Beyond the tiger cage

Abstract

Racial tension between the ethnic Chinese and Indonesians has been prevalent in Indonesia, yet a topic not often touched upon for its controversy and fragility. Hoping to highlight this issue, Beyond the Tiger Cage is a social commentary inspired by the walls in Indonesia: social segregation and its physical manifestation—the gates called the ‘tiger cage’. The tiger cages are cage-like gates constructed often over the front terrace of Chinese shophouses, which rose in trend in 1998 when racial attacks were at peak. Though the tiger cages dotted around the city are a reminder of the times of chaos and insecurity, they are more commonly viewed as a norm in the urbanscape. The project aims to overturn the negative connotations of walls by deconstructing a symbol of isolation and reconstructing them into a communal bench—a product usually associated with congregation and interaction.