Guarding Our Borders: Memories from Indonesia's Outer Islands
From their expedition to Indonesia's far-flung islands, the Nusantara Front Line Expedition Team (GDN) brought back living products and non-living products. They brought back documentation of animal species, alternative food sources, and medicinal plants; they also brought knowledge of the rituals and traditions of local people living on Indonesia's outermost islands. Their documentation was shown in an exhibition held from Monday to Friday (25-29/10/10), as a part of the event Menjaga Tepian Tanah Air (Guarding Our Land's Borders).
Our oceans are incredibly vast, with an area of 5,8 kilometers. They are the front line to our territory, to our life in Indonesia. How well do we Indonesians know about our "home's" outermost fence? Shouldn't a homeowner know their home, up to their fence and their neighbors?
This writing greeted the visitors of the exhibiton "Guarding our Land's Borders" in the Galeri II Room, East Campus Center, ITB.
Exhibiting Plants and Culture
The exhibition showed documentation of alternative food sources from plants, such as buraja (Cycas rumphii), which grows in the Aru Islands, and whose seeds are edible. The umbili, which grows in Merauke, has tubers that are now being produced on an industrial scale in local households.
Medicinal p
lants were also shown. The species of medicinal plants were discovered by an ITB biologist who was a member of the GDN expedition team. A specimen of snake wood, as an anti-malarial medicine from Selaru Island, wawultunne from Marsela Island that could heal skin disease, and loloiwewa or forest srikaya which could treat internal and external injuries, were among the medicinal plants displayed in the exhibition.
Aside from plant products, there were also many photographs documenting the expedition. The photographs captured the cultural expressions found in Indonesia's outermost islands, such as the fisherman village in Ranai, Natuna; the fishermen dock in Trenggalek, East Java; the traditional healing from Mentawai, and many more.
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