The word “Asal” originally derives from Arabic and has traveled to Indonesia, where it is part of our daily vocabulary. “Asal dari mana?” means “Where are you from?”. This is a question that is commonly asked, not only to me as a Dutch person living in Indonesia, but also as an opening phrase in a conversation. “Asal” means “authentic”, and is used to question origin.
This work was created for an exhibition in Iran and the work ‘ASAL – floating images’ is about the possibilities of mobility and adaptation, like words travelling the globe or the images of clouds and water I found in Persian paintings from the Timurid [Safavid period, 14-18th century AD). The Timurid cloud shape has likewise developed in Chinese painting and ceramics of the same era. So has the Mega Mendung motif, a batik motif developed in the sultanate of Cirebon (Northern Java) that is still in production today. Through mysticism, common belief, and trade ruling the seas, cloud images were easily exchanged and cannot be claimed to have “originated” in any one nation.