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Studio Plesungan Residency 

As someone who has been struggling with finding a sense of identity their entire life, I often asked myself, where would I turn to and who I would be if I was away from my very comfortable and pampered way of life in Singapore.
 
Having just come back from my study trip to London, exploring the fragments of my cultural identity and language, I thought that it would be a great idea to apply for the residency at Indonesia straight after.  My purpose was to expand upon and promote new ways of contextualising my previous project in the UK which talks about my lived experiences with cultural homelessness and a common spoken language across cultures. Since the studio hosting the residency was well known for its performing arts, I felt a strong calling to go upon hearing about it as I knew they had a lot to offer and learn from.

First impressions

I arrived at Solo on the 25th of April.

My first immediate impression of solo was “wow this feels just like the Philippines.”

From the way the shops were built, to the appearance of the people, it just looked to me like I was driving around the streets of my grandparents’ hometown in Bacoor.

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Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines 

Week 1
(25/4 - 1/5)

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Studio Plesungan was about 15-20 min drive from the airport. It was located in a quaint little village, surrounded by trees, 20 mins away from the city centre, 

 

Our first meeting with Melati began with her asking us walk around the vicinity with psychogeography in mind. 

being in a new environment is always scary, but nothing I’ve ever seen before,

Riddled with many unsafe conditions

Lack of sidewalks , risk getting hit by a motorbike, motorcyclists carrying 3 or 4 passengers including a baby.

 

Streets deemed unwalkable for the unseasoned and newcoming, so for the rest of the trip we got around everywhere by taking Gojek or Grab.

​

Rundown of the activities and places we went to on our first week:

  • Museum Keraton

  •  Pasar Gedhe 

  • Sangiran Museum

  • Wayang Orang Sriwedari

  • World dance day

  • Mangkunegaran Palace /Javanese writing workshop

  •  Radya pustaka museum

  • Gamelan factory 

Wayang Orang Swiredari 

Kenenza and I watched the Wayang Orang play at the Sriwedari Dance Theatre, where many locals go to for entertainment as they host shows every night! The performers mimic the movement of the wayang kulit puppets

Most of the dialogue was in Javanese which neither of us understood the innuendos. Whenever the characters delivered punchlines, the audience would erupt in laughter and I would just sit there puzzled, wondering what they said. 

Mostly had to rely on their physical comedy to laugh along with them. 

The performance was enjoyable nevertheless, being entranced by choreography married with the haunting gamelan melodies, and vibrant costumes. I find it wonderful such a beautiful tradition continues to be passed down and I hope for many years to come.

Javanese Writing Workshop @ Mangkunergaran Palace 

Another highlight from the first week would be going to the Mangkunegaran palace (where the current mangkunegara X resides) to learn to read and write in Javanese. Although the lesson was taught in Indonesian, the teacher made it so easy to understand and pick up that little was translation was needed which brought me a sense of accomplishment.

Gamelan Factory

Gamelan Factory was breathtaking!! Making large gongs

Coming to solo as a foreigner, with what little I understand from Bahasa Melayu,

I met with a lot of difficulty communicating (outside the studio) such as not able to order food at the warung or bargain for clothes due to the language barrier. I would end up panicking and looking sheepishly at those who try to speak to me in Indonesian. 

I was very dependent on Kenenza and to translate

 

The part I found the most awkward was that could apparently pass off as a local.

I would often be mistaken for Javanese by the locals before conversations and would feel a weird guilt for not living up to their expectations. A lot of times I felt like an outsider, simple tasks that used to be effortless in Singapore became daunting.

 

But despite the huge culture shock, what keeps me delighted to be here is the

determination to learn and adapt to my surroundings.

