4 - Walking as Counter-Mapping Surabaya’s Old Town

This article explores a design activist project called Pertigaan, a counter-mapping project done on foot in the major Indonesian port city of Surabaya. This project was initiated in 2016 in the form of physical maps, exhibitions, walking groups, talk over a cup of coffee, and a website. Pertigaan continues to develop into a study and walking group in Surabaya’s old town among Surabaya’s residents and beyond. Pertigaan encounters the legacy of the colonial practice of segregation of ethnic divisions which Surabaya’s old town is still conceptually divided into these quarters (Arab quarter, Chinese quarter, Europe quarter). It’s argued that the practice of walking through these quarters is an act of reclamation, It brings these spaces back into the care and custody of the residents themselves. Pertigaan emphasized complicated relations and entanglements with humans, non-humans, and ethics of situatedness, solidarity, and resistance, such as rail-side kampungs, birds market and edible gardens along the Kalimas Canal, flea markets in the center of Surabaya’s old town. The counter-maps were made iteratively and collectively over the years and offer critiques of the design of Surabaya and its colonial legacy and propositions for different ways of living, navigating, and valuing the city. The maps are also produced through connections between many communities, independent spaces, publications, events, festivals, platforms and programs. As objects, the maps themselves operate within a rich culture of activism, connecting the complex networks of informal markets to small businesses like coffee shops and food stalls, to public transport, to waterways, and to public spaces.

Keywords: counter-mapping, walking, Surabaya, colonial infrastructure, kampung