Writes within context of conflict
Indra Harsaputra, Contributor, Surabaya
"The human body
Like the world and everything in it
was made from earth, water, air, and fire
was separated by conflict, the neikos
was attracted to each other by love
the philotes
the alternation....."
These lines are taken from Love and Strife, a poem by Retno Hastijanti, declared one of the best poems and poets in 2002.
Inspired by The Dancing Column on Order in Architecture by Joseph Rykwert 1996, this poems dwells on human relationships amid the diversity in social life.
"I'm no artist, but a researcher. I write poems as a bridge to understand facts and theories," she told The Jakarta Post.
Love and Strife, once read out by Alan Rose, a U.S. poet and recorded in The Sound of Poetry by the International Library of Poetry, U.S., was written following the outbreak of conflict in Sampit, Kalimantan.
Love and Strife led to scientific work on the conflict in Sampit, titled Managing Ethnic Space for a Sustainable City, the Case Study of a Madurese Mosque in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This research was presented at the Conference on Sustainable Building of Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in April.
In her research, Retno concludes that the existence of exclusive spaces for the Madurese were a factor that led to the outbreak of conflict.
The spaces were known as the Madurese market, the Madurese village or even the Madurese mosque. It is this exclusive space that became an obstacle to common access for the two conflicting ethnic groups.
Nevertheless, the conflict in Sampit was resolved after a consensus was reached by the two groups about how to use public spaces, such as mosques, together.
A religious symbol, Retno says, brought the conflicting groups together. Within this context, a mediating religious symbol means a place that two conflicting groups can refer to in order to end their conflict.
"My research shows the significance of a common space or building to reach a consensus," she said.
Take a religious service facility, for example. Aside from serving as a place for Muslim worship, the shape of the building describes the structure of the local community. "Make sure that a mosque building does not contradict local culture," she added.
Take, for example, Amal Bhakti Pancasila mosques that were built by Tutut Hardiyanti Rukmana, one of former President Soeharto's children. These mosques, built in a number of provinces in Indonesia, are shaped like a crown.
Usually, only mosques in Java have such a shape. If a mosque with a crown shape on top is built in Kalimantan, it is not suitable to the local culture and can trigger conflict.
As a woman, Retno did feel afraid when she had to mediate between conflicting groups of people. Thanks to the encouragement from her family, she was able to overcome this fear.
"I feel lucky to have been born a woman as I can freely go about among opposing groups, as most of my respondents were women," she said.
Spending some time in a conflict zone, Retno has learned a lot about love and conflict in the community. She said that these two were, historically, crucial for reaching unity among diverse ethnic, religious and social groupings.
Conflicts are unavoidable but love will enable those involved in conflict to reach consensus. Consensus will lead to understanding between people.
Aside from Love and Strife, Retno also has several poetry collections to her credit, including Struggle for Existence, Heartless Dream and Understanding Difference. The last was inspired by The Order of Things, An Archaeology of Human Science by Michel Foucault (1970).
"So, that's me, a researcher who spends part of my life amid love and conflict," she added.