Arahmaiani

Sunday, 06 June 2010 20:57

Raised by an Islamic scholar father and a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist mother, Arahmaiani is a key figure in the current art scene in Indonesia.

Recently Arahmaiani has been using the Malay world's variation of Arabic script, called Jawi, for her performances and installations. Because of Jawi's interesting ability to phonetically reproduce the sounds of other languages, and its capacity to connect the world of Islam to the non-Muslim world, she has used the script to deliver a variety of messages in a number of different places around the world. China, Australia, the Middle East, Germany, Japan, and now in New York.

Arahmaiani's (born in 1961 in Bandung, West Java) performances, pictures and installations reflect on contemporary geopolitics while criticizing the commoditization of symbols. Navigating through different cultures (Islam and Buddhism, traditional education and studies in Europe and the United States), her work responds to the difficulties of communication she finds recurrently while traveling abroad – or even inside her own country – and seeks to create a platform for exchange and collective thinking beyond cultural differences.

A central theme of her work is the situation of the woman. Following her principle of not concerning herself with anything outside of her own immediate realm of experience and of taking, as far as possible, her own situation as the base from which she works, she is involved with questions of her own identity as a woman within a community that is ruled by men, as a female artist with a critical approach, as an Asian and Muslima in the international context of her many travels and stays abroad.

She has exhibited widely in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia and also had work featured in the Traditions/Tensions show at Asia Society and Global Feminisms at the Brooklyn Museum. She was included in the Havana Biennale in 1997 and in Cities on the Move at P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center and London's Hayward Gallery in 1998. Her Corporeal Apology was in the Lyon Biennale in 2000 and 11 June 2002 at Venice Biennale in 2003. She represented her country, together with Dadang Christanto, Tisna Sanjaya, and Made Wianta at the Indonesian National Pavilion of the 50th Venice Biennale.

Performing at: Submerge#d

• Sat 10th July
• Old Hrvatski Klub Artspace, 240 Scott St
• Doors 6.00pm, Show 7.00pm
• Check web for full program/times.
• Tickets: $10/ 7 at the door.