East Timor: History and Culture Off the Beaten Track

East Timor hopes improved infrastructure will entice more visitors to sample its rich Portuguese heritage and the untouched beaches that ring the island. (JG Photo/Eduardo Mariz)

With coastlines washed by 13 seas and more than a hundred active volcanoes dotted over thousands of islands, the geography-minded traveler will find Indonesia anything but a disappointment.

Yet in the vastness of the archipelago, one measurement is often overlooked: the length of its land borders with Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and East Timor total 2,830 kilometers — longer than any other island nation and even some mainland countries such as Poland, Egypt and Turkey.

Despite its size, only seven official land border postings allow the transit of goods and people to move from one country to another: four in Timor, two in Borneo and one in Papua. The remoteness of the checkpoints and the unavailability of on-arrival visas make them impractical entry points for most visitors to Indonesia.

But if East Timor’s ambitious tourism plans continue, this could soon change for Mota’ain, the busiest border crossing between Indonesia and the young neighboring nation.

Cross-border facilities on the eastern side were upgraded in 2010 in anticipation of greater usage, and the 118-kilometer road connecting the capital Dili to the checkpoint is being improved as part of the national Road Network Development Sector Project funded by a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Local residents, many of whom have been employed on the project, will soon benefit from easier access to basic infrastructure such as health-care centers and schools.

But for tourism, the improved access between East Timor and Indonesia could encourage visitors to include Timor in their travel plans.

Developing tourism in East Timor

Since gaining formal independence in 2002, East Timor has come a long way in the arduous process of becoming a sovereign state.

The nation of just over a million people sees in tourism the potential of a core economic sector alongside oil and gas exports, which currently make up more than 90 percent of government revenue.

At the moment, East Timor remains one the world’s least visited countries, having received only 51,000 tourists in 2011 — to put that into perspective, Papua New Guinea had three times that number in the same year while Thailand received more than 19 million.

The East Timor National Development Plan (2011-2030) seeks to change that by promoting the nation as a prime stop in many areas: from religious significance to marine tourism.

(JG Photo/Eduardo Mariz)

By next year it aims to have most critical infrastructure in place, and by 2020 fully operational touristic destinations in the three targeted tourism zones: East (from Tutuala through to Com and Baucau), Central (the capital Dili as well as Atauro Island and the Maubisse region) and West (a loop from Dili along the Great Northern Coast Road to Balibo, Maliana and Bobonaro).

Our recent visit to the West and Central areas confirmed that the initial stages of the project are well underway. For travelers heading to East Nusa Tenggara, land crossing the island of Timor should be counted as an enticing possibility.

Arriving in Dili

East Timor’s town-sized capital is also home to the nation’s only commercial airport, with direct services from Singapore, Denpasar and Darwin. Arriving passengers can clear customs and leave the terminal in record time, as incoming flights rarely coincide.

Accommodation options in Dili range from budged inns such as the East Timor Backpackers ($12 a night) to the upmarket Hotel Esplanada ($120 a night).

Getting around on foot is encouraged; most attractions are at a walking distance from each other, including the iconic statue of Cristo Rei, reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer.

The six kilometers from Dili’s port to the monument, a gift from Indonesia’s former president Suharto during the annexation period, is the most scenic and worthwhile walk.

The path by the beach is pedestrian friendly and there is a good selection of restaurants offering local and international cuisine.

For history buffs, the Chega! Museum and the Museum of East Timorese Resistance are a must, offering detailed accounts of the young nation’s troubled path to independence.

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Tweeter Street Comes to Asia

Tweeter Street is a photo project that photographs Twitter users; where they tweeted, with what they tweeted, created by Michael Hughes, left. (Photo courtesy of Michael Hughes)

Only a decade ago, the word “Twitter” most likely didn’t ring any bells for most people. Today, however, the social networking and micro-blogging service is as much mainstream and part of contemporary, popular culture as Doc Martens shoes and flannel shirts in the early 1990s era of grunge.

Millions and millions of users share their thoughts on Twitter in 140 characters or less — be it about the latest movie they watched, what they had for lunch or the political situation in the Ukraine, often complete with images, links or videos.

