Surabaya: “My Indonesia” Photo Series (6)

Pasar Larangan. Sidoarjo, 4 September 2016

 

In many years that I have been to Indonesia, I have mainly visited Central Java and the Western part. I only had the opportunity to go to Kalimantan for one day for a cultural event, and nothing more.

Not that it's possible to visit all of Indonesia with its 17 thousand islands, a life is not enough. But I always regret not being able to see more.

 

It was thanks to the invitation, in 2016, of a famous teacher and former journalist to give a talk on photo-journalism in her university Stikosa-AWS, in Surabaya, that I had the opportunity to visit Eastern Java. That area I would like to called Suramajo for the acronym of the three cities: Surabaya, Madura and Sidoarjo.

I held three photo-journalism talks in three different universities, in these cities. I must therefore thank Bu Sirikit for inviting me at the time; I still remember her house full of books, and the first book she showed me was a rare photo reportage book about the prostitute district in Surabaya, just to understand what kind of open minded she had and has. Also thanks to her I met the famous photographer Mamuk Ismuntoro, who were mentioned in the beautiful book “Photography in Southeast Asia - A survey” by Zhuang Wubin, and Eric Ireng, who accompanied me on the streets of Surabaya to photograph.

 

I have heard a lot about Surabaya and Madura before going, especially for their two main characteristics: the incredible heat and the sate, the skewers of meat recognized as the best in Indonesia, and I agree with both.

But what I remember struck me were the faces of women, in particular. Accustomed for years to the typical sweet, soft and smiling faces of West Java women, whose somatic features I had get used, I was really surprised when I saw – for the first time – the faces of women in the Ampel market. For me they were completely new, and they will remind me of the faces of Siam women in Malaysia, with intensely colored eyebrows in pencil, and hard and aggressive looks.

 

Faces of Madura women. Pasar Sunan Ampel (Market). Surabaya, 3 September 2016

Faces of Madura women. Pasar Larangan (Market). Sidoarjo, 4 September 2016

 

My friends said to me: “They are Madura women, who come to work in the Surabaya markets; be careful of them, even men, here it's not like in Western Java, here they get angry very quickly, the oppressive heat is also in their blood: a wrong word or look and the knives and bad words come out.”

Wow! This was completely new to me, accustomed to the sweet and shy looks of the other half of Java.

I must say that nothing bad has ever happened to me, however – it is true – the women there made you understand immediately with the eyes if they did not like the photographs, just like Siam women.

The funny thing was that I found more women from Madura in Surabaya than in Madura itself: almost all of them crossed the famous Suramadu bridge, inaugurated in 2009, every day to go to work in all the markets of the city.

So let's start for this photographic journey in the faces and in the three cities of East Java.

 

Let's start with Surabaya.

Surabaya is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in the country, after Jakarta. The city has a population of over three million within its city limits and over ten million in the Surabaya metropolitan area, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in Indonesia. Located on northeastern Java on the Madura Strait, it is one of the earliest port cities in Southeast Asia. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Surabaya is one of the four main central cities of Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Medan, and Makassar.

The city is known as Kota Pahlawan (the city of heroes) due to the importance of the Battle of Surabaya during the Indonesian National Revolution.

Surabaya from the Javanese “sura ing baya”, means “bravely facing danger”; originally from the union of Sanskrit words the “surya” or sun and the “bhaya” or fear. Surabaya alludes to a prophecy of Jayabaya [meaning “conquering the fear”, from the Sanskrit words “Jaya” or “Vijaya” (victory or conqueror) and “bhaya” (fear)], a 12th-century psychic king of Kediri Kingdom, foreseeing a fight between a giant white shark and a giant white crocodile taking place in the area. The event is sometimes interpreted as foretelling the Mongol invasion of Java, a major conflict between the forces of Kublai Khan, Mongol ruler of China, and those of Raden Wijaya's Majapahit on 31 May 1293, which is now considered the date of the city's founding. The two animals are now used as the city's symbol, with the two facing and circling each other, as depicted in a statue appropriately located near the entrance to the city zoo.

By the late 15th century, Islam began to take its root in Surabaya. The settlement of Ampel Denta, located around Ampel Mosque in today Ampel subdistrict, Semampir district, north Surabaya, was established by a charismatic Islamic proselytizer Sunan Ampel.

Ampel Mosque  is an ancient mosque located in the Ampel sub-district, district Semampir, Surabaya, East Java. The oldest mosque in East Java was built in 1421  by Sunan Ampel where his tomb complex is located within the area.

 

Masjid Sunan Ampel (Mosque). Surabaya, 3 September 2016

Pasar Sunan Ampel (Market). Surabaya, 3 September 2016

Kampung Jagiar.  Part of the long kampung on the bank of the river was destroyed in a month, all the houses razed to the ground, without knowing why. Families were forced to live along the walls in front of the river. They sleep on mattresses. Someone saved the stove in the kitchen and cooking for everyone.

 

 

Kampung Favela Brasil. Surabaya, 6 September 2016

Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of the island of Java, near the port of Surabaya. The two islands are separated by the Strait of Madura, connected by the Suramadu bridge.

Madura is famous for its bull races, in which a jockey, usually a boy, drives a simple wooden sled pulled by a pair of bulls, on a path of about one hundred meters in a time of 10/15 seconds. In various cities of the island races are held in August and September each year, with a grand finale consisting of the Presidential Trophy, which takes place in Pamekasan in late September or October.

Masjid Saihona Cholil (Mosque). Bangkalan. Madura, 5 September 2016

   

Learning Quran (anak-anak ngaji).  Desa Lembang, Kecamatan Kamal. Bangkalan. Madura, 5 September 2016

The regency of Sidoarjo is part of the urban region surrounding Surabaya, known as 'Gerbangkertosusila' area.

Pasar Larangan. This is the moment I love most: the moment you arrive at an outdoor market, full of people, and you feel the adrenaline rising. The time to take the first step and mingle among the people. Sidoarjo, 4 September 2016

Pasar Sunan Ampel (Market). Surabaya,  3 September 2016. Photo by Eric Ireng 

  

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