A new friend named Mr. Nyoto, has a family business recycling plastic. My brief introduction by phone ended with an invitation to visit a recycling factory in the city of Mojokerto, East Java. A short visit for two days and two nights, I was also taken to visit the Trowulan site, exploring the past and the present closely. The Mojokerto regional government is also trying to build its city today with the design and architecture of the past with reference to the Trowulan site. Many fences and houses of residents around the site were rebuilt by the government in an ancient style. Government offices, village gates are also not free from the restoration. Maybe the local government is aware of the importance of city identity, so that it uses the Trowulan site as the face of Mojokerto today.
The day before the visit to the Trowulan site, I visited the plastic recycling factories owned by Mr. Nyoto’s family. The experience of visiting these factories was very massive, with workers working hard to sort plastic waste and process it into plastic pellets. The finished plastic pellets are then made into new products. This brief experience, brought me to see the similarities between the local government and Mr. Nyoto’s family. They both tried to bring the past to the present to become something better and more useful. I then realized these efforts and good intentions in a collage based on my visit to the Trowulan site and plastic factory that day.
Series of photograph, 2024