Photographer Michael Hughes, who works with editorial and corporate clients specializing in portraiture and reportage, was just one among those many Twitter users. But when he began looking at the “nearby tweets” application on his phone — showing the tweets of other users close to your own location — the idea for a project formed in his head.

“I wondered where these people were and about the context in which they tweeted,” Hughes, whose photographs have been published and exhibited worldwide, explained. “I was fascinated by the fact that I could see these people who were tweeting near me, but felt there was something missing. Instead of just seeing their location and profile picture, I wanted the essence of the ‘tweet context’ captured.”

This is when Tweeter Street was born — a photo project that depicts Twitter users, where they tweet, with what they tweet.

“Tweeter Street aims to capture, record and document this exciting period in our time, where the social media phenomenon, which is still in its infancy, has become a significant medium of interaction and communication in our world,” Hughes, who kicked off the project in March 2011, said. “It will look to humanize social media, by visually replicating people’s tweets.”

Among the photos he took for Tweeter Streets are humorous shots including Twitter user @stevekennedyuk, who stands in the entrance hall of his home, staring somewhat baffled at a card in his hand. The accompanying tweet reads: “Really weird, just re read date on card delivered by neighbor, 1997, he’s had it for 14 YEARS!!!”

Another one depicts @Troy__Munns lounging in his bathtub after tweeting: “Important announcement: My bathroom refurb has been completed. I’m now going to sit in the bath until spring. Laters!”

(Photo courtesy of Michael Hughes)

According to Hughes, “the phenomenon of social media has broken down barriers and transformed the ways in which human beings communicate with each other.”

As Twitter has taken off all around the world, Tweeter Street has grown from a small UK online venture into a global project and Hughes will be in Jakarta from Feb. 26 to March 2 to continue his work with Indonesian Twitter users.

“Tweeter Street is very excited to come to Indonesia,” Hughes said. “We chose Indonesia because it is one of the top tweeting countries in the world and around half of the geo-tagged tweets sent from the Asian region are from Indonesia. Jakarta will be the place where we will be photographing tweeters to represent Asia.”

“My time here will be spent photographing Jakarta tweeters in the environments in which they tweeted to visualize the moment that they tweeted,” he added. “We will also be trying hard not to spend too long in the Jakarta traffic, which is heavily tweeted about.”

Hughes is looking for Indonesian Twitter enthusiasts who would like to become a resident of his Tweeter Street. Those interested in being photographed can drop him an e-mail at tweeterstreet@gmail.com or send him a message via Twitter @tweeterstreets. Once he receives a message, he will check out the potential candidates.

“I’ll follow their tweets and if they tweet something that I think would work I’ll contact them and arrange a shoot,” he explained. “I look for tweets that open up a moment in the tweeters’ lives and something that can be translated into an image. ”

One of the main goals of Tweeter Street is to show the connectivity that social media has brought forth.

“With the project now going to showcase tweets from different parts of the world, I hope that it can show that we as people have similarities and uniqueness no matter what part of the world you are from,” Hughes said. “The rise of social media and in particular Twitter, enables us to break down barriers in how people communicate and engage with each other. In addition to this, seeking out international tweeters from around the world will truly represent the boundary-less nature of Twitter.”

Although there are many other networks and platforms that have made a splash in the world of social media following in the footsteps of Twitter, Hughes still believes that Twitter remains an important tool in people’s lives.

“Due to the simplicity and speed through which information can be spread through this medium I think Twitter is very relevant and will continue to play a significant role for some time to come,” he said.

Hughes has a Twitter account himself, which he uses for keeping up-to-date with the world and staying tuned on what his friends and colleagues are doing.

“I usually tweet about the wonderful, interesting, and outrageous things that I come across,” he said.

After his one-week stint in Jakarta, Hughes will move on to the next city to find more interesting Twitter users for his project. “Having photographed tweeters from London and Jakarta to help represent Europe and Asia, the next place for Tweeter Street will be New York to represent North America,” he said.

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In Solo, a Chinese and Javanese melange

Eight people carrying two huge piles (gunungan) of kue keranjang were recently seen running along Jl. Urip Sumoharjo to reach Tien Kok Sie Chinese Temple in Pasar Gede in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java. 

People scrambled to grab sweet sticky-rice cakes from the piles as the litter bearers ran by, eventually overwhelming the men.

