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View all search resultsIn Maluku, Wapauwe Mosque stands as a quiet keeper of peace
A centuries-old mosque becomes a bridge for peace in post-conflict Maluku, uniting communities through heritage preservation.
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Craft guardians: Members of the Tukang Dua Belas (Tukang 12), or Tukan Husa Lua, pose in front of the Wapauwe Mosque in Kaitetu, Maluku. The council comprises craftsmen, customary chiefs and intermediaries who connect the artisans with local authorities. Each member holds specific skills, responsibilities and areas of expertise. (Kaitetu Gallery/-)
T
he Wapauwe Mosque, Maluku’s oldest Islamic worship site dating to the 15th century, has become a quiet anchor in a region long marked by conflict, thanks to conservation efforts aimed at preserving the building and reinforcing local peacebuilding.
Local communities have continued working to maintain peace after the 1999 sectarian violence in Ambon and Tual that killed more than 2,000 people. The unrest was reportedly triggered by racial hostility provoked by unidentified individuals accused of insulting Muslims, the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad.
Researchers including Hélène Njoto of the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), Idham Setiadi of the Suar Bahri Kultura Foundation and Michael Feener of the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS) joined forces with the then-Culture Directorate of the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry and the Ambon Cultural Conservation Agency to support one of these peacebuilding initiatives through a cultural heritage conservation project.
Through this project, residents of different faiths work together to preserve the five-century-old mosque, the historical items housed inside and the traditional carpentry techniques used to build it.
“This preservation project is both a peacebuilding and capacity-building effort. We can see how heritage can help foster peace for people,” said conservation project leader Hélène, an art historian at EFEO.
Ancient mosque, shared heritage
