David Akbar Hasyemi Rafsanjani

Photography is a powerful art and visual medium for depicting various aspects of life, including religious themes. In the context of religion, photography has an important role in capturing symbols, rituals, and the lives of religious people, and can be a medium to build understanding and tolerance among religious communities, especially in Indonesia. ICRS in collaboration with the Humanities Studies Study Program of Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) organized a photography discussion “Lintas Agama dari Mata Kamera”.

This discussion aims to explore how religion is represented through the medium of photography and how photography can be a bridge of understanding related to daily interfaith interactions. In addition, this discussion aims to understand how photography can be an effective medium in depicting the beauty and diversity of spirituality of various religions, as well as its important role in strengthening tolerance and interfaith harmony.

The speakers in this photography discussion event were Vania Sharleen Setyono, M.Si.TEOL, Lecturer of UKDW Humanities Study Program, and Dr. Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras, Lecturer, Researcher, and Trainer at ICRS. Vania explained that photography is a powerful art and visual medium to convey messages on every aspect of life, including interreligious themes. In the context of religion, often interreligious is depicted through the encounter of religious symbols and rituals but in the theme “Everyday Interreligious Engagement”, the process of interfaith encounter is depicted in everyday life and not artificial photos. Through the camera lens, a deep form of tolerance can be captured and become a message that interfaith tolerance has been and can be done in everyday life.

“Photography can be an effective medium in portraying the beauty and diversity of spirituality of various religions, as well as its important role in strengthening tolerance and interfaith harmony. This discussion aims to explore how religion is represented through the medium of photography and how photography can be a bridge of understanding regarding daily interfaith interactions,” she said. Thus, she hopes that students as the younger generation can utilize smartphones and social media to promote interfaith harmony, tolerance, and other good things.

Leonard said that ICRS had previously held a photography competition with the theme “Everyday Interreligious Engagement”. Leonard said that photos and cameras can be instruments that divide and separate. They become the power of Anteros and anti-eros and amplify narcissistic urges. But they also have the opportunity to depict zones of encounter in daily life. “Through this event we want to capture moments of diversity interaction and record religious harmony that occurs in everyday life, then disseminate it to the general public. We want to capture people’s daily lives, natural religious experiences, real-life experiences,” he said.

In a diverse country like Indonesia, where multiple religions coexist, photography offers a way to showcase moments of unity, dialogue, and mutual respect between different religious communities. By capturing these interactions in real-time, photography not only raises awareness but also fosters empathy and encourages a more inclusive narrative of Indonesia’s rich cultural and religious diversity.

Hongsok Lee

Religion can create conflict, but it can also be a source of cooperation and peace (McBride & Richardson, 2012). If different religions work together to solve the problems that exist in the world, this is what many people expect from religion today. Environmental issues are one of the most urgent of the many problems that exist in the world today. Interreligious cooperation can help solve these problems.

The Monthly Conversation on Religion and Ecology in December 2024 focused on environmental education projects at MI Ma’arif Bego (madrassa) and SD Nahdlatul Ulama Sleman (elementary school). The project at MI Ma’arif Bego was carried out by Khusnul Harsul Lisan and his team, while the project at SD Nahdlatul Ulama was carried out by Mustamid and his team. The environmental education projects at the two schools focused on what to do with paper waste and food waste, respectively. The researchers and assistants of the project are all affiliated with Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta.

The environmental education project at MI Ma’arif Bego took place over a period of approximately five months and involved the following phases: 1. introducing students to the impact of paper waste on the environment, ways to manage paper waste, and the goals of the project; 2. exploring the issue of waste in the school environment through observation and information gathering on organic and inorganic waste; 3. creating recycled paper and relief/texture art using paper pulp; 4. students’ reflection on the project under the guidance of the teacher; and 5. exhibition and sales of the artworks. The project at SD Nahdlatul Ulama took place over a period of about four months and consisted of the following phases: 1. gaining knowledge about the impact of organic waste on the environment; 2. finding ways to manage the problem of food waste through interviews, observation, and exploration; 3. making eco enzymes from food waste, and 4. using the eco enzymes as fertilizer and reflecting on the importance of a clean environment for health and sustainability. The directors of each project evaluated that the students actively participated in the project and that the project was successfully carried out despite some limitations.

The educational significance of the project is that it helped students learn the importance of the environment and start taking action to solve environmental problems. The project has not only environmental but also religious significance. A research team from UNU, an Islamic university in Yogyakarta, conducted the study as part of the NICMCR project, and NICMCR is organized by Christian universities in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Their research sites were a madrassa and a SD belonging to the Muslim organization NU. The project can therefore be understood as a process of Christians and Muslims working together across borders and religions to solve a huge problem facing humanity today and is a great example of how interreligious cooperation can play a role in global crises.