Book Review: Guardian of Memories: Gardu in Urban Java

Title : Penjaga Memori - Gardu di Perkotaan Jawa

               (Guardian of Memories: Gardu in Urban Java)

Author : Abidin Kusno

Publisher : Ombak

Year of Publication : 2007

Page : 154 pages

Length : 20 cm

Summary:

Abidin Kusno is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Asian Urbanism and Culture at University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. His knowledge as an architect, artist, as well as cultural study master has created this interesting book. Guardian of Memories: Gardu in Urban Java is a non-fictional book, a typical of ‘travel & explore’ writing from one gardu to another one combined with memoir of the author, that tries to reveal deeply the politics purposes and the means of gardu itself throughout the history of Indonesia.

The purpose of the book is how to present the purposes of gardu genealogically, from present time, reformation era after the fall of President Suharto’s regime in 1998, going back to the past, colonial and postcolonial eras. Besides, the author provides how gardu is still being a visual medium consisting of collective memory formed and transformed through distinctive historical order. The author begins the book by explaining how communication post memory of Megawati relates to Sukarno’s platform in a way that the readers could be reminded and understand in their cultural, social, and most importantly, political consciousness. Overally, the book is the story of his knowledge finding the connections between gardu with its built environment and political context. The writing itself is laid out simply and concisely.

Social/Historical context:

The book is a good introduction to the importance of gardu which people often tend to ignore and underestimate its existence. It is a book on a description of the author's writing in presenting and outlining the stories about gardu which is so outstanding that eventually the readers, hopefully, will think the diversity, immensity and limitation of Indonesian histories. The author also describes how people see and share memory of gardu differently, according to their particular grade, are influenced by their history experience across the ages. Focusing primarily on urban areas in Java, he describes how perceptions of the past, anxieties about the rapid pace of change in the present, and hopes for the future have been embodied in architecture and urban space, called gardu, at different historical moments.

Drawing from the book’s visual environments, it reveals how the visual environments of gardu are well connected with the anxieties over the sense of change at different historical moments in few cities of Java. The author clearly demonstrates the interplay between gardu and the changing realm of the visual environment in the city. It goes without saying that gardu, as we find it nowadays, serve as either a gatehouse in a gated community or civil defence units (hansip) post.

Moving farther back in time, he examines how Japanese military force reinvented colonial architectural styles of gardu to assist them in an effort of winning World War II by creating keibodan (local security organization) for the purpose of making the stable political culture of the state, meanwhile the Dutch utilize gardu for carrying mail and supply from one place to another.

Writing Style:

Guardian of Memories: Gardu in Urban Java is written through the eyes of the author as a narrative of his revelation of the material contained within the book. He also includes first person and second person short stories of individual experiences and encounters (e.g. Hikayat Siti Mariah and Indonesia dalem Api dan Bara), solidifying the writing he reveals. He writes simply and concisely with a thread of struggle, hope, and friendship concerning gardu running through from beginning to end.

The Appearance of Guardian of Memories: Gardu in Urban Java offers new perspectives and interesting analysis of political cultures and the experience of gardu in Indonesia, providing the readers with a better understanding of the complexity of gardu histories and problems in the country. Author’s main thesis point is that there have been connections between the gardu and political consciousness in Indonesian cities, particularly in Java, during the colonial and national periods. The book is describing gardu and its guardian organized into five thematic periods: Megawati’s era after the end of New Order regime, Indonesian traditional environment, revolutionary struggle for independence period, during Dutch colonial and in the early twentieth century.

My Thoughts:

The language is very simple, precise and honest. It is meant to be refreshing and inspiring. It does have occasional grammatical errors and few typos, but the meaning is still clear and obvious. It has some 31 relevant pictures of gardu and the guardians. The book’s middle, lacking a bit definitive chronology, is filled with numerous incidents, dialogues, and certainly a small number of stories taken from Indonesia dalem Api dan Bara. It mostly tells the readers about the experience of Kwee Thiam Tjing as town watch and guardian volunteer during the revolution era in Semarang, Indonesia.

This book offers an in-depth analysis of gardus during the colonial and postcolonial eras, but does not provide further discussion of Indonesian gardus in other parts of the country which are also an important component of Indonesian cities. So, this last regret is the cases in this book which were only drawn primarily in few cities of Java (despite the title of the book showing clearly “Gardu in Urban Java”). Indonesia is a large country with over 17,000 islands and 300 distinctive ethnic groups, and it should not be represented by only a few cities in the capital island out of five chapters in the book have appeared elsewhere. A further analysis of gardu throughout Indonesia cities in both colonial and national periods would be an excellent additional section to this book.

In conclusion, the book is a pleasure to read, stimulating and well conceived. A variety of figures in the book also provides supplement for the narrative. The author offers an intriguing analysis of gardu issues in Indonesia from the combined disciplines of architecture, history and politics. Such analysis is unique and will contribute significantly to the literature of urban studies and architecture, not only in the Indonesian context but also on a broader level.