BUAYA / CROCODILE

(This diary entry is part of a series written by artists who took part in the EAC’s Saudade exhibition)

Just like I explained in my first blog my ‘working method’ is to take a quote from the memoirs and let my memories go. This time the quote from the memoirs is:

Bagoes Koening was alleen een woonwijk aan de Musi (zeg Moesi), een rivier vol krokodillen …

“Bagus Kuning was a residential area on the Musi, a river full of crocodiles …”

I also found a quote in the book “Tempo Dulu” by Annick Doeff:

I firmly believed that crocodiles lurked beneath  the Musi’s opaque brown surface ready to pounce on humans if given a chance. Didn’t the natives call a man who had gone amok and killed or maimed someone a buaya to indicate he was as dangerous as a crocodile ?

Bagus Kuning = Mooie Gele = Nice Yellow

Buaya = Krokodil = Crocodile

My mother had a bag and shoes made of crocodile leather and a small snake leather bag. (They are now in my possession.)

In response to the quote and my memory about what happened to the shoes resulted in a poem, that’s partly true. My mother said:

I had a crocodile leather bag

a big crocodile leather bag and

crocodile leather shoes with

block heels ….. kah boom

block heels ….. kah boom

block heels ….. kah boom

I wanted queenie heels

so I said

please mr. Shoemaker

take those block heels off

now I have queenie heels

they sound so sweet

they goes exactly like this

clicker – ty – clack

clicker – ty – clack

clicker – ty – clack

This poem is another item for my booklet, MEMOIRS & MEMORIES. All my work for the Saudade project will be in it.