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a workshop with teenaged truants too tough for school in Sembalun Bumbung
"X-Change"; Sembalun Bumbung, Lombok; Indonesia. 2008


In December, Maruyama Makoto (Japan), S.S. Listyowati (Indonesia) and I travelled to the remote mountain village of Sembalun Bumbung as artists-in-residence. Upon arrival, we fell ill almost immediately as a result of the sudden cold, unrelenting rain, and the unexpected harshness of rural living.

Between us three, many work days were lost - spent supine and groaning. At some point Makoto grew deathly ill in spite of endless massages (the local cure-all), and we learned that there was no doctor to be found in the vicinity. One night, a "nurse’s assistant" came by to look at Makoto by flashlight (the power was down, as usual). He took Makoto’s temperature and prescribed a load of antibiotics. We were told that two village boys had died from Typhoid fever.

I thought it seemed a good time to fold paper cranes. (See Senbazuru and Sadako Sasaki)

The next morning, I offered an origami workshop for anyone who was interested. As it was a school day, I expected to see small children and housewives. Instead, a pack of teenaged truants showed up.

These "gangsters" - who fought with knives and who were too tough for school – ­ huddled around to fold paper cranes and to speak rudimentary English. One of them, in turn, showed us how to fold love letters into the shape of a heart.

photos by: S.S. Listyowati

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