Translator: Yogi Supriyadi Reviewer: Reno Kanti Riananda
(Applause)
As someone who lives in the biggest archipelagic country in the world
and also lives in a city with a strong maritime bond,
I had the urge to seek further
for information regarding conditions associated with water.
There were two main concerns. The first one was the coasts.
Neither the public nor the fisherman could easily access the coasts.
The second one was the estuaries. There were thirteen in total.
These estuaries carry sediments
from the southern part of Java Island, to be released to Sea of Java.
The sediments were black in color,
like soot,
and reeked of odor.
This visit to the northern area
was the most accessible method for us
because it was done in the most archaic way, which is only on foot.
Along with some friends who shared the same interests,
we went on a long journey along Jakarta North Coast,
which was about 42 km away.
In reality,
the journey would deviate up to 150 km away.
The travel time was around...
a fortnight.
On that trip, we learned many things.
We learned about marine biota, tidal currents,
and mangrove forest that was getting eroded.
My favorite part was talking to people
and observing the politics of monkeys in the mangrove forest
who were increasingly pressed due to land use change.
All sensory images could be recorded by looking at what was on the north coast.
But, digital tools for recording did not seem to be enough
to feel the extreme condition experienced by the living creatures.
In such conditions, all of our sensory images were challenged.
Smell, taste, hear, even touch,
were at such a state that I am not sure
whether any living creature can have a balanced living condition.
Another thing that I found in this time-consuming process,
because of the walking,
which was considered irrelevant with demands of modern lifestyle,
but through walking, we found these new insights.
For example, we have the opportunity to see
the threatening situation along the coast isn’t only happening in Jakarta.
It’s happening on a far larger scale throughout the northern coast of Java.
The coast is slowly being swallowed brutally by the ocean.
I reached a point
where I doubted whether what we did were only a fantasy or illusion?
After all, drone pictures,
sensory images in social media, and algorithms
portrayed that there’s nothing wrong with the environment.
Who’s under that illusion?
Therefore, in this short opportunity,
let me display a few souvenirs from the coast in the north
which are summarized in the “Seven Illusions of the Coast”.
The first illusion: “Groundwater or Our Land”
I am aware that the land subsidence in Jakarta
was caused by uncontrolled use of groundwater
in the last few decades.
But, what can we do?
Even my residential area does that.
Around 90% of clean water needs are still being supplied in unsustainable ways.
Particularly in this pandemic condition,
clean water is an absolute necessity.
For our friends in the north coast,
access to clean water is limited and the cost is steep.
Almost 90% of my household’s water supply comes from groundwater,
but I have no other choice.
While the remaining 10% comes from bottled drinking water,
which branding often sells too many illusions.
We can see the subsidence of the ground in two to three decades.
It can reach up to 70 cm.
This is a fact I gathered when I visited a mosque in Cilincing.
In the ’80s, the lower part of the mosque was still around 30 cm
above the current ground level.
The second illusion: “Land Submersion or Land Reclamation”
Actually, the trip to the north was not fully carried out on foot.
There were parts when we got stuck and were forced to use a boat.
That’s when reality hit.
Currently, it is official that five islands in Jakarta have sunk.
One island may be in crisis.
I am not sure this island will still exist In the next few years.
Will we let these islands sink
along with the other 115 islands that are said to be in danger
of facing the same situation?
Granted, we still have hundreds of thousands other islands in the country.
Or even better...
why don’t we just resort to reclamation and privatization?
In the last few years, the phenomenon of reclaimed islands has emerged,
which became a hype among the selfie hunters
as well as new playground for the property speculators.
Next, the third illusion: Concrete Fort - Mangrove Fort.
The face of the north coast changes every time over the years.
Particularly with the change
of coastal areas into 2-5 meters high walled concrete.
This is an expensive strategy
which was done to buy time.
No one can guarantee the wall will provide safety.
One thing for real is that it was separating the citizens from the sea.
Separating the strong ties to their city.
Why not plant mangroves along the coast?
But how do you create mangrove forest in Jakarta
where the swamps are made of plastic instead of mud?
Mangrove trees that grow to two or three meters will fall easily
when the strong wind comes.
I’m most concerned with the fate of mangrove trees
because they are exploited as CSR projects optics
or as a vote-getter every time the voting period approaches.
The fourth illusion: Religious Economization or Religious Tactics.
The northern coast of Jakarta is like a cell membrane.
