Tracing Old Jakarta through photographs a thrilling experience

Tracing Old Jakarta through photographs a thrilling experience

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): The voyage of Lawrence Blair and his brother the
late Lorne Blair around the Indonesian archipelago in the 1970s
traced Alfred Russell Wallace's 19th Century journey, as recorded
in the latter's Malay Archipelago. The Blairs' trip was
eventually made into the television series "Ring of Fire" and a
book with the same title.

There is a great charm in tracing the footsteps of other
people. I have always wished that I had the time, money, and
energy to travel around Bali on a bicycle, as the soldier-artist
W.O.J Nieuwenkampf did at the turn of the century.

In 1988, I had a unique opportunity to visit the sites
recorded in A.J. Bernet Kemper's Monumental Bali. The photographs
in the book were taken in the 1950s and 1970s, and a few in the
1930s. While not a very long time ago, nevertheless many of the
sites were quite difficult to find. The impression I was left
with, comparing the sites with the pictures in the book, was
similar to that which I experienced when watching the film Dewi
Dao at the Erasmus Huis Dutch Cultural Center a few months ago.
It is clear that, while many things do change, some things never
change. In any event, the new version of Monumental Bali provides
a record of the state of preservation of the monuments, as well
as being a source book on archaeology in Bali.

Of course, one would rather trace the idyllic Bali than the
busy Jakarta. However, on the trail of both what has changed and
what seems never to change, I decided to look for old Jakarta,
guided by the photographs in the book Woodbury & Page,
Photographers, Java. The Nineteenth Century Woodbury & Page
photographs appear with the new photographs in this month's issue
of architecture magazine Laras, which marks Jakarta's 468th
anniversary.

It is uncertain exactly from where the famous Woodbury & Page
photograph, The Outlook Tower, was taken. Walking towards the
fish market from the main road, it seemed as though the view was
from that very road. The tower in the middle of the frame, some
smaller structures to the left, a row of buildings toward the
right. The view seemed very similar, but not quite right.

The tower should have been more frontal. Therefore it was
clear that the view might be seen from shanties behind the
fishing gear stalls. Next to the police station across the street
from the Maritime Museum, there is a small pathway that leads to
the squatter's homes. From the front of the shacks the view of
the tower, taken before 1872, can be seen.

It is evident that, while many things have changed, the small
buildings in front of the tower still exist, and the tower itself
still stands erect. It is also clear that the row of structures
to the right of the tower, known today as the Maritime Museum,
served as a storage depot and part of the Batavia fortifications.

A woman who claimed that she had lived in the neighborhood
since she was very young asked to see the copy of the photograph
I had brought with me and said: "Yes, previously, this canal was
wide and on the left there was a suspension bridge. There was no
water gate at the time." It was clear that the shanties had been
built on top of the wide canal. It is not surprising that garbage
now accumulates in front of the dwellings of the poor squatters.

The new photograph has been taken with every effort to
minimize the sight of squalor from the frame.

'Toko Tiga'

The secret of finding places depicted in old photographs is to
use a number of landmarks and key structures. Old maps show that
the bends of canals and the layout of roads are the two elements
that change the least. In any comparative study of maps from
different time periods, canals and roads are usually used as key
positioning points.

In the old Toko Tiga photograph there are a number of elements
that can be used as orientation points. There is the canal
bending towards the left, a bridge over the canal and a row of
shop houses of different heights, positioned in front of the bend
in the canal. One shop projects noticeably further onto the road
than the others. The streets to the sides of the canal are lined
with shop houses, and low walls are scattered here and there
along the sides of the canal.

Although the angle from which the old photograph was taken is
now blocked by large trees, the view of a river with a noticeable
bend can still be seen today from the bridge supporting Jl.
Kemenangan. The bridge has been changed from one bowing with
elegant inclines to a boring flat bridge. We can also see that
the open space in front of Hotel Citra, which shows a noticeable
difference in building setback lines, has existed since the mid-
nineteenth century, as can be seen from the old photograph. Some
buildings are exactly as they appeared in the Nineteenth Century,
while many others, particularly the Chinese shop houses, have
been covered with ugly aluminum cladding.

The Supreme Court and the Ministry of Finance buildings near
the present day Lapangan Banteng have not changed much since the
Nineteenth Century. The two are, however, the only two colonial
buildings left around the square.

The neoclassical building of the Ministry of Finance, called
het Groote Huis (the Big House) or het Witte Huis (the White
House) was begun in 1809 by Governor General H.W. Daendels,
nicknamed the Batavian Napoleon, using materials taken from the
old Castle of Batavia which had begun to be demolished in that
year. The ministry building was finally completed in 1828. At the
same time, in the middle of the square two buildings facing the
Waterloo Memorial were erected, giving the square its name
Waterlooplein. The monument was destroyed by the Japanese and in
the 1960s the Freeing of Irian Jaya Monument was erected in its
place. Today the square is known as the Lapangan Banteng.

In 1848, the seat of the colonial high court was moved to the
smaller neo-classical building north of the larger buildings of
the Department of Finance. Today, it continues its function as
the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia.

'Harmonie'

The building in the photograph Harmonie, constructed from 1810
and opened in 1815, is of the Societeit de Harmonie, a club
situated between what was then the old part of Jakarta and the
new residential "suburb" of Weltevreden. Today the site is at the
eastern section of the junctions of Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Jl.
Majapahit, and Jl. Ir. H Juanda.

The pattern of Jl. Ir. H Juanda, which turns south towards Jl.
Majapahit and north towards Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada, is
evidently an inheritance from the past, as can be seen in the old
photograph. The tracks of the Bataviasche Tramway-Maatschapij,
the Batavia Tramway Company, established in 1869, bending from
Molenvliet (Jl. Hayam Wuruk) to Noordwijk (Jl. Ir. H. Juanda) can
be seen in the lower left corner of the photo. The photo is
believed to have been taken before 1880.

Approximately a century after the photograph was taken, in the
late 1970s or early 1980s, the Harmoni building was demolished
because it was considered a hindrance to traffic planning in the
area.

While discovering that an old vestige of the past still stands
brings great joy, finding that it has been demolished is
devastating. Jakarta, which celebrated its 486th anniversary on
Thursday, June 22, is a city of great historical significance.
Hence, to strip the city of the remaining traces of the past
would be to deprive it of its historical characteristics.

This is as important for the citizens of Jakarta as it is for
visitors to the city. Visitors to Jakarta expect to see
historical charm which can distinguish it from the other
sprawling urban centers of the world. The citizens of Jakarta,
such as the woman who lived in a shanty near the Outlook Tower,
would be interested in preserving the old city in order to
sustain their memories of living in the city and to maintain the
city's historical identity.

Despite the Jakarta municipal administration's increasing
attention to the field historic preservation in the capital city,
it is clear that more efforts are required. The preservation of
historical sites should incorporated into all city planning
studies done in relation to Greater Jakarta.

There should be more citizen involvement in preservation
issues. A collective memory project, where people could
recollect, recount and record their memories of the capital city
of Jakarta through photographs, maps and other visual collections
(drawings, prints, paintings), oral histories and anecdotes,
would perhaps be instrumental in promoting this citizen
involvement. Let us all take part in the preservation of Jakarta,
for the sake of the memory of our capital city.