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Exhibition explores quest for identity in today’s Indonesia
A joint exhibition by artists Bibiana Lee and Indah Arsyad explores contemporary realities and raises the issue of identity in Indonesia.
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Metamorphosis: Indah Arsyad’S 'Butterfly, 6 subjects' showcases the artist’s fascinating multimedia work. (Courtesy of Indah Arsyad/-)
T
he works by Bibiana Lee and Indah Arsyad in the “Id: Sengkarut Identitas” exhibition at the National Gallery of Indonesia in Jakarta are about the quest for identity in today’s Indonesia.
What makes these works particularly interesting is that they relate to realities in society where the traditional transforms into notions of the contemporary.
Veteran artist Bibiana takes to the refined and fragile Peranakan porcelain to tackle the issue of identity of the ethnic Chinese Indonesians, which has had a longstanding impact on social, political and real life.
On the other hand, Indah, whose photography forms the base of her oeuvre, takes an awesome step forward by referring to the traditional shadow play to visualize the blurring of original elements of identity into a globalized vision.
Curated by Asmudjo J. Irianto, the exhibition refers to the issue of identity, as it occurs in Indonesia – one side a given identity which has been perceived as the other and impacting on social, political and real life (the case of Chinese Indonesians highlighted by Bibiana based on her personal experiences as a Chinese minority); and on the other hand, the phenomenon of disappearing elements of original identity in the face of a global culture as presented by Indah, who was born to a Javanese father and an Ambonese mother, and who lives in urban Jakarta.
Bibiana presents Peranakan-style ceramic glassware, using a type of china that has undergone local acculturation, and is colored by such Peranakan hues as yellow, pink, dark green, turquoise and dark blue.