Dozens more then descended on the gunungan, the cakes now up for grabs.

The play-struggle was one just one of the attractions of the Grebeg Sudiro, an annual parade held in the Pecinan (Chinatown) district of Sudiroprajan sub-district in Solo.

Soon, the crowds that packed the road leading to the temple were showered with the same snacks, tossed down by members of the event’s organizing committee from the second floor of the Pasar Gede traditional market.

Tussle: People grab rice cakes from a gunungan as part of the Grebeg Sudiro parade held in advance of Chinese New Year in Surakarta, Central Java.

In total, more than 4,000 cakes were distributed.

A member of the Chinese Indonesian community in Solo, Sumartono Hadinoto, said that the Grebeg Sudiro was held to promote ethnic and religious harmony in the neighborhood and the greater city.

“This program manifests Chinese and Javanese acculturation, even though other ethnic groups in the city are also well assimilated,” he said.

The Grebeg Sudiro parade featured traditional Chinese and Javanese performers: Dragons and lion dancers appeared along with Javanese Reog Ponorogo lion mask dancers, while Chinese Sun Go Kong monkey dancers were accompanied Javanese peacock dancers.

“Actually, the two traditional cultures share some similar aspects,” Sumartono said. “The lion dance and Reog Ponorogo, for instance, have the same lion appearance.”

The cultural mix did not stop with dance. The gunungan carried in the initial precession took traditional shapes — that of the Tien Kok Sie Temple and of the Sanggabuwana Tower of Surakarta Palace, the center of Javanese culture in Solo. 

There were also other gunungan bearing symbols of the yin and yang, representing female and male energy in the world.

Sumartono continued. “The gunungan contain sticky kue keranjang, signifying a hope that harmonious relations among residents will grow even closer, sticking like these traditional cakes.”

Chinese and Javanese have been mixing for centuries in Sudiroprajan, he adds. “Mixed marriages between the ethnic groups are commonly called ampyang couples.”

The name comes from a traditional Solonese snack made with ampyang, or Javanese palm sugar, and nuts from China. “When they are mixed to produce ampyang, the snack tastes sweet, as is diversity. Pluralism is beautiful if we can show the right attitude toward it.”

Residents of Sudiroprajan have lived in multi-ethnic, multi-cultural or multi-religious families for generations, Sumartono said. “Up until the present, they have coexisted peacefully without facing any problems.”

Balong, a bustling commercial district of Sudiroprajan located to the east of Pasar Gede, is full of narrow alleyways and small houses.

The Sudiroprajan sub-district head, Dalima, jokes about the ethic mix of the neighborhood. “Some people talk about ‘hitachi’ here, which is just a funny acronym. Hitachi means hitam tapi cina [dark-skinned but Chinese], resulting from mixed or ampyang marriages. But in reality, this constitutes beauty and an embodiment of unity and integrity in Sudiroprajan.”

Trotting: Reog Ponorogo Javanese lion mask dancers were also part of the multi-cultural mix.

According to Dalima, the Grebeg Sudiro has been held for the last seven years and has not lost its appeal: Thousands continue to assemble in Pecinan for the annual event.

While the sub-district sponsored the first Grebeg Sudiro, various organizations have since gotten on the bandwagon, including the city administration, which made it an annual event on the tourist calendar in the run up to Chinese New Year.

Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi “Rudy” Rudyatmo said a diverse cultural mix had become a hallmark of Sudiroprajan. “This program is intended to preserve the cultural heritage now still existing in Sudiroprajan.”

The mayor says that the parade might boost tourism, enticing people to visit Solo as a cultural city.

The administration is currently concentrating on developing the tourist potential of undiscovered neighborhoods and sub-districts in the city.

“If the potential sections of the city can come to the fore with their features like the event in Sudiroprajan, there will be more attractions to serve as a magnet for visitors to Surakarta, which can further promote our tourism sector,” Rudy said.

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All Eyes on London for Fashion Week

Style is an expression of self.  But has the world of fashion turned on its head? Women’s fashion is becoming more masculine while men’s clothes are taking clearly on feminine lines. At this year’s London Fashion Week, the gender debate is likely to be much heated.

london fashion week

The New York Times’ fashion critic, Suzy Menkes declared that some fashion shows, especially that of JW Anderson, had reignited the “masculine-feminine debate in the 21st century.”

