Photo exhibition reflects on reform

Photo exhibition reflects on reform

Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta

They stare into total emptiness and wait, just wait. A pile of bricks is the only furniture in the room. A naked body chained to a beam, headless. The dark eyes of a young man bore into the viewer's heart, heartbreakingly deep.

As deep as the fate of lost souls in a place for mentally ill people goes the expression of Rosna, a survivor of the prolonged Maluku sectarian gruesome clashes. The lines beyond her dull, yet sometimes still hopeful, flickering eyes and her pinched lips allow a glimpse of her short, yet painful life.

These two touching photo essays by Timur Angin and Widya Sartika Amrin are part of the exhibition Lalu, Kini, Nanti (Past, Present, Future) currently on display at Gallery Oktagon Jakarta.

The exhibited pictures are the result of a workshop on another exhibition of German photographer Regina Schmeken that took place some weeks ago at Goethe-Institute Jakarta.

Following observance of Regina's images, workshop participants used black-and-white photography to express highly emotive and sometimes personal themes.

Just as the German captured the character of her country after its reunification, the Indonesian photographers -- almost all students or graduates of the Jakarta Institute of Arts (IKJ) -- chose a political subject. Their main focus was Indonesia -- specifically Jakarta -- after five years of political change.

Regina, a photojournalist, probably had an advantage over the ten young Indonesian artists in that she was able to record events whilst they were developing. Workshop coordinator Alex Supartono says this momentum allowed her to state her opinion and record her emotions.

The photographers in the workshop, on the other hand, were challenged to state their opinions about the 1998 reform five years after the event. So their works are a sort of visual reflection of the past, its impact on the present and what might happen in the future.

Timur Angin visited for the second time a place where mentally ill people are taken -- usually by family members -- to be looked after for Rp 3,000 a month.

"The political reform of 1998 that I feel is the same as what the mentally ill patients feel: nothing. The chaos of reform to me seems like a crazy mind, empty without thoughts. Maybe we are more damned than the mental patients, because we still feel the reform and hope for a change," Timur explained the intention behind his photography.

The ten participants found very different ways to approach Regina's work, not by imitating her style, but by learning to grasp the right moment and by daring to be emotional.

Maya Ibrahim's work shows a mother holding her baby at Gambir train station as she looks up at Jakarta's skyline. The angle at which the photograph is taken creates a threatening impression of the city.

Like the picture of children bathing in a dirty, concrete drain or the portrait of a crying boy, this photo illustrates Maya's empathy for children who have no chance of a better future, without the provision of adequate space or education.

Stefany Imelda again compares her photos from 1998 and today: A young man holds up the effigy of a skeleton in front of Hotel Indonesia by night, beside a picture of the military blocking the road for a massive street protest five years ago.

An orator with glasses taped together with cellotape is pictured alongside a monkey under a traditional mask. The final image in the series is of a closed-down fair. The rides are under plastic covers while the carousel horses take off.

Stefany associates the street rallies that lead to the change in presidency in 1998 with festivities and celebration akin to parties.

"Whenever the party is on, the party always end. But parties will be thrown," She stated.

Some of the photographers haven't strayed far from their usual modes of expression. For example, Paul Kadarisman uses his trendy style to explore the subject.

He took some of his non-political friends to the national monument, covering their serious interest in details, fortunately without drifting into cynicism about this highly political symbol.

Heri Hermawan tries to fulfill the challenge with a photograph of a white rat that he hung by himself. He wants to symbolize the greed of a system that is able to destroy everything. But, even if you can erase the memory of his cruel act, the artificial setting of Heri's pictures is not really related to Regina's idea of photography anyhow.

More sensitive about symbols, autodidact photographers Christina Phan and Evelyn Pritt chose feet and building sites respectively to symbolize the ongoing or rather "stuck" reform process.

"Every construction work is restricted. I cannot find out what happens inside until it is finished and do not know whether the building will have anything to do with my life. A construction site is something steadfast but empty," stated Evelyn.

But still one has to move on and nobody can move forward without feet. This idea is somewhat familiar to Christina whose mother is also limp.

The two youngest participants in this exhibition are the IKJ students -- Trika J.Simajuntak, who is 22, and Bela Ginanjar, who is 23. Trika presents a photographic series of mobet, a hybrid of motorcycle and becak (pedicab) that replaced bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicles) but still operate in some areas of Jakarta.

While the mobet represent the constancy of life, the blurred contours of cars in the background represent the speed of modern development.

Bela Ginanjar presents Acehnese actor Agus Nurama's persona on- and offstage. In sketches similar to stage photography, Bela captured the different actions of Agus, who started his unique one-man shows around the time of the 1998 protests, and is still performing on the street and at events.

Through this workshop and exhibition, Gallery Oktagon gives young photographers the chance to show their work. In this case, female participants are prioritized. Not because Regina happens to be a woman, but because women are subject to more difficult working conditions, especially in the field of photography, the gallery's curator and director, Firman Ichsan, said.

Lalu, Kini, Nanti To Regina from April 6 through April 17, 2004 Galeri Oktagon, Jl. Gunung Sahari 50A, Central Jakarta, phone: (021) 4204545, or www.oktagon.co.id