Students preserve snapshot of protests for posterity

JAKARTA (JP): As was the case on almost every other day that month, the hot afternoon of May 8 saw thousands of student protesters crammed onto their university campuses with riot police milling around outside.

Sari, a photographer of the University of Indonesia's student magazine Bergerak!, found herself in this situation at Gunadarma University in Depok, West Java.

A war of words ensued between students and security personnel outside the campus when Sari suddenly heard someone counting down from five, and then heard repeated "explosions".

People scurried in all directions but she stood her ground, and more.

With a camera in her hand, she climbed atop the university's gates to shoot the scenes.

Armed with this mindset, student photographers nationwide immortalized history during the April and May student protests, riots and uncontrolled violence on the streets and campuses.

History, as experienced on 37 campuses, is currently being exhibited at a four-day exhibition at the Bentara Budaya building on Jl. Palmerah Selatan 17, Central Jakarta.

The exhibition was opened Monday by the director general of culture at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Edi Sedyawati.

A collaboration of the University of Indonesia's student- magazine Suara Mahasiswa, Bergerak! and the Antara Gallery of Journalistic Photos, the exhibition features 100 black-and-white and color images. It ends today.

Interesting photographs include Fatchul Mu'in's Lautan Jilbab (A Sea of Moslem Headdresses) from the University of Indonesia, Hanafi's High Risk from Jayabaya University and Rynol's Apatisme Yang Kuat (The Strength of Apathy) from The Jakarta Arts Institute.

However cruel and degrading some may seem, the photographs have this quaint, moving quality about them from which the viewer cannot escape.

Bergerak managing editor Bhayu Mahendra said that the exhibition's theme, Aksi Seputar Aksi '98 (A Round of Actions '98), was born out of the 1998 student movement.

Take the example of photos shot during the May days when students demonstrated at the House of Representatives compound and decided to stay until members of the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives quickened the process of Soeharto's ouster.

In the pictures, students are seen relaxing on top of the twin-turtle roof of the main building.

That was on May 19 and May 20. "Security was lax to the extent that us students could get on top there," Bhayu said. "On May 22, it was tightened so that once we got out, there was no way we could get in again."

On May 21 Soeharto stepped down from the presidency he had held for 32 years.

On the night of May 22, hundreds of heavily armed troops were deployed to end the students' five-day occupation of the complex.

Other photos in the exhibition depict students' determination and shocking violence.

Agus Susanto, from Sebelas Maret University of Solo, Central Java, has captured a vivid close-up of blood running down the face of a student in shock in Satu Dari Sekian Korban (One of Many Victims) has.

Taken on April 3 inside Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, the photo reeks of the clashes between riot police and students after officers entered the campus.

Lempar Batu Sembunyi Tangan (Throw Stones, Hide the Hands), taken by Cawet of Yogyakarta's Sanata Dharma University, has straight-faced officers carrying stones behind their backs, while Roy Rubianto's Lebih Banyak Yang Melihat (More Of Them Watch) from the Social and Political Institute, portrays the apathy of an officer who walks away from a scene of an overturned burning car and people watching it curiously.

Roy's Merah Putih (Red and White), on the other hand, has captured with remarkable intensity how the foreign media lapped up of the drama of the student protests.

These photos will be auctioned today. We might not see them again, but to those who have viewed them at least once, they are not easily forgettable.

Professional photographer Rama Pratama could not have put it more aptly when he said: "One can't really forget photographs of students being beaten and shot, of skeletons and charred matter lying around Cipto Mangunkusumo Public Hospital in Central Jakarta, to get (former president) Soeharto to step down, can one?" (ylt)