Indonesian artist Arahmaiani's works blend activism, heritage, and bold artistic expression, resonating globally while challenging cultural, political, and religious boundaries in her homeland and beyond.
Indonesian artist Arahmaiani has lived many lives—from an imprisoned anti-dictatorship activist to a hippie, art teacher, and environmentalist. Her experiences have deeply inspired her work, which tests the limits of freedom and challenges societal norms.
As a Southeast Asian artist, Arahmaiani spent years as a nomad after her paintings, installations, and performances were deemed provocative in her conservative Muslim-majority homeland. Today, her works are featured at London's Tate Modern for the first time. In November, she performed Burning Country, a voice and percussion-based piece exploring the violence endured by Chinese-Indonesians during the 1990s Suharto-era unrest. This work aims to nurture community healing from lingering trauma.
Her mini-exhibition The Wrath of Earth, presented in Jakarta last August and September, questioned religious tolerance and environmental degradation, issues she remains passionate about. She believes, as she expressed in the exhibition catalog, that "Art should challenge the status quo and provoke thought. It is a means to question our reality and inspire change."
'Our Frida Kahlo': Preserving Cultural Heritage
Prominent in her Jakarta exhibition were Lingga and Yoni, symbols of the balance of opposites in Hinduism. Once omnipresent in the archipelago, these symbols have largely been forgotten in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Born in Bandung to a cleric father and a mother of Hindu-Buddhist descent, Arahmaiani seeks to reconnect with Indonesia's pre-Islamic heritage.
Though celebrated internationally, her recognition at home lags behind. Deborah Iskandar, owner of Jakarta’s ASI Gallery, which hosted her recent exhibition, hopes to introduce her to younger art enthusiasts. Exhibition curator Nasir Tamara affectionately calls her "our Frida Kahlo," likening her to the iconic Mexican feminist and artist. Tamara notes that "For young people, Yani is a heroine. She's free and has been a fighter since university."
Pushing Boundaries Amid Controversy
Arahmaiani’s early works, such as the 1993 painting Lingga-Yoni and the 1994 installation Etalase, sparked outrage by combining Islamic, Western, and sexual imagery. Facing death threats and censorship, she left for Australia to continue her studies and embraced a bohemian lifestyle.
Her experiences as a Muslim woman abroad, often stigmatized, fueled later works like 11 Juni 2002, a reconstruction of the U.S. immigration detention room where she was interrogated. In 2006, following a devastating earthquake in Yogyakarta, she initiated the Flag Project, a series of performances encouraging dialogue through symbolic flag-waving. These performances have since been replicated worldwide, including in Tibet, where she actively works on environmental preservation.
Now 63, Arahmaiani focuses on Indonesia's political nepotism, a hot-button issue reignited by President Prabowo Subianto's election. Her ability to intertwine activism, culture, and art continues to inspire both at home and abroad.
With AFP
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