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View all search results'Sunting' exhibit on Indonesian women: Tribute or tokenism?
The recent exhibition at the National Museum that aimed to celebrate women in Indonesian history carries a title with multiple meanings, including "to edit", but in this case, it could also mean "to edit out".
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Visitors observe ‘kebaya’ (traditional blouse), textiles and other objects displayed on April 21, 2025, in Sunting: Jejak Perempuan Indonesia Penggerak Perubahan (Edit: Footprints of Indonesian women as drivers of change), an exhibition to commemorate Kartini Day that runs until July 31 at the National Museum in Central Jakarta. (Courtesy of National Museum) (National Museum/-)
Sometimes, it so happens that the name of an event is very appropriate, but not for the reasons the organizer intended.
This was the case with the Sunting exhibition, held at the National Museum from April 21 to July 31. Its subtitle: “Footprints of Women as Drivers of Change”. So original, right? (See ‘Sunting’: A tribute to the women who shaped Indonesia, The Jakarta Post, May 13.)
The exhibition’s name was inspired by Soenting Melajoe, the first women’s newspaper in the Malay world, which was founded in 1912 by Rohana Kudus (Dec. 20, 1884-Aug. 17, 1972), the first female journalist in the region.
Why? Purportedly due to the importance of women’s role in literacy and history. Really?
In addition to referring to the newspaper, sunting also refers to a type of headdress for Sumatran women that “enhances their appearance and indicates their status, where they are expected to act with dignity and exhibit good behavior”.
The sunting headdress weighs 3-5 kilograms, which you can imagine restricts blood flow to the brain as well as general mobility. Wearing sunting is not actually a symbol of honor, as it requires the wearer to behave in accordance with narrow and strict socially prescribed traditional gender roles. So what’s new?
Other reasons cited by the organizers included philosophical, historical and metaphorical explanations, arguing that sunting is “a symbol of change and restructuring, which is relevant to the role of women in shaping a new direction for society”.
