Expressive: Fashion ForWords opens with a performance highlighting the politicization of identity and clothing. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

Fashion ForWords exhibition has brought together four artists, each of whom have their own takes on fashion but share the same goal: to reclaim identity.

Running until May 18 at Cemara 6 Gallery, InterSastra’s Fashion ForWords displays the works of Ayudilamar, A. Andamari, Wangsit Firmantika and the As-Salam Collective.

The exhibition, which also includes workshops and artist discussions, is the brainchild of author Eliza Vitri Handayani, who was responsible for the House of the Unsilenced exhibition, held last year in the same venue. 

Fashion ForWords, according to Eliza, came from a place of concern regarding repressive acts that threaten freedom of expression in Indonesia, particularly in recent times with the rise of conservatism.

Eliza’s own experience of repression came when the launch of her novel From Now On Everything Will Be Different at the 2015 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival was canceled after warnings from the police, which cited political concerns.

“To protest the intervention of the police, I printed quotes from the novel on a T-shirt, which I wore every day to the festival. I got the idea from there on how to use clothes to overcome repression, how they can offer resistance. I think they can, hence Fashion ForWords.”

The exhibition title is also a play on “fashion forward”, a term that refers to styles that will become trendy in the future.

Eliza said the term also encompassed forward thinking for a better future and fashion that spoke to a freedom to express.

She explained the word “fashion” in Fashion ForWords was about how individuals dressed themselves and the attitudes toward their choices of clothing.

“Honestly, I’m someone who loves expressing myself through my clothes, and I think that changes in the way we dress can lead to societal changes. For example, women’s clothing used to be fussy and complicated, but when they get to wear trousers, they are able to move freely and work,” she said.

All eyes: A. Andamari used four different looks to highlight how women are constantly judged by their bodies and clothes.

She cited the mukena (prayer gown) concept that the As-Salam Collective highlighted as an example of how fashion shaped the country. “When Islam first entered Indonesia […] there was no head-covering culture here due to women being active in farming and fishing,” Eliza said.

Helping Eliza in her endeavor is artist Ika Vantiani, the curator of the exhibition.

With Fashion ForWords, Ika said she wanted to involve artists whose values were aligned with the exhibition while also exploring the different backgrounds of each artist.

“Some of the artists are into fashion, but they’re not necessarily fashion designers. One artist has a background in architecture, but created artwork for a fashion show.”

Ika said the exhibition was interesting because of the artists’ perspectives on fashion.

“I feel that when looking at fashion and art exhibitions, they are often separate. I think fashion and art could be combined because in the end it is a medium to express something, and with this exhibition we are featuring the artists’ personal narratives through fashion.”

Fashion ForWords opened with a fashion show directed by Heliana Sinaga, director of Bandung theater group Mainteater. The show, however, was more of an art performance that showcased a narrative on beauty standards, expectations and freedom of expression.

Volunteer models paraded the four artists’ creations, which were later put on display for the remainder of the exhibition.

Ayudilamar collaborated with the Cross-Factory Labor Federation (FBLP) for Target, a collection comprising seven outfits made for seven FBLP members who are also garment factory workers — they sew clothes day and night without owning what they make.

The clothes in the collection were fully designed by the factory workers so as to highlight their individual personalities, and the name of the artwork refers to the targets they have to meet.

He said, she said: Author Eliza Vitri Handayan initiated Fashion ForWords out of concern over repressive acts that threaten freedom of expression. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

Meanwhile, A. Andamari put a spotlight on how women are constantly judged by their bodies and clothes. “The female body is constantly seen as an object. Women do not feel safe, cannot move freely and express themselves,” Andamari said.

Wangsit Firmantika’s Men.On.Pause, meanwhile, deconstructs store-bought sporty men’s clothes and injects them with feminine elements like tutus and dolls. With them, Wangsit said he wanted to create something that dealt with masculinity and societal attitudes surrounding it. 

“I want to represent men who are not that masculine. I don’t want to talk about sexuality, but rather masculinity itself, which is sometimes over-glorified in the media,” Wangsit said.

He said the glorification of masculinity could be attributed in part to the fact that retail stores often failed to carry a diverse array of styles for menswear.

“For my artwork, I bought men’s clothes from major fashion brands, and then I destroyed the masculinity in them. For example, [one of the clothes] has synthetic fur that is associated with feminine plush dolls, but if it was on a bear or a bison it would be considered fearsome. The fabrics are neutral, it’s just that our mind-set associates them that way.”

The As-Salam Collective, which comprises FS Putri Cantika, Yuri Nasution and Eliza herself, created a line of Muslim clothing adorned with progressive symbols and messages, some of which feature the hijab.

Putri said the artwork was derived from the collective’s studies on Islamic teachings.

“They express our findings on the notion that Islam promotes equality, peace and nondiscrimination. The clothes we produced represent equality for women and other individuals, no matter what their choices are in life and with clothing,” Putri said.

Yuri noted the female body was often prone to politicization, especially regarding religion.

“The narration goes like, if your jilbab is at a certain length, then that defines the level of piety you have toward God. If you’re a Muslim who doesn’t wear the hijab, then you’re not that pious, and if you wear skimpy clothes then you’re considered kafir [infidel] or an ‘easy’ woman,” Yuri said.

Eliza Vitri Handayani (Courtesy of Fashion ForWords/Jin Panji)

The central message of the collective’s work is that one should have the freedom to wear the clothes they want without being judged over how pious they are.

“We’ve discussed this before – it used to be whether you wear the hijab or not, but now it’s whether your hijab is syar’i [in line with sharia]or not,” Yuri said.

For Wangsit, his ideas about traditional masculinity come from home, where his mother works while his father runs the household.

“My father plays basketball but he also studied ballet, so my family is an eclectic bunch in terms of [challenging] gender [norms]. That’s the reason why I’m comfortable in deconstructing masculinity, but not everyone’s like me,” he said.

“I don’t want to make statements like, ‘men can wear this’, but it’s more about the individual being OK wearing anything he wants. I think even men are dictated to dress a certain way, but they are not really willing to talk about this.”

Volunteer model Jody said she hoped for more platforms like Fashion ForWords that allowed the younger generation to break away from beauty standards.

“I pray these platforms enable people to see the models confidently wearing clothes that are inclusive of all genders, ages and sizes,” Jody said.

Another volunteer model, Agus, worked with Ayudilamar as a member of the FBLP. “For me it’s about colors. As long as I’m comfortable, I don’t care about what people say. Even with clashing colors, I totally don’t care because it’s my body, my life and my style.”

Curator Ika said the word “fashion” itself conjured up images of a class-based system and felt “up there” and “intimidating”.

“What we do in Fashion ForWords is we remove ourselves from those concepts: We take fashion that is ‘up there’ and we claim it as ours, use it as a medium to be empowered,” she said.

“It’s also about reclaiming space, reclaiming the medium that says it’s OK to express yourself through fashion statements. You don’t have to be a designer or wear designer clothes. When you feel like being expressive through your clothes, then that’s your fashion statement.” (ste)