“Is it possible to look at the practices of Indonesian women artist in a feminist perspective? This is precisely what researcher and PhD in Indonesian Studies Wulan Dirgantoro decided to investigate with her book “Feminism and Indonesian Contemporary Art: Defining Experiences” (Amsterdam University Press). Though the book has an academic scope, it sparked conversation about women in Indonesian art.
As a child browsing through her grandfather’s book of the Sukarno art collection, Wulan Dirgantoro grew up with a very classical image of Indonesian art. When she started university she began to “unlearn” those images and relearn them through more critical eyes. It was precisely in those formative years that she noticed the absence of women artists from the early period of Indonesian modern art. This was not because the lack of thereof, but because no one wrote about them. … ”
For ASEF Culture360, Naima Morelli looks at what feminism means in the Indonesian art world with art historian Farah Wardani, artist Samantha Tio and researcher Wulan Dirgantoro.
