The Monument of May 1998

Genre: Monument and memorialization
Description: This monument, depicting a needle and thread suturing a wound, was conceptualized by cultural activist Eka Budiawan to commemorate the May 1998 tragedy. The May 1998 unrest erupted at the intersection of economic collapse and long-repressed political dissent, as student protests were met with state violence, unraveling the façade of Suharto’s authoritarian regime and culminating in his fall from power. Beneath the official narratives of reform, the riots exposed deep fractures in the nation’s social fabric—marked by orchestrated racial violence, particularly against Chinese Indonesians, and the haunting silence surrounding the gendered brutality of mass rapes and disappearances. The monument is located in Kampung Jati because in the area there were 426 people, including children, who were victims of the Klender Mall fire.
Creator(s): Eka Budianta
Contributor(s): Transformative Memory International Network
Title: The Monument of May 1998
Alternative Title: Monumen Mei 1998; Monumen Jarum dan Benang;
Date Created: 15 February, 2025
Medium: Object
File Format: image/JPEG
Theme(s): Gender and race; Movements and politics of memory
Rights: Records are provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use of these records must be obtained from the creator and publisher. Please contact transformative.memory@ubc.ca further information on permission rights