MENCUCI DI PINGGIR KALI

(Washing by the River) By Lany Isman

It has often been said that civilization began with rivers. A river provides plenty of benefits to its surrounding ecosystem. One example of a  great civilization that relied on the presence of a nearby river is the Egyptian kingdom in 4000 BC. The Greek historian Herodotus, who once visited Egypt around that time, said, "Without the river Nile, Egypt would not have thrived. Its advancement is a reward from the river." Up to this day, many places in the world still rely on their rivers to fulfil the needs of their people.

It can be said that Indonesia has plenty of rivers. Several of them still support the livelihood of the people living in the proximity. They use the river for irrigation, agriculture, fishing, and many others. Lany Isman's painting, titled "Washing by the River," is a portrait of the daily activities of the people living by the river. The labour depicted in the painting is one that becomes less and less common with the times. People are now switching to groundwater as an effort to lessen hazardous chemical pollution corrupting the rivers.