Defining Experiences: Feminisms and Contemporary Art in Indonesia by Wulandani Dirgantoro Ssn. (ITB), Master of Art Curatorship (Melbourne) Asian Languages and Studies Program School of Humanities Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Tasmania May 2014 Declaration of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. Signed Date 06 May 2014 WulandaniWl d iDi Dirgantoro Authority of access This thesis is not to be made available for loan or copying for two years following the date this statement was signed. Following that time the thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying and communication in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Signedg Date 06 May 2014 Wulandani Dirgantoro ii Statement of Ethical Conduct The research associated with this thesis abides by the international and Australian codes on human and animal experimentation, the guidelines by the Australian Government's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator and the rulings of the Safety, Ethics and Institutional Biosafety Committees of the University. I have obtained ethics approval from the Office of Research Sciences. Approval no. H0011178 Signed Date 06 May 2014 Wulandani Dirgantoro iii Statement regarding published work contained in thesis Sections of this thesis have been presented at the 2008 Asian Studies Association of Australia Conference in Melbourne, the 2008 Women in Asia Conference in Queensland, and the 2010 European Southeast Asian Studies Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden. The publisher of the paper comprising part of Chapter 7 hold the copyright for that content, and access to the material should be sought from the respective journals. A selected part of Chapter 7 has already been published as: x “Indonesian women artists, contemporary art and Islam” in Encyclopaedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (online supplement), an interdisciplinary online encyclopaedia Brill Academic Publishing, Leiden, Fall 2011, Volume IV, No.2, http://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu/ewic/overview.htm/ewic-overview-table-of- contents-supplement-iv iv Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between feminisms and visual arts in Indonesia. Focusing on works by Indonesian women artists produced from the 1940s until the present day, it provides a new understanding of the history of Indonesian modern and contemporary art from a feminist perspective. Its main aim is not only to analyze the actual works of Indonesian women artists historically and today, but also to illuminate the socio- cultural and political contexts in which the artists worked through feminist reading. Feminisms are often regarded as a purely Western concept that is irrelevant to the Indonesian context, but during a brief period of time after 1998, there was a surge in the Indonesian mainstream consciousness about gender issues. Feminist scholars, activists and cultural workers successfully created a discursive space in the mainstream media to discuss issues which were previously taboo, such as the politics of the female body, domestic violence, sexual abuse and more. Women artists such as Arahmaiani and Titarubi made significant contributions to this discourse, for example through their critical installation and performance art pieces. The thesis sets out to explore the works of these and other women artists, employing multiple methodological approaches from psychoanalysis to semiotics in order to construct a framework for an active re-reading and re-visioning of Indonesian art discourses. Strategies of correction and interrogation are applied to both critically asses the patriarchal structure of the Indonesian art world and revise the existing readings of works by women artists. By looking beyond the labeling but not rejecting the term itself, the thesis highlights a trajectory of change in the way feminisms operates in Indonesian visual arts. As important drivers of this process of change, Indonesian women artists neither resist patriarchy in a ‘politically correct’ way nor revel in eroticism, but steer a course between these two positions. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates how works by Indonesian women artists can include difference and absorb ambiguity within their frame of reference, thus avoiding the totalising and exclusionary practices sometimes associated with feminisms. v Acknowledgements It would not have been possible to write this dissertation without the help and support of many people around me. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors Associate Professor Pamela Allen and Professor Emerita Barbara Hatley from the Asian Languages and Studies Program at the School of Humanities, University of Tasmania. This thesis would not have been possible without their help and expertise on gender issues, culture, literature and performing arts in Indonesia. I am extremely grateful for their continuous support and friendship and their invaluable advice and guidance over the phone, skype and the occasional glass of wine. I would like to acknowledge the financial, academic and technical support from the University of Tasmania and its staff, particularly in the form of the Tasmanian Graduate Research Scholarship and Travel Conference Scholarship that provided the necessary financial support to complete this project. I also thank the staff at the Asian Languages and Studies Program, both in Sandy Bay and Newnham for their support and assistance when I started my project in 2008. During the bulk of my field work in 2010, I was hosted by the excellent Indonesian Visual Arts Archive (IVAA) in Yogyakarta. Not only did their library provide me with critical information, but the professionalism and friendliness of the staff also made the field work particularly enjoyable. I would also like to thank the staff at Cemeti Art House, Selasar Sunaryo Art Space’s library and the library staff at the Faculty of Fine Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology, for their assistance in providing hard-to-get information and documentation. vi Further thanks are due to the readers who amidst their busy schedule still found the time and patience to read various drafts over the course of the research project. Special thanks for this to Dr Caroline Turner from the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the Australian National University and Professor Emerita Virginia Hooker from the Department of Political & Social Change, College of Asia and the Pacific, at The Australian National University. My thanks also extend to all the people in the Indonesian art community whom I interviewed throughout the research project, especially to Nunung WS, Dyan Anggraeni, Endang Lestari & Sujud Dartanto, Arahmaiani and Titarubi for their generosity and willingness to open their homes and share their life and art with me. To my friends and long-time supporters of this research project, Carla Bianpoen, Sue Ingham and Heidi Arbuckle, I am extremely grateful for their insight and friendship through the years. The PhDs of Sue and Heidi have given me the inspiration and the basis for many ideas in this project. I have many friends in Australia and Indonesia who have supported me through my PhD in various ways: Charlotte Setijadi, Tintin Wulia, and Monika Winarnita deserve special mention as fellow PhD candidates. Thank you for sharing the trials and tribulations of being a PhD student, and also for the laughter and the good meals! To my friends in Indonesia, the lovely Wenni Parwesti, super-mum Kristi Monfries and Heru Hikayat, thanks for your friendship and support. vii Most importantly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family and loved ones. To Familie Tomsa and Keluarga Dirgantoro in Germany, Bandung and Melbourne for their unconditional love, help and support, especially to Ibu dan Bapak who always believed in their wayward daughter. And finally, to my husband Dirk, who not only provided much- needed support and encouragement, but even convinced me to get pregnant while still writing this thesis. Thanks for that. Our daughter turned out to be a wonderful idea. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Acknowledgments v List of figures xii Glossary and abbreviations xvi Chapter 1 Introduction: Defining Experiences 1 “Intimate Distance” as background 3 Unnatural partnership: Women, political activism and feminism/s in Indonesia 6 The female body, art and censorship in Indonesia 7 Definitions and distinctions: Feminisms or Gender? 12 Methodology 17 Selection of artists 21 Thesis structure 23 Chapter 2 Exploring Theories: Search for analytical framework/s 30 Art history and feminisms 32 Your Body is a Battleground: the female body in art 35 Écriture Féminine and its use in the Indonesian context 37 Gender critique in Indonesian visual arts discourses 41 Reading personal history from the canvas 45 Searching for the feminine in Indonesian visual arts 49 Interventions in art history 51 ix Body Politics/Politics of the Body 54 Abjection and the monstrous feminine 58 Concluding remarks 61 Chapter 3 Firing the Cannon: Indonesian Art Canons as myth and masculine ideal 62 Postcolonial masculinity, canon-making and Indonesian modern art 64 Truth and Beauty: the early years of