NEW YORK.- Asia Society presents an exhibition of 53 photographs capturing the political, economic, cultural and sociological landscape of Indonesia from the early days of independence in the 1940s to present day. The photographs are drawn from the archives of Magnum Photos, a renowned photographic cooperative established in 1947 by four leading photographers, two of whom are featured in the exhibition. Historical images—including a limited number of vintage prints—by Magnum founder Henri Cartier-Bresson and Mark Riboud capture Indonesia’s struggle for independence from the Netherlands that began after World War II, and include photos of the Dutch departure and the first President Sukarno. More recent photographs by Hiroji Kubota and Abbas capture everyday and community life in urban and rural settings, and in sacred and secular contexts. Images are in both black and white and color.

The world’s fourth most populous country, Indonesia is a vast 17,508-island archipelago with rugged volcanic peaks, tropical beaches, teeming cities, and scenic rice terraces. The photographs included in Shadow Play present a survey of the country’s development from its independence to just months ago, when the tsunami struck the province of Aceh, located at the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Photographs explore the importance of Indonesia’s cultural traditions, such as Javanese shadow puppetry ( wayang kulit) and the Balinese “monkey dance” ( kecak). The influence and legacy of Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist traditions are also explored.

“Asia Society is delighted to be working with Magnum Photos on the exhibition Shadow Play,” says Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu. “The photographs in the exhibition map important changes in Indonesia in the last 60 years, both political and cultural, and give important context to one of the worlds most culturally complex nations. In addition, we are grateful to have been able to organize and present Ocean of Tears, a very timely exhibition of powerful photographs taken by Indonesians in the days following the tsunami.”

Shadow Play is organized into three broad thematic sections. The historical section chronicles the final years of Dutch colonial rule and independence. The influence and legacy of Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist traditions are explored in the second section. Further illustrating the breadth of cultural traditions among the various islands that make up Indonsia, images in the third and final section depict everyday life from the 1950s to today. For example, George Rodger’s 1953 photograph of a Balinese market showing bare-chested women contrasts remarkably with Abbas’s recent photographs of young women in Yogyakarta donning the Islamic headdress. Other images show informal streetscenes of women rolling up woven mats, creating batik designs, and selling food at markets.

Shadow Play is co-organized by the Asia Society, the Kartika Soekarno Foundation, and Magnum Photos, Inc.