ANTARA News Agency on Friday evening in Jakarta held a photo exhibition titled HistoRI Masa Depan, or The Future History, to commemorate its 80th anniversary.

The photo exhibition was inaugurated by President Director of ANTARA News Agency, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, in ANTARA's Photojournalism Gallery and Museum, GFJA, in Pasar Baru.

He noted that ANTARA was founded on December 13, 1937, in Jakarta, when the country was still a colony of the Dutch Empire, by four independence activists: Soemanang, Albert M Sipahoetar, Pandoe Kartawigoena, and Adam Malik. The last one soon became Indonesian's vice president.

ANTARA's inception was driven by dissatisfaction with the lack of local coverage by the Dutch-owned ANETA News Agency at the time.

ANTARA had also played a key role in the broadcast of Indonesia's proclamation of independence in 1945.

"The 80th anniversary means that as a media platform, as an intellectual pursuit, we have always renewed ourselves, always searching and building through creations that keep this nation alive and youthful no matter how old it gets," he stated.

The exhibition displayed photograph collections of IPPHOS, ANTARA Foto, and Bronbeek Museum of the Netherlands.

"It covers both sides as it showcases two perspectives: the Dutch and Indonesia," Hermanus Prihatna, Chief of ANTARA's Photo Bureau Division, noted.

Prihatna and Oscar Matulloh, senior ANTARA photojournalist, curated the photo collection for the exhibition.

The photograph collection covers ANTARA's first office building in Pasar Baru, the aftermath of the explosion of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and Indonesia's proclamation of independence. Each photograph was neatly arranged in an interactive manner to narrate the history of ANTARA's establishment and Indonesia's independence.

The exhibition also recorded historical moments in Indonesia's post-independence era, which took place during the administration of the first president, Soekarno, continuing to the administration of the seventh president, Joko Widodo.

"History is not for the past, but for the future generation," Prihatna said of the photo exhibition`s theme.

On the occasion, ANTARA also launched a photo book on HistoRI Masa Depan, which contains a collection of photographs showcased in the exhibition.

The opening of the exhibition was also attended by officials from the National Library, National Archives, National Museum Association, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia.

Entry to the HistoRI Masa Depan photo exhibition is free to the public. The exhibition is being held from December 15, 2017, to February 4, 2018

Source: ANTARA