'Former Points of View' depicts life in colonial era

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Postcards, I am sure, have been used to solve murders in movies. What could offer better clues? The picture shows where the sender was and the postmark shows when he or she sent the card. What is written on the card also hints at the sender's train of thought and the relationship between the sender and the addressee.

Indeed, postcards -- especially old ones -- tell much more than the pictures depicted on the front. You get much more than what you see. Postcards, at least those which make it through the mail, contain seven factual references to a people, place and time: the name of the sender, the name of the addressee, the company which published the card, the object or place portrayed, the place where it was mailed, the address to which it was sent, and the date when it was sent.

The picture represents the point of view of the photographer while reflecting popular tastes as well as the publishers' judgment of commercial value. The sender's choice of card hints at his frame of mind and gives a clue to his perception of the addressee. Finally, the written message illustrates the relationship between the sender and the addressee. Often the message refers to common acquaintances and places or events significant to the correspondents. In addition to the seven factual references, a postcard also contains interpretative information useful in studying past ways of life.

With the wealth of information that a postcard offers, it is no surprise that postcards are treated as valid historical artifacts by unconventional historians. They are physical objects made from specific material in a particular way for a distinctive function. All that adds up to history.

A postcard is actually more than an artifact. In addition to its picture, a postcard also contains a written testimonial which can be important documentary evidence.

Literary passages

Former Points of View, deltiologist Stephen Grant's new book on postcards from pre-independent Indonesia, was launched last Sunday by The Lontar Foundation. This 182-page, full-color book contains a selection of postcards from the author's collection. The postcard images cleverly relate to passages excerpted from over 30 books or periodicals written about Indonesia before the arrival of the Japanese in 1942. Additional interpretive historical information is also provided by the author in the form of captions.

Creating the book wasn't simple. Grant had to meticulously research passages for each postcard he intended to include in the book and then pick the most appropriate quotation. The inclusion of the excerpts certainly adds an idyllic nuance to the pictorial images. Since every passage except one was written by non- Indonesians, they state the colonists' and the travelers' points of view about life in the Dutch Indies.

To the inquisitive amateur historian, the introduction contains important information about the historiography of deltiology. You learn that the world's first postcard made its debut in Austria in 1869, while the first picture-postcard appeared in 1880. The earliest picture-postcard from the Dutch Indies dates from the late 1890s.

Grant groups his collection into three prominent themes: nature, colonial life and indigenous life. The depiction of nature depicts the rivers and mountain valleys of Sumatra, the lakes and volcanoes of Java and the beaches of Maluku.

The colonial life category consists primarily of pictures of buildings and structures. The author points out that "people are a rarity, especially Europeans, and one does not see the people who work inside these impressive structures; the buildings stand alone as sturdy representations of a power base. The colonial world is thus symbolized more by buildings than by people."

By contrast, Grant notes that the theme of indigenous life "is exemplified by people, especially indigenous people at work". Shown in particular roles such as vendors, craftspeople, musicians, performers and warriors, the publishers of the cards seemed to have been interested in presenting stereotypes of the indigenous inhabitants.

Exhibition

The launching of the charming volume coincided with the opening of an exhibition of Grant's postcard collection jointly held by the Antara Photojournalistic Gallery and The Lontar Foundation.

Unfortunately the exhibit, featuring 39 panels of almost 200 postcards, was not prepared as well as the book. The show fails to answer why stamps sometimes appear on the picture side of the postcards. Only the book answers this obvious question. The author suggests that a warning stamped on cards, reserving that side of the card exclusively for the address prior to 1907, is why many card senders pasted the stamp on the least noticeable corner of the picture.

None of the written messages are displayed in the exhibition. Moreover, the grouping of the cards into sets of six images representing different themes is awkward. Few of the sets really offer any interpretive information.

Two sets that are interpretive are the six different views of the present day Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, just across the street from the gallery, and the six different captions on a single photograph by Kassian Cephas, Indonesia's first photographer. This panel shows the different ways the card's publisher marketed the card. One card is called "Javanese beauty", while the captions on the other five refer to the same figure as "Javanese maiden", "Native beauty" and even "Sundanese maiden".

The rest of the panels consist merely of nice photographs from the past. While this kind of display may spark interest in Indonesia's colonial past and facilitate comparative study, it unfortunately does little in terms of furthering the understanding of history.

An amateur historian visiting the show will be disappointed. The exhibition is too conventional for such unusual historical artifacts.

How could anyone treat postcards, which have such potential for historical inquiry and study, the same way as normal pictures? Like coins, postcards have two sides, each with its own point of view.

Although the book and exhibit were produced by literary publishers while the Antara gallery is a photogallery, there is no reason for the lack of creativity in communicating the tremendous historical potential of postcards. After coming up with such a great title for the book and the exhibition, how could anyone not think about showing both sides of the cards -- both points of view -- and their wealth of information?

Former Points of View will be on show at the Galeri Fotojurnalistik Antara on Jl. Antara 59, Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, until Sept. 27, 1995. The softcover book will sell for Rp 65,000 (US$28.8) and the hardcover edition for Rp 85,000.