If you think this article provides an answer to a heritage and tourism dilemma of a lesser-known place, then you came to the wrong place. For I am only a messenger bearing questions we should all be asking. Instead of solving any problem, I add more to the existing ones. Continue reading at your own risk.
The smell of rot whiffed up my nose as I walked past this branching path that looked like an entrance to some open space along the Tlaa Kbira street in Fez. They said if you want to look for a tannery around Fez, follow your nose. I can vouch for the statement, that this rotting smell led me to witness a 1000-year-old method for leather manufacturing. Imagine the scenery: vats full of liquids in different colors composed of God knows what; some said pigeon poop, cow urine, and lime; in a color configuration that in some instances seemed random yet systematically placed.
At that moment I was looking at these vats with awe without really thinking that this place honestly smelled like a choir of pungency if pungent smells were audible. Yet I stayed and only later on wondered what made me stay despite the overwhelming kaka aroma. Would I have stayed if the smell came from a pile of trash in the back alleys of Hackney? Would I think for a second to willingly follow the smell of the infamous Bantar Gebang holy mount of civilizational waste? Is it the narrative of a continuous living tradition, also known as heritage, along with the tourism infrastructure in Fez as the intangible value of this stench that made me stay and stare for quite some time?
This month, I joined a curated historical and culinary tour of Jalan Jatinegara in Jakarta, Indonesia. I must say the tour shook me. Not in a bad way. On the contrary, I was amazed by the amount of history and cultural exchanges that had happened throughout the ages from pre-colonial times when it became the settlement of people under the administration of the Banten sultanate full of teak trees, then apparently had a fortress, to the present day with its current condition: Teak-less and Fortress-less. I never thought that this little corner area in Jakarta that never really mattered to me has been keeping a lot of fascinating secrets of acculturation and amalgamation of living heritages that are constantly evolving, yet unknown to most people; or maybe just me. Although it sounded silly at first, I believe it raises a valid question: 'Why don't more people know about this, or is this intentional?'
I wrote about Fez in the introduction for a reason: as a comparison of a place thriving through heritage tourism that is well known internationally. Because, for sure Fez has a longer known history of existence as a city, especially with the presence of Jamia el Qarwiyyin as the first Ijaza issuing university. In parallel to this narrative, the place exhibited a vibe of stagnancy that the Western gaze loves so much, which generates tourism thanks to the infrastructure that the Moroccan government provided, considering tourism; a sweet source of revenue for the nation's economy.
On the contrary, Jatinegara has a waaaay younger known history in comparison to Fez and is less known nationally, let alone internationally. Nevertheless, the place exhibited an interesting pattern of constant evolution mixed with an attempt to preserve tradition and generational practices underneath this maze of alleyways and ruins of unsupervised expansion and additions to old buildings that could have become a site of heritage tourism but did not. I know I have been posing many questions, but this one should be the main question: Should all kinds of heritage strive for heritage tourism?
The Heritage Question
According to L Smith in the Uses of Heritage, heritage creates a sense of continuity and a construction of the past. This obsession with preserving the past is a discourse that sprung up in 19th-century Europe with the rise of nation-states and the quest for national identity. Therefore, something will not be recognized as a heritage until it is officially recognized by a group of people or a nation to invent or tell their story. Otherwise, it is just another way of doing any daily activities or another building along the street.
From the curated tour that we did in Jalan Jatinegara, I could see a narrative of cultural connectivity and continued historical practices in the area, thanks to the organizers who curated the experience (shout out to @tastemadeindonesia, @eathink_id, and @jakartaarchitecturefestival). We were presented at the end with every food that we came across throughout the tour. We ended up with a mosaic of what might seem like just another snack and individual foods that are unrelated on their own. But together they formed a mosaic of stories from different people in this intricate maze of cultural interaction.
From the craft of janur to legendary food products, coffee, and bakery we can see generational slow products that have existed for decades and have become important components of the area's societal fabric. Among them, Combro requires pre-ordering due to their capacity to produce vs the demand; exactly what generational slow products are all about: being realistic because it is all done by humans, just like how the practice of tannery and crafts of woodwork, metalwork, and stonework in Fez proves the continuation of the place's guild of crafts from its inception and the preservation of practice and method.
