In this piece I pose questions about the politics and power of clothing. For this installation, I worked in particular with the Weltmuseum collection in Vienna, looking into its storages, photo archives, databases, and library. During the research, I was drawn to examples of clothing held in the museum’s archives and especially the collection of bark cloths and pubic covers made of coconut shells. These artefacts mirrored themes present within my work, particularly the theme of costume as a reflection of cultural identity and assumptions made by colonizers. These artefacts also introduced me to new concepts to investigate. The costumes relate to power structures, colonial influence, and to the value of specific objects. After coming back to Indonesia from the residency at the Weltmuseum, I looked for a way to learn the production of barkcloth myself. I met Mufid Sururi who taught me how to make it. These two costumes are the result.
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