‘Voiced By Eight, Carried By Three’A Poetic Reflection on WANUA
WANUA during Makassar International Writers Festival, 1 June 2025. Photo: iqbal lubis
Beyond Walls co-founder and storyteller Jeremy Flohr wrote the poem Voiced by Eight, Carried by Three, expressing his reflections on the WANUA experience May / June 2025.
WANUA artist Hirah Sanada during the poetry act at Makassar Writers Festival, 1 June 2025.
Voiced By Eight, Carried By Three
She’s holding the bow of the violin,
As he holds the voice of the sea.
She carries out our heart, as they form a circle of three.Sky and sea connect eight of them. And when five are silenced, three will carry them.
“Why silencing our voice? Is it for our name?”
“Why draw the lines? When we came from the same.”
Voiced by eight, carried by three. They whisper.“We are taken across horizons, beyond homes and the bridging seas.”
“We surpassed land and hand, we are where time and space meet.”
Voiced by eight, carried by three. They whisper.“We are the house, the ground, the village, the land.”
“We are the circle as we are the beginning and the end.”
Voiced by eight, carried by three. They whisper.Far beyond the fortress’ walls sounds the violin, as raindrops are bouncing upon the tifa’s skin. And when hundreds of voices are gathering, answering the call, the silence breaks, like ombak against the chapel.
“We are Mandar. We are Bugis. We are Makassar.”
“We are Papua. We are Maluku. We are Toraja.”
“Voiced by hundreds, carried by all.” “We don’t whisper anymore.”“Katong disini. We arrived long before.”
Written by Jeremy Flohr. Inspired by the WANUA experience 2025.
Jermaine Rumahlaiselan of Tiga Batang Rumah, 1 June 2025, Makassar Writers Festival.
Poet Rachmat Mustamin.
Waves of the visual installation art by Jasmin Ansar against the walls of the chapel.
WANUA is a Beyond Walls exchange program connecting artists and researchers from Sulawesi and Maluku, living in Makassar, Ambon, and the Netherlands. Supported by the Dutch Foundation for Literature (Nederlands Letterenfonds) and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst).