Indonesia’s Jalan Gembira and UK’s Walkspace learned in their collaboration that whether in Yogyakarta or Birmingham, walking is as political as it is trivial and that there are parallels to be drawn between “nongkrong” and “psychogeography”. Learn more in our chat with Jalan Gembira’s Gatari Surya Kusuma and Walkspace’s Fiona Cullinan.
BC: How did you meet your collaborator and get the project started?
Fiona Cullinan: We were approached by Jalan Gembira’s Amarawati Ayuningtyas (Mara), who had visited Birmingham as part of a previous British Council event with Birmingham Open Media and passed on our contact via their artist network.
We had a week to liaise and apply. It was frantic! We had to work evenings and weekends to get it done, but we did it. I actually think that it was part of the bonding process. When we got the funding we were all so happy.
BC: Could you walk us through your collaboration?
Gatari Surya Kusuma: Between Yogyakarta and Birmingham, we share similar struggles regarding the lack of infrastructure, the tension between public space and personal space, pollution from vehicles, gentrification, safety issues, and more. But we have different cultures that construct our perspective on walking. For Jalan Gembira, we would invite people to be part of a walking group, but for Walkspace, walking separately is the method that they are familiar with.
FC: Yogyakarta has many more tourists than Birmingham and that affects how local neighbourhoods are developed, with visitors having their needs prioritised over the residents’. Both cities also have different infrastructure for pedestrians that either enables or makes walking difficult.
The government and organisation of our cities is the key to how its inhabitants get around. Our final presentations were surprisingly political. The act of urban walking raises many issues that we were able to share, ranging from class and gender issues to pollution and planning. These issues all affect how, where, and when we walk.
BC: What was the most exciting part of the project?
GSK: The storytelling workshop. In it, we shared our personal perspective and experience on sensing our city through walking and learned about the importance of having a support system to do so.
FC: When Jalan Gembira decided to take the art out of the gallery space and into the community by putting it on the pos kamling (security/community post) in the village where they walked.
We couldn’t do that in the UK—it’s too cold! So we built a pos kamling space inside the art gallery and invited people to come and nongkrong (the Indonesian art of hanging out) there. Visitors removed their shoes and sat on cushions in the space with coffee, drinks, and snacks. Some Indonesian students from the University of Birmingham came to hang out there and we met and chatted.
BC: Any advice on understanding different cultural contexts and building trust when collaborating digitally and remotely?
FC: Be considerate of your collaborator, try to be flexible, and give them space to do their thing! Problems do come up and details and deadlines can shift. Finding workarounds is part of the collaborative process.
Building trust can be hard when you are not working face to face. Having a WhatsApp group for chatting, quick reminders, and nudges was the glue for our project. It allowed us to check in with one another outside of our regular Zoom meetings. Soft skills in communication is everything when working remotely. It’s not just about getting the project work done.
