Photo exhibition at Helsinki Railway Square May 25th – May 26th 2019
Helsinki Photo Festival is pleased to announce it’s forthcoming exhibition Dashed Hopes featuring works of Indonesian photographer Dilla Djalil Daniel and Swedish photographer Sebastian Sardi who are dealing with the environmental issues caused by land exploitation, narrating the stories of human and non-human lives afflicted by the actions of the mankind. Selected works are related to the aftermath of our consumerist society advancements, resulting in the daily increasing demands in the production of such cheap sources of energy as palm oil or coal. Both palm oil and coal industries significantly affect our environment.
The production of palm oil has had a devastating impact on biodiversity through the large scale conversion of tropical rain forests into palm plantations applying the clearing of land through fire, which at its turn results in massive air pollution. Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world with more than 10 million hectares of oil palm plantations producing over 27 million tonnes of palm oil a year. Palm oil deforestation in Indonesia has already resulted in the deaths of thousands of orangutans, which might lead to their extinction. Being interested in documenting the complexities of relationships between animals and humans Dilla Djalil Daniel visited the Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) a branch of the NGO International Animal Rescue based in West Kalimantan with the main objective of rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing orangutans. There is a part of YIARI called HOC-RT (Human Orangutan Conflict Response Team) which is focusing on salvaging orangutans that have been pushed out from their natural habitat as a consequence of land clearing for agriculture purposes related to the palm oil industry. The photographs of orangutans Dilla captured in YIARI natural resorts are penetrated with love, raising empathetic feelings towards the animals and triggering thoughts concerning our actions on this planet.
Sebastian Sardi’s works regard the current coal industry issues including the impact on our environment. Along with water and air pollution, hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products containing heavy metals such as mercury are produced annually by coal burning. Strip mining severely alters the landscape, eliminating existing vegetation, displacing or destroying wildlife and habitat. For the past decade, Sardi has been capturing major mining sites around the world, visiting mines in the world’s largest producers of coal such as China, Russia, Kazakhstan, and India. In the latter, he discovered Dhanbad – a place being cluttered up with a huge amount of coal fields and strip mines, commonly known as the “capital of coal”. Everything there is cloaked with a solid overlay of fine dust, creating a truly apocalyptic landscape. The ground is burning, resulting in the overflow of toxic gases and smoke affecting a huge area. Workers are digging coal there almost with their bare hands and without any specific gear or even masks. It is needless to say that these kinds of settings are highly dangerous to inhabitants health, even life-threatening. In his photographs, Sardi eloquently captures the villagers who work and live in these toxic conditions. He aims to portray the implicit beauty and grace veiled underneath the coal dust and dirt on the faces of that hard-working men, women and children.
Helsinki Photo Festival is therefore wishing to contribute to the environmental debates and raise awareness of the issues described above with the selection of photographic works created by Dilla and Sardi presented in the Dashed Hopes exhibition.
I would love to visit the Dashed Hopes exhibition. The bond between humans and animals is very important, and it saddens me that many orangutans have died from man’s wrongdoings. I sincerely hope this event would raise awareness and make the world a better place for every living being and not just humans.
To the Committee of the Photo Exhibition “Dashed Hopes”
– The photo exhibition by Dilla Djalil Under the theme of “Dashed Hopes” shows only partial information to its audience in Finland about the environmental protection policies by the Government of Indonesia, both at the central level and provincial level in Kalimantan (Borneo)
– The information that is illustrated by the photographic exhibition about Indonesia at the Helsinki Photo Festival reflects a personal view that can only be inferred from the photos presented and chosen by photographer Dilla Djalil, when in fact Dilla Djalil had never worked to protect the environment and endangered species in the field in Kalimantan
– For Dilla Djalil and the Photo Festival Committee, environmental protection in Borneo is treated like a luxurious hobby (photography,) which entails expensive equipment and might also be a lucrative business. There is no care or the conscience to give empathy in the photos, for instance, that reflect the aftermath of the fires that engulfed this great region in 2015, or an acknowledgement of the limitations that exist in the protection of the land of our birth in Borneo due to rampant growth and development, or a recognition of the achievements of the local youth movement in the region, who advocates for the protection of the environment and rare animals in the province of Kalimantan, including orangutans and proboscis monkeys. This demonstrates an evidence of a colonialist mentality.
