We Followed Our Curiosity to the Forest

Abstract

Departing from the experience of being lost in the forest, this essay explores the idea of “laku” and local embodied knowledge. Laku refers to learnings gained through bodily experiences under specific circumstances, as well as those passed down orally from one generation to another in the form of rituals, ceremonies and embodied knowledge. Laku is inclusive and contains an element of internalising values by getting involved. It requires a progressive and stimulating process to reflect and learn about the harmony of humans’ minds and the universe. When knowledge is transmitted orally or through embodied experience, what are the proper academic protocols and citation processes? Were stories and myths properly cited or were they considered and dismissed as backwards/non-modern knowledge? Can an embodied local knowledge traverse beyond the realm of a footnote into a properly credited idea, incorporated and equally acknowledged in academic essays? Is it even necessary, or can we demand the right to opacity for local embodied knowledge to traverse beyond academic protocols?

Keywords

• embodied local knowledge
• knowledge transmission
• spatial practice