Photo expo shows Asia-Afrika summit tidbits

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Suhendar, 28, could not help smiling upon seeing a large picture in a 50 centimeter by 60 cm wooden frame depicting hundreds of Bandung residents rushing into the Merdeka Building.

It occurred moments after the delegations attending the golden jubilee of the 1955 Asian-Africa Conference left the building on April 24, 2005.

A woman, dragging her child, tries hard to get to this historic building as fast as she can, hoping to see what is left of the grand commemoration of this historic event which was attended by a number of world leaders, including UN secretary- general Kofi Annan.

In another photograph, there is a crowd of people vying to have themselves photographed in front of the Gong of Peace placed in front of the front door leading to the Merdeka Building. The crowd spills onto the road, causing traffic congestion in downtown Bandung.

"I was among the hundreds of people who rushed into the Merdeka Building. I could see Annan from a distance. It feels somewhat eerie now, as I have never expected that the situation could be caught on camera so well," said Suhendar, a sidewalk vendor who lives somewhere in Maleber, Gatot Subroto, Bandung.

He was viewing pictures exhibited in the "Fifty Years of the Asia-Africa Conference Within Frames," a photo expo held from July 27 through 31 at the Indonesian Association of Journalists (PWI) Building in Jl. Asia-Afrika, Bandung.

The two photographs are among 99 taken by Bandung Photo Journalists (WFB) and exhibited at this exhibition. All the pictures reveal the preparations for the golden jubilee, the event itself and what happened afterward.

Many funny moments recorded in these photographs will make visitors smile broadly. In one picture, for example, two policemen, a soldier and two presidential bodyguards join together to lift a motorcycle parked somewhere in the "ring-1" security area in front of the Savoy Homann Hotel, Jl. Asia- Afrika, an area that should have been cleared of all vehicles when the rehearsal for the golden jubilee took place.

Gelora Sapta, a photographer working for a local newspaper, Pikiran Rakyat, took the picture a day before the commemoration.

In another photograph taken by Dwi Setiadi, a correspondent from the Suara Merdeka newspaper in Bandung, dozens of foreign and domestic journalists are seen shoving and elbowing as they try to put their tape recorders in front of a wide-screen television set in the press room of the PWI Building, which is only 20 meters away from the Merdeka Building.

A Japanese journalist is shouting, asking the people around him to keep quiet as he is recording the welcoming address given by the Indonesian president.

The picture that depicts hundreds of journalists covering the golden jubilee lining up in front of the Sarinah store in Jl. Braga, reportedly since 6 a.m., is also very interesting to see.

A gun-toting soldier is on the alert, watching the journalists, who cannot easily enter the ring-1 area, despite their press cards from the organizing committee of the golden jubilee.

In a related picture, two soldiers carefully examine the ID card of a long-haired journalist holding a cigarette in one hand and forcing his way into the press center of the PWI Building. The picture shows just how tight the security was during the event.

The public were not allowed to witness the historical walk from Savoy Homann to the Merdeka Building. Only liaison officers, security officers and reporters could do so.

Interestingly, this situation was very different to what you can see in the picture taken by Paul Tedja Surya, a photographer who took pictures of the original 1955 Asian-African Conference, and also exhibited at this expo.

Paul's picture shows that security was not very tight then. There was a crowd of people standing on the sidewalk, witnessing from a close distance world leaders attending the conference.

In another photo, Paul shows how the public could, without restriction, push paper and pen toward foreign delegates in order to get their autographs. Clearly, that did not happen this time around.

"These are the moments that we would like to show to the public. Many things happened in the ring-1 area and also in other parts of the city that were not known to the public owing to very tight security.

"These moments do not belong only to the world leaders but, chiefly, to the taxpayers and to the public who paid for the success of the golden jubilee," Gelora Sapta said.

While the commemoration was broadcast live on TV, Gelora believed that pictures could "speak more loudly" than TV broadcasts, which cannot be replayed at any time.

The photo expo was opened on July 27, 2005 by West Java deputy governor Abdul Hakim, Bandung municipality chief Dada Rosada and director general of public diplomacy from the foreign ministry, Mangasi Sihombing.

The opening ceremony was unique in that these officials, who are usually the object of photojournalists, were asked to take pictures of an extract of a play titled Ozon and performed by eight members of Ledeng Cultural Center (CCL) on a mini-stage set up in the exhibition arena.

On this occasion, the high-ranking officials bought some of the photographs put up for auction. The proceeds of the auction, totaling Rp 45.5 million, will be donated to children of less well-off families for schooling.

The expo is the first held by Bandung Photo Journalists (WFB), an organization set up four years ago as a means for its members, now numbering over 20, to exchange ideas.

The pictures put on display have been selected, not on the basis of any photographic technique or the type of camera used, but for the memorable moments they present.

But for the photographs, these highly interesting moments would have been lost forever.