Vincent Rumahloine, Mang Dian

"Sedekah" is a term derived from the Arabic word sadakah, an act of voluntary giving by Muslims without limitations in time or amount. "Benih" means seeds.

Sadaqah comes from the Arabic word sadaqah, which means giving voluntarily. Seeds are seeds, seedlings are small plants. Sedekah Seed tries to build safe spaces and relationships between people from various backgrounds online and offline through collective memories of plants. Through the activity of distributing seeds to the participants of the Sedekah Sedekah, the participants tried to find and explore the public’s memory of tiis leungeun (a person talented in farming). Sedekah Benih tries to find and document the traditional knowledge about ecology in society passed down from generation to generation through art and media. We see that this traditional knowledge can be learned, developed, and shared to solve the current climate change problem. Sedekah Benih consists of three stages: seed selection, seed growing and care, and the harvest festival. We are currently in the second stage.

Through developing this project in Bandung, Indonesia, we discovered how the musical instrument karinding is used as a medium of expression and a map of how we understand and communicate with the environment. Karinding is used on various occasions, one of which is before and after planting seeds. Sound waves from the tutungulan karinding game pattern are believed to be a medium of communication with plants to stimulate plant stomata to open. Karinding is also trusted as a communication medium to ask permission from animals and spirits who have previously occupied the land. We are still collecting traditional ecological knowledge from the people in Bandung and will expand to other places in the future.

Currently, 100 participants are learning to become a tiis leungeun by growing chili plants in their respective homes in Bandung. The public’s collective memory of plants becomes the common ground and safe space. Everyone involved in Sedekah Benih will interact with each other regardless of their respective backgrounds. There are many stories related to plants around the world that have been told from generation to generation. What’s the story like? Is there a tiis leungeun around us? Or do you have a green thumb? Let’s share the story and learn with us.