Students preserve snapshot of protests for posterity

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)