“Ways of Repair” is a memory repository for Singapore’s Indigenous communities. It documents and evidences their presence and legitimacy in Singapore’s multifaceted islands and history. Far from erased, it is an insistence on embodied memories rooted at sea.
The Orang Laut navigated seas by relying on constellations of stars and landmarks at sea, such as terumbu (reefs) and by the characteristics of islands like unique rock formations. Maps have historically been colonial instruments; cartographic paper documents that fuel a terra nullius narrative. We aim to contest these narratives of erasure and reclaim our narratives with counter-mapping grounded in Indigenous knowledge.
By positioning memories and knowledge as embodied and environmentally rooted, we encourage users to view landscapes as spaces imbued with stories and experiences. This map aims to empower the community with a say to their ancestral spaces, many of which they can no longer access.
Home is tanah air—land and sea as inseparable parts. Inspired by batik, a method and type of wax-dyed textile from Nusantara, "Ways of Repair" reframes how we exist and engage with our environment. It is a revitalization of our landscapes with notions of entanglement, reciprocity, and respect. This map encourages us to celebrate our shared spaces and history as a rich tapestry of memories, one that is living, breathing, thriving.
Everyone is welcome to add their memories, articulations of hopes, ambitions, and change about Singapore’s islands and coasts to this map.