Designers such as Anderson, Astrid Andersen and Lee Roach are pushing the boundaries of what has traditionally been considered “men’s wear.”

But this is nothing new. Fashion may indeed be returning to the past ages when men wore one-shouldered dresses and Persian warriors adorned high heels. Some cultures and religions today still find it acceptable for men to wear robes and gowns from kaftans, djellabas and of course the robes worn by the Pope, Boundaries are being reset and designers are stretching ideas to the limit. An open-backed top, is the ultimate feminine symbol but designer Roach showed skirts draped around the neck like scarves.

Will the trend continue this year? London Fashion Week is a great time to visit the capital not just for those who have a eye for glamor but anyone who has an interest in fashion and latest trends. LFW runs from Feb. 14-18 and offers insights into the latest designs from the world’s top fashion houses.

More than 200 designers — from Britain and across the world — will showcase their talents over the 6 days. A British brand that has made a mark is Hunter, whose Wellington boots were introduced on super model Kate Moss in 2005. The Guardian newspaper writes that the world of high fashion and Wellingtons are set to clash again as Hunter is all set to introduce a new line of boots.

“We have always maintained that a unique opportunity exists to develop Hunter from a British heritage brand into a global lifestyle brand,” Alasdhair Willis, Hunter’s creative director told the Guardian.

Hunter will be vying for attention with British clothing brands like Burberry and Barbour, both of which have global presence.

Along with Paris, Milan and New York, London Fashion Week is one of the world’s biggest fashion showcases. It is glitzy, glamorous and by invitation only. The beautiful Somerset House, located in the heart of London, will play host to the mega fashion event.

Fashion is big business and the LFW attracts buyers from around the world. It is estimated that it will generate hundreds of millions of dollars, a boom for the city and the entire industry.

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The Ebb and Flow of the City

When in 1990 East and West Germany reunified to become one country again, seven leading photographers from the East decided to start a new journey in their lives by founding a photo agency.

Ostkreuz, named after one of the busiest suburban railway stations in Berlin where the new agency was located, has since developed into one of the most successful agencies in the country with currently 18 members.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the photographers of Ostkreuz decided to launch a special project that saw each of them embark on an individual journey to different cities of the world, trying to capture today’s urban realities through their lens.

The project resulted in the exhibition “The City. Becoming and Decaying,” which has been traveling internationally since 2010 and is now on display at Jakarta’s National Gallery.

Joerg Brueggemann, one of the photographers of Ostkreuz who was in Jakarta for the exhibition, explained that the idea behind the exhibition theme was based on the fact that statistically more people are living in cities than in the countryside.

“We thought that this might be a good starting point for a contemporary look at cities all over the world,” he said. “The subhead, ‘Becoming and Decaying,’ was actually introduced while we were working [on the project]. It shows how cities form its inhabitants, and how people living in the city are forming the city in return.”

The work process, he added, was always a joint effort, where the 18 Ostkreuz photographers would come together and discuss their ideas.

“So, although all these [photographs] are individual works, they all have been influenced by the whole group, and I hope through this we were able to give a comprehensive image of how cities look in our modern age,” Brueggemann said.

Brought to Indonesia by the German cultural center Goethe-Institut and curated by Oscar Motuloh of the local photo gallery and agency Antara, the exhibition reveals a glimpse into the daily life in 22 cities around the world. Specifically for the exhibition in Jakarta, several images of the city by photographer Fanny Octavianus, who has been working for Antara as a photojournalist for the past seven years, have been added.

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Our Soulmates, Our Selves

A common saying in Indonesia — “ kalau jodoh, mukanya mirip” — implies that your significant other will most likely be your soulmate if your faces show similar features.

This notion is by no means exclusive to Indonesia alone. In fact, scientific research has shown that couples began to resemble one another the longer they have been together.

Our Soulmates, Our Selves

Based on this observation, Indonesian photographer Christina Phan, or Yaya, as she is usually referred to, has created a photo series that is now exhibited in her first solo exhibition called “Eksposisi Satu,” currently on display at Marsio Fine Art Gallery in Menteng until Friday.

“I like to see little things, for instance, I find it very interesting how each member of a family can have the same-shaped mouth; or how the gestures of a mother and a daughter can be so similar,” she said.

