in No Need to be on Guard, uniformed soldiers stand around a decorated car, ready to join a parade, eagerly exchanging SMS, mobile phone coverage having resumed in mid-2003.

Reborn: Ambon after the Conflict, which will run through Nov. 3, was brought to Australia with the support of Ambon governor Jopie Papilaya, and hosted by Asialink and various sponsors.

Tantyo is hopeful that the next stop will be Darwin, before taking it to the Netherlands. On returning to Indonesia, the exhibition will be shown in Bali and Jakarta.

"Some of the photographs will be donated to Ambon," said Tantyo.

That would no doubt complete the circle, in a wider meaning of the word.