Mattude

Featuring works by Aziziah Diah Aprilya (Indonesia), Recipient of the 7th Objectifs Documentary Award, Emerging Category

Mattude is a project where I document the effects of reclamation projects along the coast of Makassar, my hometown in South Sulawesi in Indonesia. Mattude – a local term which means “collecting the clams” – has also come to represent my way of collecting and sharing stories about the resilience of the coastal women of Makassar.

The Makassar city government’s reclamation plans echoes similar developments throughout Indonesia. Reclamation in Makassar started in the late 1990s with road construction, then housing areas, flats, hotels, malls, a new port, and more. To date, 209 hectares of land have been reclaimed, and it is expected that thousands more hectares will be created along the west and north of Makassar’s coastline. The Makassar City Spatial Plan anticipates that reclamation will expand 26% of the city area.

Before reclamation began, the coast of Makassar was a lively fishing community where people could get various types of fish, clams and crabs. For the coastal women, the sea was a means of livelihood, a shared social space, a playground for their children, and a sacred place for rituals.

According to indigenous coastal beliefs, ancestors are thought to live in the water in various forms. There are crocodiles, snakes, dolphins, fish, centipedes, they say. In Bugis and Makassar culture, many still believe that each person has twin crocodiles. We call these ancestors ‘Nene’ or grandmother. During certain celebrations, offerings must be lowered into the sea or river as a sign of gratitude to the grandmother, ancestors, and nature. These rituals are said to prevent bad luck and disaster, and are led by women.

As reclamation continues, the livelihoods and practices of coastal communities have come increasingly under threat. They have lost touch with coastal creatures and tide changes. They are losing their physical and spiritual relationship to the sea.

Since 2017, the coastal women of Makassar have gathered as a means of survival and resistance. They organize protests against the reclamation, and find other ways of making a living. As the excavators reclaim the coast, these women seek to reclaim their own narratives.