Jun 6, 20185 min read

Series #02 - STORYTELLING ARCHITECTURE OF A VILLAGE IN THE CLOUDS

Updated: Aug 6, 2020

PRESERVING HISTORY THROUGH LOCAL INGENUITY -

Story and Images by Ferry R. Tan

A Story of an Ancient Legacy

two conically shaped traditional houses in the village of wae rebo flores ntt — "Once on a sunny day in a small and peaceful village high up in the mountains ..."

"Once on a sunny day in a small and peaceful village high up in the mountains ..." Such was the opening sentence of a story of one of my favorite comics from my childhood. It's the story of Asterix and Obelix, two residents of a small village named Gallia (formerly France) and their fellow villagers;

"The Gauls were a hard tribe that resiliently and boldly defended their territory against the ruthless attacks of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. The Gauls were a thorn in the eye of the emperor because they were the only people who could not be defeated. At every battle the imperial legions were humbled by the Gauls time and time again. They confronted their enemy without fear because they possessed an extraordinary physical strength, thanks to a special potion brewed by Panoramix, the druid of the village."

The relevance of this story is that the people of Wae Rebo are just as brave and resistant as the people of Gallia. But it is not the Roman emperor they are confronted with, but an enemy who is called 'modernization'. In spite of this, they have remained loyal to their character until today and are able to preserve their culture.

My Story Begins...

On Thursday the 3rd September, 2009 as we departed from Jakarta to Denpasar, Bali, where we would be transited not earlier than 9.00 am, the next morning to Labuan Bajo, Flores, which meant that we were bound to stay the night in Bali.

A view of the port of Labuan Bajo the capital city of west Flores, NTT — View of Labuan Bajo

On Friday the 4th of September around 13.00 PM Eastern Indonesia time we arrived at Komodo airport in Labuan Bajo and headed straight to Denge, a small village situated at the foot of Wae Rebo. The journey to Denge did not take less than five hours, overland and over bumpy roads. We have decided to take the coastal route where the roads were not always smooth but the safari style ride was fairly compensated by the breathtaking scenery we were passing.

We arrived at Denge around 16.00 and were welcomed by Pak Martin Anggo, a resident, and supervisor of the local renovation team. Then we met Pak Blasius Monta, the rector of the village, who was kind enough to offer us a place for the night. We discoursed briefly about the purpose of our presence over a cup of locally brewed coffee until it was time to rest to regain our strength for the hike to Wae Rebo the next morning.

On Saturday, September 5th, noon, we started the journey uphill. We felt fortunate that the day was bright enough, which was very helpful to speed up and lighten our journey. We climbed mountain trails that were sometimes pretty steep for about three hours. The climb was quite heavy but fun because we were all excited to see the village that we have only seen in pictures so far. Nobody felt tired or hungry for we were all engaged in concentrating on the hike while exchanging information and talking about nature.

three conically shaped traditional houses with gate of bamboo at fore ground in wae rebo viilage ntt with mountains in back ground — Through a gate made of bamboo, we saw the view of a small, peaceful looking village looming...

Around 3 pm, in the afternoon, we arrived at our destination. Through a gate made of bamboo, we saw the view of a small, peaceful looking village looming, similar like the one I 've seen on the drawings in the adventure stories of Asterix and Obelix. From a distance became visible the view of four conically shaped houses with grass-covered roofs and there were three other houses with roofs of zinc.

Naturally, as a photographer, I immediately started observing the light conditions and checking potential camera angles. With an open-mind, I took my time to assess the entire situation in the village . It all looked good to me, subjects were plentiful. They even seem to invite themselves to be photographed.

an old man and two small children sit next to each other on a stone platform looking at view of mountains and blue sky and white clouds — "In Wae Rebo it is as if the time factor did not exist, because there is no one who is haunted by time or deadline..."

According to local information, the population in Wae Rebo counts 2,000 people living in settlements scattered on the mountain slopes. Our goal was a village, located on a plateau and probably only inhabited by about 200 people. Each house is occupied by 6 to 8 families, while normal and smaller houses can only be filled by 2 to 4 families, depending on the size of the settlement.

a cheerful group of village people waving on a platform with three conically shaped traditional houses of wae rebo village flores ntt — ... we were cheerfully greeted by the residents, waving at us from the platform...

From a distance of a few dozen meters, we were cheerfully greeted by the residents, waving at us from the platform of the most central house called Niang Gendang or drum house. On average they were neatly dressed in typical Manggarai style. The men were donned in black sarongs with white shirts, complemented with the appropriate headgear while the women wore black sheets with colored tops.

As a city dweller, I was quite moved with such a welcome greeting. It felt like I was being teleported to a world from one of Jules Verne's stories "The Time Machine". Wae Rebo is so different from the world we come from, where everyone is pre-occupied by chasing their careers and to convince themselves that their lives matter.

In Wae Rebo it is as if the time factor did not exist, because there is no one who is haunted by time or deadline. There are no wall clocks to find here, probably because nobody possesses one and besides, there are no walls to place them. So I felt free and liberated of everything that normally must be done on time and in time. In Wae Rebo, time really seem to stand still.

On behalf of all villagers of Wae Rebo we were officially welcomed by the elders accompanied by a small ceremony. The ceremony consisted of a symbolic presentation of a white chicken as a means of offering friendship, to a representative from our party. We were humbled by the hospitality and sincerity of the villagers.

Those of us who can enjoy the material world actually experience mental poverty compared to those who live on natural resources and have the freedom to live their culture. After the formalities, coffee and hot tubers are served and we were invited for a tour to assess the renovation.

six men with traditional manggarai clothing and white shirts squatting while beating on drums — we were entertained with music and chants accompanied by beating drums.

It was then time to unwind and get prepared for dinner. After dinner, we were entertained with music and chants accompanied by beating drums. After each chant, we were briefed on the meaning of the lyrics. Of all chants, the scriptures have the same core that tells about life and death, happiness and friendship and the people's daily experiences.

I could only be amazed by the hospitality and openness of the community of Wae Rebo, which meant nothing but inviting friendship. My first day in Wae Rebo passed by unnoticed and before I knew it was time to rest.