Photo-essay: Kali Code is the heart of a diverse and eclectic community

Tessa Toumbourou

Shortcut across Kali Code

Kali Code rises at the smoking mouth of the Merapi volcano and cuts through the city of Yogyakarta. Alongside the river lives a community of outsiders. I am led by Rita, a Yogya resident who is familiar with this part of town that strangers might otherwise never see. From atop the bridge that connects the north and south of Yogya, it appears as a sprawl of houses roofed with brick slate or rust-eaten corrugated iron, one house tightly squeezed beside the next wherever space is found or forged.

A jamu peddler waits patiently as residents chat