Mella Jaarsma

b. 1960, The Netherlands

I have been living and working in Java since 1984. What interests me in Indonesia is that art developments and movements do not so much occur as reactions to other art movements, but much more as reactions to the environment and circumstances, culturally as well as socially. I have focused on the ‘awareness of the fragility of modern multi-racial societies’, and connect it to what occurred during the racial riots in Indonesia in 1998, which continue to be a part of the multi-ethnic problems today.

The title of the work, SARA-swati I and II, refers to Saraswati, a warrior princess from the Mahabarata story, but SARA is an abbreviation in Indonesia for Suku – Agama – Ras, which means Tribe – Religion – Race. In this work, the SARA-swati veils are made out of dried banana-tree trunks, which invite the audience to touch and make close contact. Despite variations in the age of the audience, as well as ethnic and cultural differences, the eyes, hands and feet are common expressive tools of all humanity. These are the parts of the body that permit social contacts and interactions. Everywhere fingers stick out and point at you. In Indonesian society it is very impolite to point at somebody, but since the political changes, with movement towards democracy, everybody is pointing at each other – you are good, you are bad. Most statements become very moralistic and hypocritical.

(Text: heroes + holies catalogue, 2002)