– We would also like to remind Dilla Djalil, the photographer, that under the full-fledged democratic regime in Indonesia, in the whole province on Borneo island there are many local Environmental NGOs and Indigenous organizations who are very concerned about the protection of their environment and endangered species.
– Why is it then that the Photographer and the Exhibition Committee only care to depict the negative impact of business interests alone, without showing the slightest empathy and support for the positive efforts conducted by the local people, the sons and daughters of the soil, who are fighting to protect our forests and our endangered species?
– We see grave environmental issues to be very evident in Kalimantan. These issues are of great importance to us Indonesians, and this letter is to convey that we are also most interested and concerned with ensuring the continuity and sustainability of our own lives in our own land
– One example is that in the province of South Kalimantan, whenever there is information that there is a proboscis monkey who has gone astray or become injured, the public knows exactly who to contact and within hours this news would be available in social media
– Furthermore, a new policy of Essential Ecosystem Area was introduced to protect our endangered species such as long-nosed monkeys
– To promote society’s participation in protecting our forests and to strengthen knowledge and expertise transfer among the local people, we established the Society Partner of Forests Rangers
– There is also ongoing cooperation between Indonesia and Finland with the purpose of strengthening the knowledge and capacity to protect our forests and rare animals. Myself and a number of South Kalimantan Forestry department staff have attended courses (e.g., two months long) in the university in your rich country
– We see that the results from our study in your university are still inadequate, and thus we need to continue to have a strong commitment to strengthen our ability to seek higher education on environmental and species protection not just in Finland, but also in other countries.
– Our colleagues at the Indonesian Forest Services are open to constructive discussions with foreign parties abroad, including with your Photo Festival committee, who may think of themselves as better able to understand and represent the distinct characteristics and challenges of Kalimantan Regional Ecology and Culture.
– As a representative of a sovereign nation, it is my duty to set the record straight, and to respond to negative insinuations about our domestic affairs.
– We would appreciate the recognition of the hard work and sustained efforts by the people of Kalimantan in the protection of their natural resources. We are committed to protecting the interests of our own region and to ensure our own sustainability and survival, which includes the duties and responsibilities to maintain our forests and its inhabitants.
Thank you for your attention to our country.
NOVI ADI PUTRA
FOREST RANGER
FORESTRY SERVICE
SOUTH KALIMANTAN PROVINCE INDONESIA
I personally think that negative problems arise from bad conduct of palm oil plantation and any other business at our nature is not a new news…it’s kinda known globally and no need more publicity for that… I think we need more positive news and information about activities that have been done and are doing by the local communities, NGOs and the government…so that we can support the activities or more like we need to improve the awareness what we can do to fix these problems!!! We of course shall criticize and report the companies and corrupted people that conduct bad business and destroy the environment… including the wild animals.
I think we should see the efforts of the government, the private sector and the community in saving the environment and wildlife, so what emerges is a positive perception in policy and a stronger motivation for all parties to protect wildlife.
In Kalimantan, all endangered animals are not left alone, but are very much considered and prioritized, because many conservation institutions are active in fighting for protected animals such as orangutans, proboscis monkeys, langurs, gibbons and primates or other types of flora and fauna. As in Central Kalimantan, there is the Klaweit conservation institute, in South Kalimantan, there is the Institute of Indonesian Proboscis Friends, the Green Movement for the Care of Bekantan Tanah Laut (GAHIPBTA) and there are still many institutions or foundations that care about protected flora fauna.
In South Kalimantan there are institutions / government institutions that are very concerned about the protection of animals, namely the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Center. These two institutions / institutions jointly carry out conservation activities of plants and animals protected by the government. The saving or evacuation of animals in South Kalimantan is often carried out until the release is returned to their habitat. In its implementation, the two institutions are fully supported by private institutions and the community, especially in terms of information on the existence of animals that need to be saved.
One of the efforts of the Indonesian Government is the policy of establishing management of essential ecosystem areas (KEE), namely management of conservation-based areas outside conservation forest areas so that the protection of habitats and animals becomes wider and faster. At present in Kalimantan there are several non-governmental organizations, the private sector and government institutions that have managed KEE. In South Kalimantan we have carried out stages of accelerating the formation of KEE in all regions which can be made KEE.
In my opinion, this effort is the effort that needs to be raised in order to be able to arouse the spirit of conservation so that hope arises to change negative things to be positive.