Power to Women: "My Malaysia" Photo Series (2)

Kota Bharu, Kelantan, 22 June 2019

This is a photo that came after many that I had seen before, because this market is very famous, especially on a photographic level, and just pronouncing its name causes chills to every photographer: Pasar Siti Khadijah, in Kota Bharu, in the region of Kelantan.

A joy for the eyes and a triumph of colors.

I've photographed it several times, before and after the purchase of 10mm, and things change.

Imagine a large cylinder with a very large round plan, with four floors each faceted in different colors, up to the ceiling open to the falling natural light falling from above. And below, on the ground floor, an exhibition of all kinds of fruit and vegetables, with all their tones.

Its name is derived from Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad, who was a famous merchant at the time.

This market, built in 1985, is famous for two reasons. The first is aesthetic, thanks to its cylinder structure and the liveliness of colors of the walls, with the possibility of leaning over from the four levels, which make it one of the most photographed places of Malaysia.

The second reason is socio-anthropological, as this is an almost all female market, and the sellers are mainly Siam mix women, from neighboring Thailand.

 

Much has been written about this place, and it is often used as an anthropological and cultural paradigm on the strength of women and, above all, to contradict the frequent stereotype in Malaysia for which men have the knowledge necessary to control women, more inclined to  physical pleasure: “akal” and “nafsu”, knowledge and lust.

But, in a very interesting essay “Bewitching Women, Pious Men”, a book which collects a series of essays by American anthropologists on gender differences in Asia, there is precisely a chapter on this aspect of Malaysia, citing Pasar Siti Khadijah as the physical and symbolic place to proof exactly the opposite, that it is women who control business and money, thanks to a willpower superior to man.

Money is another form of nafsu, of lust, and women and wives manage it more efficiently.

Therefore, entering this powerful structure, it really seems to enter the fort of matriarchy in a deeply masculine society such as the Malaysian one. And the fact that it is also the kingdom of colors, adds even more charm to this place.

Wherever I go, as I wrote about the market in Bangladesh, I want to visit the markets, the most interesting places for me to photograph, because they are crowded, everything happens in every direction and every sense is solicited, from sight to smells.

It's an exercise that I always recommend to those who love street photography, because they train to have quick reflexes and a quick sense of composition; and from a spiritual point of view, it strengthens the presence to oneself which is the cornerstone of some teachings that refer to Gurdjieff. 

Photographing in these spaces makes us aware of how slow thinking is and how our perceptions sleep in most of our lives. But that's another matter.

 

So, if you come to Malaysia one day and find yourself passing through Kota Bharu, ask around where the Siti Khadijah market is. You will find me there.

Tujuh warna (amboi) pelangi senja (amboi)

Seribu makna (amboi) terlukis nyata

Tujuh tingkat (amboi) langit dan bumi (amboi)

Tabir hakikat (amboi) hidup insani

(Lagu "Sapta")

Seven colors (wow) of twilight rainbow (wow)

Thousand meanings (wow) painted clearly (wow)

Seven levels (wow) of heaven and earth (wow)

Veiling the truth (wow) of human life

(Song "Sapta")

All the photos were taken on 3 August 2018 and 22 June 2019
“Bewitching Women, Pious Men – Gender and Body Politics in Southeast Asia” by Aihwa Ong & Michael G. Peletz (University of California Press, 1995)
Recommended song: Nora “Joget Kelantan”

Italian version