Cemeti to Exhibit Community History: Central Java, Indonesia

Involving all the members of a community in a historical project is admirable. I have seen this occur in Jakarta and other islands but this is the first time I have seen it occur in Central Java.

In cooperation with Kunci Cultural Study Center and Sanggar Anak Watulunyi, Cemeti Art House is to exhibit the result of a communal history writing activity conducted by villagers of Watulunyu hamlet, Juminahan village, Yogyakarta.

The exhibition is to be officially opened this Friday and will continue until July 30th 2006. According to a release by Cemeti Art Foundation the history writing activity itself started in August 2005 with a learning session on oral and participative history.
Among the activities include encouraging the village's youth to hold old photo exhibitions and a reunion for elder members of the society as a media for exchange of stories about the past of the village.

The program aims to make people 'literate' in their own village history and make them writers of their own history, the release explains.

That way too, hopefully it will make the inter-generation and inter-group relationships closer and the cultural richness of the village will be well-documented. This in turn will create in the villagers self-reliance and initiatives to cope with various problems while at the same time also create pride among them toward their own village.

The exhibition is held to showcase the visual culture of ordinary people and as well the role of visual culture in Indonesia’s social life, it says.