Kreat.Kreat...Taktak-Toktok: Between the Gaps of Conservation

Abstract

We often hear the question, what is conservation?, but rarely do we ask, when is conservation? This subtle shift redefines conservation as a series of experiences through space and time. It moves it away from the typical natural reserve scale of 1:50 000 towards more grounded ones looking at crafts through ever-changing relationships between the living and built environment. In her book Friction (2004, 175), Anna L. Tsing defines gaps as “conceptual spaces and real places into which powerful demarcations do not travel well.”

This thesis looks between the gaps of conservation through the materiality of unbuilding and building practices in Bali, a complex island of Indonesia.

Through the story of streets in Ubud and the edge of the forest, the work reflects on the transition from global to local material realities in public spaces for Anak Bali, people from Bali. In other words, I am asking when is conservation for Bali in relation to its inhabitants, humans and their fellow-beings.