UNAIR NEWS – Towards 21 years of Reform, Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) Political Science Student Association (HIMAPOL) held an event, Festformasi “Ada Dalam Ketiadaan (Present in Inexistence)”. The event was initiated as a form of respect for the loss of two UNAIR Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) students, Herman Hendrawan and Petrus Bimo, who until now have not been found.
Not alone, HIMAPOL UNAIR collaborates with several pro-democratic communities such as Aksi Kamisan, Lingkaran Solidaritas, Ikatan Keluarga Orang Hilang Indonesia (IKOHI) East Java, and Sarasvati Community of Surabaya. The event was held on Thursday, May 16, 2019 in the park behind FISIP UNAIR.
In the series of events, Festformasi managed to hold three sessions. There were screening of films, talk show, band and art exhibition. The speakers at the event were Airlangga Pribadi Kusman S.IP., M.Si. FISIP UNAIR lecturer, Dandik from IKOHI East Java, Lisa Febriyanti alumna from UNAIR ’93 FISIP Communication Science, and Faisal Bagas from Aksi Kamisan Surabaya.
Diko as the chief executive said that Festformation was held as a means of education for all students, not just FISIP. According to him, students also need to know about reform events, especially about two FISIP UNAIR students in 1998.
“Because based on interviews conducted by our committee, there are still many students who do not know they were missing,” he said.
A week earlier, Festformasi also invited everyone to participate by sending works to be exhibited during the event. The works displayed were visual and textual works such as paintings, posters, poetry, essays, and opinions, with the theme of student activism, reform, and enforced disappearance.
Meanwhile, the event began with the screening of Kami Selalu Ingat (2014) produced by Indoprogress and continued with a discussion. The event was also enlivened by various art and band performances from students and the arts communities in Surabaya such as Risalah Pena merah, PUSKA FISIP UNAIR, Kudaponi 168, Give Me Mona, Karga, Hold, and Koteka is the Reason.
In the end, Diko expressed his hope for the implementation of Festformasi in the coming year.
“Hopefully this Festformation event will still be held every year to memorialize and commemorate Herman and Ben, of course with new innovations that make this event more interesting,” he said. (*)
Author: Wildan Ibrahimsyah
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