The layers of diversity - language and race

H i g h l i g h t s

Week 2 (2/5 - 8/5)

  • our residency coincided with zai kunings

 

  • Desperately (not really) trying to relate my experiences of being filipino with Indonesian in terms of the language and superstitions, so deep down I do know that I was able to connect with my filipino side in terms of seeing similarities between the two

 

I’m not here to look for my roots even though its possible further back down in history i may share ties - but I don’t wanna force a connection that’s not there yknow

 

Despite all this, thus begs the question “what am I doing here?”

  • Zai Kuning workshop

  • Museum Keris

  • Pasar Klewer

  • Performance night

  • Candi sukuh and candi ceto

  • Danar hadi batik museum

  • Performance class

  • Tumurun museum

  • Javanese dance class

 

Conversations and story telling

2nd week reflection 

- 

Final Week (9/5 - 15/5)

  • On stage performance

  • Experimentation begins

documented a lot of movement and conversations, and sound scapes 

  • romanticising farm life lol

My main takeaways

 

And bidding farewell to the place

 

 

 

It was uncomfortable a lot of the times, not just physically but emotionally

I faced a lot of existential questions about myself and was in the constant state of questioning myself simply because I just didn’t know what I was there to do.

 

I came there to search for something, something I just did not know was missing.

H i g h l i g h t s

Martabak Manis Mania

Love at first bite.

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Martabak manis one of the most sinful treats I have tried in Indonesia. It is a sweet, thick pancake that comes with a variety of toppings to choose from such as cheese, chocolate, corn, peanuts and so much more. 

​

SInce Gojek's food delivery was so much cheaper compared to Singapore, you bet we were buying these almost everyday, trying out different stores to see which one we like best. 

So long, Solo

Outro and other thoughts

Leaving solo left a really deep hole in my heart. Came back to the rat race that is Singapore.

 I didn't even know why. 

Sure, goodbye's are bittersweet. The melancholy of leaving a place after developing some sort of attachment to it,

It also left me with a weird twang of bitterness that this beautiful culture is not mine

​

It took me embarrassingly long to confront myself and face reality.

It's like i left behind the carefree version of of myself in Solo. 

It made me hyper aware of how I operate and interact, completely having to rewire, But at the same time made me forget who I am

 

I think it’s futile to search for what your purpose is in a place when one’s sense of self is extremely fluid yet skewed at the same time. The answers started trickling in immediately after I stopped thinking about it that way.

 

After endless reflections that kept leading me in a circle back to the same holistic answer,

, finally I took a step back that yeah I have been unconciously bridging the gap between me and my surroundings by using my own culture / heritage to relate to similar experiences in Indonesia

 

Its okay that I don’t know who I am,

And also this feeling of alienation and out of placeness in Indonesia wouldn’t even be permanent, it would soon disappear the longer I stay and integrate myself into my environment

 

( So I’m mainly focusing on that grey area )

 

 

A form of catharsis, to just be myself, observe firsthand how I interact with my environment

I get to take a break from being my usual self, and to lose myself to find myself

 

Most importantly how to stay true to myself

What solo did for me is give me space to reconnect with the things about myself that I am able to find through another cultures lens

 

a feeling that i felt in the uk and here currently in solo is the

melancholic feeling of leaving a place

it feels bittersweet to leaving a place after you develop some sort of attachment to it

I knew who i was, and it had nothing to do with my cultural identity 

I was a foreigner and it was just as simple as that

 

do  attachment to places happen easily because i struggle to find a place to call home? / culturally homelessness?

is it because i cling to new experiences and differences

 

leaving a “host” country ( a country that hosts me lol)

happened twice in two months

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here i get to firsthand observe those nuances and feelings

 

why is it so ingrained in us to want to call our self something fixed and to want to fit in

growth

 

i never had the chance to grieve leaving my childhood home because then, i was too young to understand what was happening/didn’t know i wasnt coming back

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and then it hit me. I was doing it, i was grieving. 

okay kind of explains the post-solo depression. wow 

 

 

Special thanks to the Studio Plesungan team and Melati for taking good care of us

and to Kenza, couldn't have done this residency without you!

Bonus martabak!!! 
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