From an architectural point of view, both places i.e. Fez and Jatinegara have historical features that tell you who used to live there through the fuse of architectural styles. In the case of Fez, it combines local Maghribi and Andalusian styles, while Jatinegara fuses local, Chinese, and Dutch styles. Jatinegara can easily earn the status of a recognized heritage based on the points I have mentioned. But before we go into the tourism part of the discussion, it's important to question whether it needs heritage recognition. Also what kind of recognition is it getting? and from who?
A heritage does require a stage be it physical or metaphorical. Say I invite people for dinner. Technically I can offer them ramen noodles straight out of the packet and the chances of them coming back are pretty high still, but do not expect their excitement the next time I invite them. There has to be some presentation that elevates the experience to something more than a mere daily activity. Serving a 3-course meal, or at least some selections of different nutrient sources should be the default mode. This is what I meant by having a stage for a heritage. You can't just present it the way you operate daily; or in this case, the end of the month.
A good stage should have the following attributes: pleasing to see and easy to see. Why would anyone go to a show that requires them to be on the tips of their toes the whole show? Even worse once they caught a glimpse, the show or performance made Dear Evan Hansen the movie felt bearable. In my humble opinion, to become a recognized heritage, a place, or a practice requires some kind of aesthetic adjustments to be done in order to elevate the experience from ramen noodles to a 3-course meal. This begs the question: once a place or a practice becomes a heritage, does everything always have to be an object of tourism?
Do we need tourism? Who's benefit?
The trend of cultural consumption has forced places and practices to adhere to this pathway of heritage-making that should ideally in the end become a touristic object for Europeans as the highest Key Performance Indicator, and Americ.. well, you know what I mean. In theory, once a heritage tourism infrastructure has been established it would increase economic activities and revenues in the area because the mundane practices have been elevated to the status of heritage practice that is worth the currency of the 'Global North'. But for whose benefit is it when a place finally becomes a site of heritage tourism?
In the truest fact, most times before places become a site of heritage tourism, the locals have already formed an ecosystem of life-sustaining practices that are ideal for that place without the pressure of heritage tourism status. The food businesses of Jatinegara seemed to have figured out their way of life amongst themselves without the need for external validation and the enticement of expansion. Just like how my friend from Banda Neira told me that they don't want their home to become the 2nd Bali, which will force them to do practices that are not sustainably proven to survive for centuries in the context of their space and most importantly keep their way of life authentic to themselves.
Accommodating Tourists vs Authenticity
Have you ever heard about the term 'Disneyland effect'? I don't know if anyone has ever coined the term. But this term came to my mind when I was in Frankfurt upon looking at the site of Romerberg which used to be the old city of Frankfurt that got bombed during WWII and then later rebuilt by the Americans in the 1980s based on old records or photographies of the site. While walking around I realized that most touristy places fall into the same unrealistic aesthetic expectations - well, some more than others - that just do not reflect how normal human live their lives, making it look like Disneyland, relying on an unseen force that kept all the realities of life to be found on site such as a real house where normal people live authentically and move through the space like they are the true owners of the land with complete freedom to perform any activities. I have to say that none of these are found for the sole reason of accommodating the tourism experience which now has become the ideal pathway of heritage sites and practices.
Another matter to be discussed is the tendency of presenting heritage sites by distancing them from the surrounding area's context to elevate the presentation and experience. While I agree that some higher presentation needs to happen for a place to gain the status of heritage, it should not be divorced from the real life that surrounds it.
I would argue that Fez succeeded in achieving this balance of authenticity of the city and making it simultaneously presentable as a heritage site. The real people of Fez still live amongst all the historical sites, and the whole city has the same wall color all over which is part of the heritage presentation. Their houses are all connected in this intricate maze that used to work as a defense system from invaders, which has now been repurposed into a trap for lost tourists to be guided for some money.
Conclusion
Jatinegara has great potential to become a heritage site, but its future will depend on various factors. Whatever happens to the area should reflect the local community's desires or involve a guided development process that benefits the residents. Once Jatinegara is recognized as a heritage site, it will likely become a destination for heritage tourism. The primary responsibility of those managing this project will be to find a balance between accommodating tourists and preserving the area's authenticity. This means enhancing the presentation and accessibility for visitors while ensuring that the local community can move freely and maintain the authenticity of their way of life in the space.
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