For as long as I can remember, my home has always been decorated with snow globes. Once they were on a bookshelf, positioned right around the entrance of the house. Every morning it glimmered every time it was shone by the morning sun. Standing in their glory, knowing their important role in my family’s life: Mementos for every place either of us have visited, keepsakes for all the memories that have been made.
From these snow globes, I learned that no matter how everything changes with time, it is important to carry the past with me. Not because what happened in the past is better. But because it represents the process and the journey, where I learn and grow and become who I am today. Honouring the past means remembering where I came from and what I have gone through. So I started collecting small, mundane things, like movie tickets, receipts, train tickets, or postcards. In case in the future, I need to remember the long winding road I have overcome to understand who I am and develop even further.
Right now, those snow globes are not flashy or glimmery as they were back then. One or two of them has leaked, some of the miniatures inside have cracked, and most are covered with light dust. They still, however, stand proud, lined up on a cabinet in the corner of a room. Presenting themselves as best as they could, even when they are just a reflection of what they once were and a romanticized version of the memory they represent. Offering a peek into the nostalgic past for whoever sees them, even when everything and everyone around them has changed with time.
This recent obsession I have with remembering and recollecting the past led me to fall in love with Solo. A city where portraits of its past are still reflected in each of its parts, like Jalan Slamet Riyadi with its historic buildings, Pasar Triwindu with its vintage kebaya and trinkets (also old books!), or Puro Mangkunegaran with its heritage-related events. I’d say that visiting Solo feels like I’m entering a snow globe that is much like the ones in my home. It is one of the few places where people could take a peek at the past. Still preserving its culture and heritage, even when most cities have chosen to forget it and changed with time.
For my snow globes at home, they become more dull as time goes on past them. But the same analogy couldn’t be used for Solo. Because keeping parts of the past and preserving them until today does not make Solo a dull city. Instead, these cultures and traditions that have been around for ages give Solo its own charm that could not be replicated in any other city. It makes its identity as a city more complete and whole.
So the more I go there, the more I reflect on this observation with my own life and my own identity.
Back then, for me, honouring the past only means recognizing what I have gone through as an individual and understanding that it made me grow into who I am today. But now after being inspired by my visits to Solo, for me, honouring the past also means recognizing how my culture and my family’s history shaped me into who I am today. Because who I am right now wouldn’t be here without those who have come before me.
This is a mission that I’m very excited about right now. Growing up in Sidoarjo and going to school in Surabaya, I have never gotten a chance to fully immerse myself in Javanese culture. Mostly because of the characteristics of its cities that are metropolitan, and its society that rarely focuses on preserving culture and heritage. So when I now start to learn more about Javanese folklore or start to speak more using Javanese language in my daily life, it feels like I’m slowly but surely filling in the missing puzzle pieces of my identity. And consistently, I always feel more like myself whenever I do things that connect me with my culture.
A recent effort that I do to connect with Javanese culture is learning piano pieces by Javanese composers. Coincidentally, the latest piece I learned, Tari Pohon dan Daun yang Berguguran, was composed by K. R. A. Trisutji Kamal, a musician whose family are a part of Keraton Surakarta and Puro Mangkunegaran. The composition is unlike any other pieces I have learned before and has proven to be very challenging. But being able to play it from beginning to end feels very satisfying, and here is the recording:
Besides that, I’m already planning more projects to do that could help me learn and understand Javanese culture as how it is implemented in my family’s heritage. It is going to be a long process that I’m embarking on. But hopefully, later in the future, just like Solo which completes its identity by embracing its culture and heritage, I could also figure out more of my identity, not only through keepsakes like a snow globe, but also through embodying my family’s culture and past as a Javanese.
Ayunda Damai 