When art is discussed in context of diaspora and racism one could sense a whiff of political correctness as appropriate subjects are raised by those who have the ‘right’ skin pigmentation. Displacement and dislocation are often seen as experience faced by migrants and oversea workers who have shifted from their home to estranged environs. While dominators or (neo) colonizers stereotyped as white males manipulate and control weaker races, classes and gender. Double marginalization tends to be associated with females who do not inhabit in their home country and are not of European descent.
In the case of Mella Jaarsma definition of home in context of Emmeloord and Yogyakarta or the Netherlands and Indonesia gets confusing. Married to Nindityo Adipurnomo with two daughters and settled in Yogyakarta for more than a decade, Jaarsma is no Indonesian but she has ridded layers of her Dutch upbringing. A Dutch female artist with an Indonesian artist partner can be misunderstood from the specter of Eurocentrism and neocolonialism. This is not the case of Jaarsma.
For many years I have been visiting Yogyakarta mainly with art projects related to Heri Dono, Dadang Christanto and Nindityo Adipurnomo. I have had the chance to follow Jaarsma’s steady development from mixed media works inspired by funeral rites and cremation to performances related to cooking frogs on the streets of Yogyakarta. Her participation at the Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane and Womanifesto in Bangkok received critical acclaim. Unlike many European artists who have settled in foreign lands, Jaarsma does not paint beautiful flowers and topless natives in their everyday life. Her choice of subjects has gone deeper under the superficial surface where her works become catalysts for thought-provoking debate.
For many Indonesians, 1998 was the year of living dangerously. Stopping in Jakarta on my way to Yogyakarta, FX Harsono drove me to places where innocent people were beaten, locked up and burnt. I was informed that in some villages during day time men came to houses and took girls away from their parents to be raped and murdered. Arahmaiani who had been in a riot told that the situation was deteriorating rapidly. In Yogyakarta, I faced problems as no transportation company wanted to send Dadang Christanto’s sculptures to Sao Paulo Bienal as the political climate in Indonesia was unpredictable. Christanto talked of plans to move with his family to Darwin, Australia for safety. To have the surname Christanto and Chinese blood was not a good time to be in Yogyakarta. In 1999, I returned to Jakarta to attend the symposium on art and politics organized by Tempo, the newspaper that frequently criticized the authority, where I heard that Jaarsma was co-organizing the “AWAS!” exhibition with works related to the recent social and political turmoil in Indonesia.
My invitation for Jaarsma to spend a residency and show her solo exhibition in Bangkok came at a time when Thai audience was fully aware of political upheaval, ethnic cleansing and religious hatred in East Timor, Molluca and Aceh. ‘Eat You Eat Me’ exhibition was not, however, intended to project Indonesian suffering through a Dutch interpretation. It might be too cynical simply to put across the idea of an European/dominant gaze at the formerly colonized, Bahasa-speaking inhabitants. On the contrary, Jaarsma’s performances that took place at the Art Center, Chulalongkorn University and Eat Me Restaurant became gestures that reached out for human compassion, empathy and discernment. Performers cloaked in animal skin prayed with rosaries or pointed with multiple fingers, These silent haunting figures with remnants of conflict and violence seeping into the skin are symbols of cultural dislocation and tragic memory. In order to survive or improve their status, survivors often act like chameleons as their outer skin function like camouflage or deception.
In ‘Floating Chimeras: 13 Asian Artists Travel North’ exhibition at Edsvik Art and Culture, Sollentuna, Sweden, Jaarsma recreated ‘Eat You Eat Me’ project. Against the backdrop of the Baltic Sea and storage houses built during the time of the Vikings, naked performers cloaked in animal and leaf skin stood like some hungry ghosts. In ‘Heroes and Holies’ exhibition at EV+A 2002, Limerick, Sweden, Jaarsma’s performers appeared in the damp surrounding of St John’s Church. Slices of photographs were stuck on the crumbling walls. They brought back to life the abandoned church while at the same time paid respect to spirits on the holy ground. Nearby, Chandrasekaran wrapped in red cloth, pierced with hooks through his cheeks and chest was suspended on pillars. Blood dripped between his legs during his cleansing performance.
Frequently, when artists travel abroad they are required to deliver their cultural goods at particular sights under time limitation. Working under pressure they get few chances to relax and rest during preparation. An exceptional case occurred at the gathering of ‘Floating Chimeras’ in Sollentuna, Sweden. During the last week of the Swedish summer few locals could be found at the Bergendal Hotel. In fact, at nightfall hotel attendants would go home leaving the guests by themselves. For several nights the artists (Chandrasekaran, Heri Dono, Mella Jaarsma, Arahmaiani, Ye Shufang, Lin Tian Miao, Prapon Kumjim, Chen Chieh-jen, his assistant) and myself were left at the accommodation with scenic view. We began to explore the place, played piano, looked at photographs of the local, drank, smoked and played football in the fitness center. After a couple of nights new games were invented. The empty hotel with long corridors became a scene of the Shining game as we pretended to be spooked or chased by axe waving Jack Nicholson. One night someone came up with the game of shedding skin. We all undressed and went into the steaming sauna in the basement. We left our camouflages and egos in the corridor. Our skin pigmentation had no differences. By shedding our skins we shared shimmering beads of sweat and tears of laughter.
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Apinan Poshyananda is based in Bangkok where he teaches at Chulalongkorn University. He was awarded the Outstanding National Researcher by the National Research Council of Thailand in 2001. He has curated numerous exhibitions in Asia, Europe, America and Australia. He was art commissioner for the Australian Section of the Asia-Pacific Triennial, Australia (1996), the Asian section of Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil (1998) and EV+A 2002, the Irish Biennale, Limerick, Ireland. He was guest curator of the exhibitions ‘Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tensions,’ (The Asia Society, New York), ‘Floating Chimeras: 13 Asian Artists Travel North,’ (Edsvik and Culture, Sollentuna) and ‘Beyond Paradise: Nordic Artists Travel East’ (Moderna Museet, Stockholm). He is guest curator of the traveling exhibition ‘Montien Boonma: Temple of the Mind’ organized by The Asia Society, New York.
Published at ‘Moral Pointers’