Borneo
Barely Indonesia
As the sky changes and the swallows cue the dawn — watching over from my 6-story high window, the flat-lined profile of the city’s landscape pokes to the horizon as the sun rises. A hint of the boats’ diesel engine and its horn signals the beginning of a busy day along the banks of the Kapuas River, where the city’s ethnic Chinese, Dayak & Malay inhabitants are warming up their hands to embrace the biggest celebration of the year, celebrating the last day of the Lunar New Year in the form of a festival called ‘Cap Go Meh’.
I have just returned from a trip to Borneo’s Jewel, West Kalimantan Province’s Capital — Pontianak; where for the first time of my life, I learned how this nation came about. It’s a humble city with a big pile of historical record in its belly, I am still attempting to process all the information I gathered during the 6 days I stayed there, during which, me & my camera were breathing along this city of 500.000 souls, eating, walking & celebrating nature’s indigenous creation of people & its way of life.
Stay tuned for massive influx of pictorial flood & wordy rumble of this amazing place, people & culture; meanwhile, an Indonesian Na’Vi, Statue of Little Barry, Indonesian Forest and its inhabitant — the tigers, are part of the 36 brilliantly curated recent scenes from Indonesia that will be an appropriate prelude to the excerpt above.
Happy March, everyone!
