Bahasa Colonial image reclaimed
Indonesia's colonial past has left a rich visual legacy of stereotyped images of an island paradise and its people. Contemporary Indonesian artists draw on this treasury, repurposing paintings and photographs to challenge official history and redress the anonymous archival nature of images coloured by colonial nostalgia and a foreign patriarchal gaze.
Mella Jaarsma is known for her installations and participatory performances built around sculptural costumes. The Dutch-born artist uses her own experience as a foreigner in Indonesia to reflect on colonial history and human encounters, and question perceptions of the self and the other. Her costumes have incorporated elements of colonial imagery and natural materials including skins, bark and hair to create narrative shells that refer to Indonesian historical events and locales. Her practice is often collaborative and through her engagement with fellow artists she brings together different perspectives of history and ways in which images are used.
Performance and installation artist Octora critically deploys colonial imagery, transforming archival photographs by inserting her portrait in place of the anonymous subject and gazing directly at the viewer. By personalising a female stereotype and returning a masculine gaze, Octora challenges conventions embedded in colonialist depictions of Indonesia and Indonesians.
