ᯂᯞ DI ꦮꦸꦭꦤ꧀ (Hala di Wulan; 'Scorpion on the Moon') is an installation piece showcasing two ethnic orthographies from Indonesia: Surat Batak from the Batak Toba people, and Hanacaraka from the Javanese people. Using these two scripts and four different languages, I visualize the narrative of traditional lunisolar calendars in Indonesia, and the importance of measuring time in these traditions.
Growing up far from my parents' hometowns, I grew up at a distance from my cultural heritage(s). As a result, I am mostly a stranger to the Toba language, and a mere acquaintance to the Javanese language. This project is my attempt to reconnect to the aspect of language from my cultural roots, and to share it to a broader, international audience.
Exhibition View
The installation was centered around two calendar systems: one based on the Parhalaan calendar, and another based on the Penanggalan Jawa calendar. Both are lunisolar calendars with intricacies of their owns. For instance, Parhalaan traditionally uses symbols like scorpions instead of numbers to keep count of the days; Penanggalan Jawa considers 5- and 7-days week at the same time. There is also a display showing a combination of both calendars, in the style of Pan-Southeast Asian combined calendars.
Combined Calender + Overall Explainer View
Presentation Video
