Remembering/Forgetting the May Riots: Architecture, Violence, and the Making of

“Chinese Cultures” in Post-1998 JakartaAbidin Kusno

Historical BackgroundMay 1998 Reformasi

The authoritarian and repressive regime of Suharto was toppled

by a group of students together with a provisional, loosely connected

“coalition” made up of frustrated middle-class families, calculating

military figures, opportunistic ministers and bureaucrats, street

hoodlums, and the urban poor.

Historical BackgroundMay 13-14 Riots

- Triggered by economic problems

- Directed violence at Indonesians of ethnic Chinese descent*Burning and plundering of Chinese properties

*Gang rapes of ethnic Chinese women

- More than 2000 people were killed; between 168-468 (20-60 died)

victims of rape

Public Art as Mode of ProductionHow are spaces reconfigured to register and forget memories of past events?

- Relationship between memory and place, between identity formation

and the change of social consciousness

- Monuments, memorials, or public spaces and squares as mnemonic

devices that help to reflect events and regulate public memories

Martin Broszat: Monuments are cultural reification, generating and

“coarsening” historical understanding simultaneously.

Spatial Effects of the 1998 Riots in Glodok26 May 1998

“I suggest that we all work together to uphold peace, unity and

work together to restore and upgrade the order of the economy that we

wad enjoyed before.”

-President Habibie

Spatial Effects of the 1998 Riots in Glodok26 May 1998

“But how are we going to deal with the trauma, Mr. President? I

don’t understand how the looting could take place for two days in the

daylight. We cried. But what we cried for was not even clear to us. The

military commander and the head of the police had repeatedly said that

they would guarantee security, but the looting still took place. How to

build up a new image, a new economy in Glodok with an Indonesian

spirit….?”

Spatial Effects of the 1998 Riots in GlodokNational Trauma

- Effects of the failure of the national community to cope with its

barbarism

- Denial of the event’s occurrence

- Production of amnesiac architectures

Glodok Plaza- Built in 1976

- Largest electronics and computer center in Indonesia

- Ripped open and burned out during the riots

At the beginning of 2000, Glodok Plaza was rebuilt in a manner thatintimates the dynamics of remembering and forgetting after the May riots.

Glodok PlazaGlodok Plaza appeared in new form to strengthen the image of

glory and prosperity as a center of electronics and computers in the new

millennium.

- Façade- decorative, colorful, and festive; made of steel, glass, and

aluminum

- Inviting landscape that features greenery, fountains, and open spaces

leading to the entrance

- Large billboards exude a high-tech, transparent quality

Glodok PlazaSuppression of the past terrors embodied within the

architectural framework.

- More internal open space and light

- Several atriums were constructed; allowing every shop to face an open

atrium space

- Main atrium features a water fountain at its center

- Virtual business transactions

Pasar Glodok- First built in 1971; located at the edge of the old section of Jakarta

- Completely rebuilt as a small mall consisting of 1,800 shops

Pasar GlodokPasar Glodok enacts its elusion by speaking of the area’s

architectural and political history.

- Revival of colonial Jakarta’s architectural style for tourism

- Batavia- architectural style of the Indies

*Ionic columns at the entrance

*Brown and orange geometrically corniced walls

*Curvilinear ornamentation on the gates

*Postmodern classicism’s detailed building lines

Pasar GlodokThe mixture of the Western, Javanese, and Chinese elements

blend seamlessly and constitute a new architectural whole.

14 May 2001

A group of Indonesian Chinese in white mourning dress carried

black banners and photos of the May riots, commemorating the event

right in front of the new Pasar Glodok.

- Retraumatizing the space of violence against the temporal imaginings

offered by the spatial configuration

Candra Naya- Located about 100 meters south of Glodok

- Served as the well-known house of the Dutch-appointed major in the

nineteenth century

- City’s largest and most complete building in the Chinese architectural

style

*Courtyard

*Shape of the roofs

*Engravings

Candra NayaNon-Chinese Architectural Form

- Subjection of the house to demolition and relocation

*The back section and right and left sides were demolished.

*The remaining front and middle sections are to be relocated at

the Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park

- Candra Naya today is sandwiched between skyscrapers of a hotel,

apartments, and a shopping mall.

- Confinement of the gate

Candra NayaHistorical Significance

- Served as the refuge for the ethnic Chinese during the early years of

Indonesian independence

- Site of commemoration for the May riots

Revival of Chinese Culture and Language- Chinese temples as symbols of Chinese ethnicity

- Restaging of barongsai- a popular acrobatic dance performed with lion

models made of cloth and paper

- Lifting of the law banning Chinese cultural expression in public

- Incorporation of explicit elements of Chinese architecture into shops

Revival of Chinese Culture and LanguageThe public declaration of the Chinese culture is a by-product of

the May riots, donated by the government as a gift to tranquilize, if not

erase, the memories of May riots themselves.

- Effects of the possible absence of Chinese economy

- Redemption of the violence done to Chinese

- Validation and affirmation of cultural belongingness

- Neutralize the demands of trauma both to remember and to forget

General Features- Concrete walls with very small windows

- Glass walls that are fully caged by iron grids

- High, sharp-pointed fences

Jakarta 2039- A short essay written by an Indonesian writer, Seno Gumira Ajidarma for

the popular magazine Matra.

- 1999

- Republished as an illustrated or graphic story

- Gang rape as a central component through which Indonesians of various

backgrounds could reimagine the traumatized space by crossing time

ConclusionThe evasiveness of the state in dealing with

the May riots, the nonexistence of any public

memorial site, the appearance of ostensibly Chinese

culture, and the construction of amnesiac

postmodern architecture in Glodok don’t directly

communicate the forms of physical violence of the

riot but tell the public about the traumatized spaces

and the temporal response to such spaces.

ConclusionThe authority imposes public memory regulation through

reconfiguration of public spaces.

- Remembering and forgetting the May riot

- Unresolved struggles caused by suppression

Parallel Case: Regulating Public MemoryOLD MANILA STREETS LOSE THEIR NAMES TO POLITICIANS

- Old names of streets and public spaces are parts of historical heritage.

- Many historical events occurred in the city’s streets, boulevards, avenues

and plazas.

Bigoted Nationalism

- Some public places have been renamed after politicians and public

officials to promote political and social agendas.