“When it comes to love, people often say that we are looking for someone who is not too different from ourselves, somebody who is compatible,” Yaya added.

The scientific side supports the argument that there is an adjustment process among couples that reflect in their faces, she explained.

For her exhibition, Yaya took portraits of 26 couples; she then merged the two halves of their faces to become one in a montage.

The results were surprising: in some cases, the couples look so alike that it is almost eerie. Sure, the male half of the face may have stubble, while the female side has trimmed eyebrows but the essence, sometimes maybe just the look in their eyes, is the same — those of soulmates.

It is especially interesting that an interracial couple — an Indonesian man from Malang and his French wife — have the exact same nose, jawline and teeth.

“It’s amazing how two people from such different parts of the world can look so alike. When I was working on the project and put together the faces, I sometimes was almost scared because they looked so similar,” Yaya said.

Some of the couples are good friends of hers while others have been references. The process of taking photos was a great experience for her, she says.

“I could see firsthand how different couples interact with each other,” Yaya explained. “I also hope that for the couples, this project was a good reflection on themselves, as they had to revisit the theme of soulmates. When they saw the results, many of them were surprised too at how similar they actually looked.”

It took Yaya quite some time to reach this point in life. As a young girl, she used to spend hours drawing, paying attention to the smallest details in her pictures.

Years later, she caught a TV show that highlighted the behind-the-scenes work of a movie — and she was hooked.

“I thought, that this is what I wanted to do; I never wanted to become a film director, but the director of photography,” she said. “I was amazed by what they do: they decide on the composition of a scene, the angle, the color, the lighting, they know how to set the mood.”

Although she was keen to learn more about film and art, Yaya studied marketing at Atma Jaya University, following her parents’ wishes.

“At that time, photography was not a well-developed field yet, so my parents didn’t allow me to follow my passion,” she recalled. “My dad was a businessman, and he was worried that I couldn’t earn any money if I was to follow the wrong path.”

But her heart wasn’t in it. Whenever she could, Yaya dedicated her free time volunteering at film festivals, in order to set up a network for herself. At the same time, at Atma Jaya, she enrolled in a photography class.

“There wasn’t any drama class, so I took photography instead because it was the closest to what I wanted,” she said.

It wasn’t exactly filmmaking, but it seemed that Yaya had found her true calling.

“While in films, the picture is always moving, in photography we have to capture one single moment, and the picture speaks for itself. In a movie, a message is conveyed through a scene.”

After she had learned the basics and went photo hunting throughout the whole city, Yaya found herself most interested in shooting people, but it was still only a hobby.

Following graduation from university, she first worked as a radio reporter and producer, and later, as photographer for several magazines, mainly for fashion spreads. However, a sense of restlessness and her free-spirited nature didn’t allow Yaya to stay for a long time at the same place — except the last magazine where she worked, DestinAsian, for whom she was as a photographer for six years.

“I learned a lot there,” she said, but in the end, she decided strike out as a freelancer. It was her first dream come true, she said, while the second one was to have a solo exhibition.

She was part of several group exhibitions before, including one in November 2011 titled “Mata Perempuan” (The Eyes of Women), that showcased the works of women photographers and was curated by Firman Ichsan, who Yaya names as one of her most important mentors.

“He taught me that in my work, I have to be honest and be able to open up,” she said. “The energy you are feeling at the time you are doing a project needs to be visible in your work.”

It wasn’t easy for her at first to lay bare her soul in her photographs, but in the end, she said, it helped her a great deal — for “Mata Perempuan,” she contributed a series of photographs that showed herself crying; a direct result of a bad breakup.

Her first solo exhibition also stays true to this concept of honesty.

“I haven’t found my soulmate yet, but I hope I will someday, so I guess this exhibition expresses this wish of mine,” she said.

As curator, Firman expressed his admiration for Yaya’s sharp observation skills when it comes to her surroundings.

“[It is] a sensitivity that always urges her, despite her young age, to bring to the surface the important things we tend to overlook,” he said. “One the other hand, Yaya never allows herself to be arrested by one way of presentation. She is continuously looking for the right way to represent her work and self-expression; she is an art photographer that is free and knows no inhibition when she’s at work, creative and consistently exploring.”

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