Photographs of a Jakarta seething in modernity
By Yogita Tahil Ramani
JAKARTA (JP): Relentless delving into the realm of modernistic culture has replaced sentimental cliches of humanity and poverty in this developing metropolis with bump-and-grind insights. A young, almost refreshingly brash artistic lot is working on giving a poignantly incisive look into contemporary Jakarta, countering the perfunctory neglect of human and social concerns.
The thousands of grave thoughts that Jakarta embodies are shown in the photo exhibition in the Antara Gallery of journalistic photos on Jl. Antara 59, Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, through Aug. 24.
On the theme Kota Kita, Anak Bermain dan Anak Jalanan -- our city, children playing and street children -- it is open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 pm daily, except Monday.
Soulful music accompanies the visually eclectic ambience of frozen glimpses of Jakarta. Freelance photographer Mila Fadliana, who is currently finishing an advanced diploma course on photography at the Jakarta Art Institute, cleverly portrays accidental contrasts and likeness, along with differing definitions of graffiti in society's eye.
A placard states spray painting of expressions of truth is a game of graffiti power counterbalancing additions to the industrial skyline, even as society calls it vandalism. Another photograph has a fluttering Indonesian flag, the symbol of national pride and patriotism, against a backdrop of buildings bedecked with foreign names.
Scorned and accused of everything possibly linked to irresponsible behavior, youngsters are more likely to rebel than bear the condemning brunt of society. Again, the idealistic teenager is not simply about rebellion and angry blood alone.
Freelance reporter Salma, currently doing her journalism major at the Institute of Social and Political Sciences, portrays broken spirits and the different faces of a teenager. Poles stuck to the wall with similar photographs of written poetry attached to the ends symbolize musical notes, just as swirling smoke, a singer, underwear and frenzied audiences portrays a free lifestyle in another. The scribbling in one emotes with disappointment in the wake of the break-up of famed local shock- rock band Slank.
Salma is currently doing her journalism major at the Institute of Social and Political Sciences.
The clear immediacy in Awaluddin R.'s thoughtful work brought the timeless catch phrase "what might have been" to mind.
The montage encapsulating pictures of skyscrapers, smiling faces, kites, children playing soccer on buses, open fields, flyovers, breathtakingly narrow alleys, corridors and a bicycle is an epitaph for the loss of children's playgrounds to development.
The smiling, witty twenty-something artist, a student at Trisakti University's School of Plastic Arts and Design, said the thought of creating with adult visualization, easily grasped by a child's mind as well, was inspirational.
Pressing down the handle to a bicycle wheel will revive a myriad visual recollections of running children and dining families spinning before your eyes. The creation of freelance photographer Eny Erawati is no less a stunner, with a string of larger photographs hanging from the circle of postcard-sized ones. Eny is a student at the Jakarta Art Institute of film and television photography faculty.
The earthy creation of artist Achmad Fauzie is definitely an eye-catcher. A burial ground of mud, broken pieces of brick and a yellow flower is surrounded by photographs of an age-old children's game, complete with chalk drawings in the center. The ground symbolizes mourning for the death of the game known as Hom Pim Pa, or hopscotch.
The upper floor hosts the Anak Jalanan exhibition. Curator Yudhi Soerjoatmodjo described the collaboration between Mitra Masyarakat Kota (MMK) and Private Agencies Collaborating Together (PACT), both non-governmental organizations, to exhibit the works.
The photographs bear a surreal mood, as cherubic young faces, whimsical smiles and pouts are marred by the grim surrounding realities.
Heartrending captions such as "Even if we dress awfully, please don't scold or insult us" or "Good minds: one must get up in the morning" cover a wall, almost edging on cynicism.
Frank Page, Sarah Whitmore, Martin Hardiono and Jeffrey Anwar of MMK capture the soul of a surviving breed in photo, as street children gawk and smile, with some looking resolutely determined to brave the uncertainties of the big world.
Notable are Page's Senyum Fatamorgana (Illusionary Smiles), Belajar Sebagai Impian Saja? (Studying As a Dream?), Penguasa Pasar Malam Hari (Night Rulers of the Market); Whitmore's Pejuang Kota and Pejuang Petani (City Survivors and Farming Survivors); Anwar's Penyiar Berita (News Broadcaster) and Hardiono's Belajar Di Lingkungan Pasar (Studying in a Market Environment).
The photographs may well be accurate in depicting the lot of many city children. Research by YKAI, the Indonesian Children's Welfare Foundation, in 1994 showed there were between 30,000 to 50,000 street children in Jakarta. Fifteen percent of them were homeless, 28 percent living with parents and 27 percent living in joint families. Seventy percent were elementary school drop-outs.
The streets are teeming with thousands of shoe-shiners, newspaper boys and street singers eking out a living, perseverance etched on their little faces.
The exhibition reminds us that as administrative good deeds take time to be executed, particularly in a city driven by innumerable commitments, a little compassion still makes a difference.