Kaki Lima: Cycling Through Time

Preface

KAKI LIMA: (Kaki = Feet/Leg; Lima = Five) In literal translation, Kaki Lima means five feet. In Jakarta, the term is often used to describe the ubiquitous street vendors who willingly push their three-legged cart with their strong two feet. With Tulisan, we take you to stroll and commute with us to the streets of the capital, to immerse in your senses and pay attention to the sight, sound, and scent beyond the cityscapes.

Kaki Lima: Cycling Through Time 

At an old post office sits a man, coarse yellowish skin who looks stiff and beaten. His existence tells the story of love and lost, of the unconditional and the forbidden. A symbol of defeat retold through a Javanese folktale about a man who fell in love with his lost mom.

This man is found at the old town, a place breathing of nostalgia. Each wall corrodes and has become an ear to the changes of time. Passing tales about triumph and foreign possession, where each windowpane has opened the doors of the forgotten.

Today, the hands of the contemporary has sought its worth and bridged her with her ancestors. She cycles her way around the town square, noticing the jolt of kids’ laughter enjoying each second of running freely. While the visible has been altered, sound  remains her strongest emotional link to the space which has recollected the coming of age and a time of becoming. She cycles her way back to the future.

Text by Athina Ibrahim
Photography by Gabriela Bhaskar

Bag Tulisan’s Marigold Knit Liliput Tote
Dilyana from Amore Models Jakarta