Exhibits tell untold stories of women pioneers

Exhibits tell untold stories of women pioneers

By Mehru Jaffer and Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Never heard of Soenting Melajoe?

Join the crowd -- this is the name of a newsletter published
in 1912 in West Sumatra by Rohana Kudus, the first "Indonesian"
woman journalist.

This newsletter is another of the little-known facts about the
contribution of women and rightly deserves a spot alongside the
legendary Kartini, educational pioneer Dewi Sartika and Tjut Nyak
Dien, in the making of modern Indonesia. The newsletter is now
on display at an extraordinary exhibition, Celebrating Indonesian
Women -- Kartini and Other Women Who Made a Difference, at
Erasmus Huis.

With the anniversary of Kartini's birth on April 21,
preparations are under way for the celebration of women's day.
Unlike previous years, however, it is hoped that this year the
celebration will be more meaningful than polite lip service to
Kartini, the most well known of all Indonesian women.

This year Kartini Day will be spent in the memory of
a broad range of visionary women and it will be approached as an
occasion to salute all Indonesian women. A book will be launched
on Rohana Kudus, covering her efforts to educate women and girls
in Koto Gadang, West Sumatra, where she was born in 1884. She
founded the school, Keradjinan Ama Setia, in 1911 and edited
Soenting Melajoe.

The last century has ushered in momentous changes for the
lives of women here. To a large extent, these changes have been
due to the struggle for a more just, dynamic and peaceful society
by women pioneers such as Rohana. Throughout the 1900s,
individual women at the local level fought to make a difference
in the often miserable lives of most women.

Maria Maramis was born in 1872 in Kema, North Sulawesi. An
orphan at the age of six years, she was educated by an uncle.
Although she went to school for only three years she continued to
educate herself. Building upon her own experiences, Maria helped
to set up schools in Sulawesi, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java.

But it is almost impossible to obtain detailed information on
women like Maria.

Although there are three of Kartini's letters on exhibit, the
organizers admit reliable sources are hard to find when tracing
the history of the women's movement. Much of this history still
needs to be written and the process of locating letters,
pictures, magazines, verbal recollections from members of the
older generation and other sources continues.

I. Heidenbrink, the conservation manager of the Algemeen
Rijksarchief, the Dutch national archives, in The Hague said:
"Hundreds of Kartini's original letters are kept at the Royal
Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (KITLV in Leiden) while
the Dutch national archives only has six pieces.

"We can only display three of the original letters in the
exhibition here because the KITLV policy is that the heritage
collection can't be taken abroad."

Acknowledging that there is "a lot of work to do", Heidenbrink
said that Dutch institutions are prepared and willing to assist
in the effort to find out more about women pioneers.

"I plan to cooperate with the National Archives of Indonesia
and other institutions and individuals in efforts to locate more
historical records on leading women, as it is important to
reconstruct history from the primary sources available," he said.

"The cooperation will also search for letters from Kartini's
friends in Holland, which could still be kept with the heroine's
relatives here."

Although the pioneers of the women's movement have been
declared national heroes, in the last 30 years all initiatives of
women at the local level have been hampered.

The women's movement was frozen and with the birth of Dharma
Wanita, an organization for civil servants' wives, in 1974, it
was coopted in line with the state ideology. An idealized picture
of the family was established and propagandized that greatly
resembled traditional families in the West, with the man as
provider and the woman as the caretaker of children. It is
increasingly felt that during this period of relative peace and
development the real needs of women were not addressed. In fact
any criticism or opposition to the policies of the ruling regime
was dealt with harshly.

A seminar, organized by the Dutch national archives along with
various other institutions including the Yayasan Jurnal
Perempuan, will be held at the exhibition on Kartini Day, April
21.

As people remember Kartini Day, it is important to recognize
that Kartini herself be honored as is her due, but this
exhibition also goes some way to show that other Indonesian
women, equally inspiring for their various talents, should also
receive our proud attention.

The exhibition is being held at Erasmus Huis, Jl. HR Rasuna
Said, Kav. S-3, Kuningan, South Jakarta. Opening hours are 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday. Inquiries about
the seminar can be directed to Yayasan Jurnal Perempuan (tel.
8372005).