Potret Temaram by KMPA ITB, Indonesia Natural Resources Exhibition

By Luh Komang Wijayanti Kusumastuti

Editor Luh Komang Wijayanti Kusumastuti

BANDUNG , itb.ac.id - On Monday through Friday (03-07/03/14) at ITB Central Library 1st floor, there was  a photography exhibition of various Indonesian karst caves organized by Keluarga Mahasiswa Pecinta Alam (KMPA) ITB, the club of students who love to travel and protect the nature. The theme was 'Potret Temaram' which explaned well enough about how karst caves looked like. Potret Temaram had the objective to show the ITB students that Indonesia has natural resources, especially the karst caves, which are very beautiful that people increasingly love and hope to preserve and maintain the natural wealth of Indonesia as well.

Potret Temaram was the first photographic exhibition held by the sub- division of the cave KMPA ITB . The exhibition was initiated by the Expedition activities in Maros , South Sulawesi in 2011. Through Maros expedition, they conducted scientific research on the relics of antiquity in Maros cave. Relics of antiquity in the form of hand painting and wild boar are found on the walls of caves. "In addition of hiking, going into the forest, rafting, we also conducted scientific research expedition in Maros like this," Yoga (Petroleum Engineering '09) said. The photos which displayed in Potret Temaram were the photograph from cave exploration by KMPA ITB team for 2008-present. Karst cave pictures contained in this exhibition came from various parts of the country, like Gunung Kidul, Gombong, Sukabumi, Maros, and much more. The results of the photographs on display were all doneKMPA ITB itself . "We learned self-taught photography to produce a good picture and published to the public," Yoga said. The theme used on this Potret Temaram was a karst cave which means the cave that has been formed by dissolution of the incident due to the activity of several types of rocks rain water and ground water. The reason for choosing this theme was to inform the public, especially the students of ITB, that this karst cave has many functions that most people still do not realize it. In addition to functioning as a tourist attraction, karst cave has another function, namely to store rain water, so that when drought arrived, rainwater which is contained in the cave will fall and can be utilized by humans. There are still many people who are not aware of how rich this country. It is quite ironic considering Indonesia's natural wealth is so abundant and even attract foreigners to come, but the Indonesian people do not know and even destroy their own natural wealth that can actually be a potential for this country. "Through this Potret Temaram, we hope that the people would love nature more and be able to keep the nature up with the best, " Yoga ended. Image Source : Documentation team KMPA ITB