A year after the passing of my grandfather, in 2024, I traveled back home to Jakarta from the Netherlands. At times, the Dutch scenery is enchanting.. but there is other imagery, underlying and persistent, emerging more frequently. There are pieces of us, Indonesians, everywhere I look. As if our story has been carved out in every grain of its substances.

A collection of parables, the book is part self-reflection and historical nature writing that departs from grief and Saraswati’s brief return to Indonesia. It combines the artist's text, photographs, and illustrations. The book looks at migration, the residue of colonialism, and hope that grows from solidarity.

Limited edition of 100

Author: Ratu R. Saraswati

Editor: Hannah Dawn Henderson, Ivan Mous, Aprilia Ramadhani

Design: Nandiasa Rahmawati

Language: English

Four-colour risograph, 64pp, 13 x 19cm

ISBN: 978-90-9041285-6

Published by Terang Press

Printed by Stencilwerck, The Hague, the Netherlands

2026