It records clearly the traces of civilization
that ever came and arrived on Java Island.
Starting with influences of Hinduism from India,
influences from Muslim and Chinese merchants,
all the way to influences from the Europeans that settled for centuries.
Those sites become relics that hold all kinds of things
which was associated with worship places, holy places,
or sacred places.
Of course, this brings economic value for local citizens.
However, on the next term,
a new wave has appeared, where a new economization in religion
brought new effect:
showcasing virtuous images to perform controversial projects.
The fifth illusion: “Save or Sacrifice”.
This is a depiction of Hindu myth in the fifteenth century in Java.
At that time, Java Island was still in turmoil.
A mountain from India was needed to hold things in place,
so Mount Semeru was put on the Island of Java.
It was transported by a giant turtle and binded by a dragon.
Nowadays, in contrast to Jakarta’s urgency to protect the area from sinking,
the mountains and the hills from neighboring regions
were continously being exploited.
They were transported by iron trucks instead of giant turtle
for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The dragon still exist too, notoriously known as the “nine dragons”.
The sixth illusion is “Consuming or Refusing”.
I am a seafood fan.
But looking at Jakarta water conditions, I tend to be doubtful.
Is it really safe to consume the seafood here?
I have the choice to stop consuming it.
But what will happen to the mothers and children
whose economy can no longer depend on the sea?
The seventh illusion is
“Gated Community or Kampung”
Gated community offers beauty, safety,
and immunity from flooding for a thousand year.
Kampung offers communal life force
but often labeled as irrelevant with today’s modern image.
The most real thing can be seen when the flood comes.
Because water can not be absorbed, its overflow will descend into the village
and make it difficult for them
to cope with everyday life.
I want to ask one last question
before we run out of time.
I hope this question is not an illusion.
Will we save Jakarta by restoring it,
or by abandoning it and move to another place?
How to overcome this illusion? There’s an art to everything.
In Indonesia, gratification, negotiation, or even corruption has their own intrigue.
So I try to be brave to make the art of blocking illusion.
This is the first art, titled “Harvest from Atlantis”.
[Seven Months Later]
Shell.
If the water conditions are clean, it will absorb healthiness.
But if the ecology collapse, it will absorb
all the sins of human activity
and it will come back to us when we consume it.
The second art of blocking illusion is “The Vortex of The Tomb”.
Death is inevitable.
Each person needs time to let go of sorrow.
In some cultures, they have rituals
to appreciate the process of death.
But we, an archipelagic nation, have no rituals
when an island dies.
For me, an island is a living thing. It breaths, has memory,
even influences the ecosystem around it.
It becomes a place where animals migrate or reproduce.
But, what happened?
This intervention art is doing a symbolic burial
with placing a tombstone on Ubi Island at a depth of four meters under the sea.
Five yellow flags are signs
for five other islands that have drowned in front of our eyes.
Dragon-headed eagle.
Perhaps, of all the most epic plans to save Jakarta
is the design of “The Great Garuda Symbol” with the spread of its wings
trying to hold the rage of the ocean, which reminds me of a project in Venice
called Modulo Sperimentale Elettomeccanico,
or MOSE.
It’s also the name of a prophet who can split the sea.
This eagle bird appears valiant, but I noticed something wrong.
Where is the head?
Perhaps this is just an architectural consideration.
But an eagle without a head? Come on.
So, the art of intervention is to make the eagle’s head. With what?
With a creature
that in this time gives a significant effect on the geopolitical side.
in our country, Asia, and even the world.
That creature is a dragon.
Will this dragon-headed eagle be competent to save Jakarta
or will it be the next victim?
The last art.
The 1001th island. The most sustainable island throughout the archipelago.
The 1001th Island is placed between two important points
in the Java Sea or in Jakarta Bay, between Reclamation and Kepulauan Seribu.
That’s why it’s called the 1001th.
Made from what?
From things that come to our house everyday.
This work by Tita Salina has been exhibited in more than ten countries
and has been collected by the museums and collectors
from Thailand, Japan, to Germany.
Lastly, allow me to convey this message.
In every major disasters,
either in mythology or in biblical stories,
signs of their arrival were always observable.
However, I am worried. Jakarta does not have enough time.
Climate crisis as priority issue
has not been seen as a priority in daily life,
or even in policy structure.
So, it is not impossible
we will be drowned forever in tsunamis of illusions
just like iron-chained anchovies.
My name is Irwan Ahmett. Thank you.
(Echo in Water)