© 2025 bewerkte foto met pastelkrijt
My project, The Shadow of the White Kebaya, is both a personal exploration of colonial dynamics in the former Dutch East Indies and a visual historical inquiry into the meaning and role of the White Kebaya — a blouse worn by Indo-European and European women.
The inspiration came from the moment my Indo grandmother was laid out in a sarong and white kebaya — to the dismay of my parents, who considered it “too local,” which in turn stirred a sense of indignation in me.
My installation, shown at CBK Zuidoost, consists of a large manipulated photographic work, a modified photo mobile, and two altered photographic pieces featuring the glove my mother wore when she married my father.
artists: Fitri DK (ID), Ratu R. Saraswati (NL/ID), Dian Septi Trisnanti (ID), Tamarra (ID), Marie Civikov (NL), Nabila Ernada (NL/ID), Ramal Karmarama (ID), Nynke Deinema (NL), Clementine Oomes (NL)
curator: Dewi Laurente
It smells of sweat and jasmine addresses labour issues in colonial, contemporary, and diasporic Indonesia through the lens of women and genderqueer artists. Through collecting the artists’ personal histories, experiences, and research, the exhibition traces the complex intersections of patriarchal violence, capitalist labour exploitation, and (neo)colonial plunder.