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Shedding new light on Indonesia’s war of independence
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Historical: 'Sukarno Reading the Text of the Proclamation' by Soemarto Frans Mendur. (Courtesy of The Netherlands Institute for Military History) (Courtesy of The Netherlands Institute for Military History/Courtesy of The Netherlands Institute for Military History)
A
n exhibition at Amsterdam’s Rijkmuseum uses posters, personal belongings and other objects exhibited for the first time to put a human face on Indonesia’s war of independence against the Dutch which lasted from 1945 to 1949.
Three young women walked down a street in Yogyakarta, the provisional capital of Indonesia during the country’s revolutionary war of independence against the Dutch. Dutch photographer Hugo Wilmar took a picture of the trio, who were members of the Service of Indonesian People from Sulawesi (KRIS) militia during the height of the conflict in December 1947, which he titled Three Young Indonesians on the Streets in Yogyakarta.
The trio’s stride reflected their confidence, while their carbines epitomized their determination to keep the country’s former colonial overlords from making a comeback.
Putting a human face to the conflict
The photo is one of many taken of the conflict by photographers from around the world, among them legendary French photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson. “Often [the photographers] were thoroughly infatuated with the looks and swagger of the young Indonesian revolutionaries,” observed Amsterdam Rijksmuseum history curator Harm Stevens. “In their photos we see how an [extremely photogenic] Indonesian revolutionary self-image developed.”
The photo, which belongs to the Spaarnestad Collection of the National Archives of the Netherlands, is one of 230 objects shown at the Revolusi!: Indonesia Independent exhibition at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum until June 5. The event “explores subjects such as nationalism, youth, anti-colonialism, art, war and diplomacy, propaganda, renewal, the information war and refugees,” said the museum’s press release.
