The Aceh Peace Gallery, one of the rooms located in the Aceh Tsunami Museum, a room that stores a lot of authentic evidence of the historic event that ended the long-running conflict in Aceh, including the signing of the Helsinki MOU between the government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement on August 15, 2005 in Finland.
Hello, all my friends, wherever you are. I hope you are all healthy and happy so you can go about your daily activities as usual. I hope you all have a wonderful day.
If you visit the Aceh Tsunami Museum, don't miss the opportunity to stop by one of its meaningful rooms, the Aceh Peace Gallery. This room houses much authentic evidence of the historic event that ended the long-running conflict in Aceh.
So, please continue following my blog to explore this room. This blog focuses on the history of peace in Aceh during the fraternal conflict between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement.
A few days ago, I shared a blog post about my visit to the Aceh Tsunami Museum. The blog post showed me exploring the museum from the first to the third floor. However, one interesting point I didn't cover in previous blogs is the Aceh Peace Gallery, located right next to the USAID gallery, the agency that helped Aceh recover after the tsunami.
Here are some pictures I took in the USAID room.
Now let's enter the Aceh Peace Gallery.
My friends...
This may seem like an ordinary room to you, but for me, the Aceh Peace Gallery is more than just a place to view a collection of photographs and documentation. This gallery reminds me of a long and painful journey that ultimately bore fruit. One such experience was the detention of RCTI journalist Ersa Siregar by a group of Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members led by Ishak Daud in 2004. This event was one of the most dramatic media coverages at the time, when I was still a child, around two years old, and ultimately ended tragically.
Four months later, a massive tsunami devastated Aceh. This disaster seemed to be a turning point, opening the door to peace negotiations. The conflict, which had been going on since 1976 and culminated in military operations in the late 1980s, was finally brought to a complete end.
As soon as I entered this room, I was greeted by valuable traces of the peace negotiations that took place from January 27, 2005, until the agreement was finally reached in August 2005.
Historic photographs, documentation of formal meetings, and symbolic agreements were neatly arranged in the gallery.
In the agreement, the Indonesian government was represented by figures such as Farid Husaini, Hamid Awaluddin, Sofyan A. Djalil, Usman Basyah, and I Gusti Wesaka Puja. Meanwhile, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was represented by Malik Mahmud, Zaini Abdullah, M. Nur Juli, Nurdin Abdurrahman, and Bachtiar Abdullah.
All of these figures can be seen in the images I've shared above.
Even in this Peaceful Reconstruction I also saw the cooperation of all elements of society in rebuilding Aceh after the tsunami and one of the iconic photos, former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, who was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, walking along the disaster-affected location, the presence of this world figure shows the great international attention to Aceh both in the post-tsunami rehabilitation process and in supporting peace.
And above all, the Helsinki MOU became a turning point for the Acehnese people who had lived for years in the shadow of conflict and military operations.
The hope behind this peace lies in the Acehnese people. The peace gallery at the Tsunami Museum is not only a place to commemorate historical events but also a means to reflect on the lessons learned from the conflict, which was once a "thorn in the side" and was successfully removed through dialogue and agreements supported by the international community.
Although several points of the Helsinki MoU remain unfulfilled, the peace has brought many positive changes. The special autonomy status granted to Aceh opens up significant opportunities for this province to grow stronger and develop into an integral part of the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.
This gallery reminds us that behind disaster and conflict, there are profound lessons to be learned. Peace is not just a word, but a long journey that requires commitment, courage, and togetherness.
For anyone interested in delving deeper into Aceh's history, I believe the peace gallery at the Aceh Tsunami Museum is a place worth visiting.
I personally want to express to you all in this meeting that every photo here reminds Aceh of its difficult times.
I still remember how people around me, from elementary school until now, would constantly tell stories of fear during the conflict, but now, seeing the peace that has been achieved, it feels like those stories were baseless.
This gallery serves as an important reminder for the younger generation that this peace didn't just happen; there was a long struggle behind it. We must safeguard it so that Aceh doesn't return to the past.
Well, my friends, those are some of the images and short posts from me on this blog. I hope you all enjoy and are entertained by what I share. Thank you very much to all of you who have taken the time to view and read my blog to the end.
Please leave your comments, support, and input, which means a lot to me so I can create a better blog in the future.
That's all for now.
Greetings, everyone.
See you in my next blog.
| Camera used | Handphone |
|---|---|
| Lens | 64 mp |
| F-stop | |
| Iso speed | ISO |
| Focal length | MM |
| Photography | peace gallery |
| Photographer |  |
About the author
Maulizar Mawardi or better known as