Six hundred years have passed since Admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) from the Ming Dynasty fleet first stopped in Semarang and Cirebon. The two cities are no longer the same and continue to change with the times. The traces of Cheng Ho’s relics in Java are decreasing, But the story is timeless in the collective memory of society.

Through this Self-portrait and mixed media work, I imagined asking Cheng Ho to reminisce about places he allegedly visited in both cities. With Cheng Ho, stop by the present for a piece of memory.

All images ©Kurnia Ngayuga Wibowo