Women's sensuality in focus

Women's sensuality in focus

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Amid the many exhibitions held in conjunction with the
anniversary of the nation's heroine Raden Adjeng Kartini, two
exhibitions stand out for their creative ideas and innovative mix
of materials.

The first exhibition of note is the "Photo-Graphic" exhibition
-- a blend of photography and graphic art -- on the second floor
of Plaza Indonesia.

Rotua Magdalena Agung, a graphic artist by training, who often
explores new avenues for her artistic urges, now blends advanced
technology with hand-rendered techniques.

To this end, she has taken photographs by Indra Leonardi and
used the photoshop program to achieve the desired results. The
graphic images are then complemented with hand-rendered
watercolor and gold/silver and black pigment, glitter and
charcoal.

In one work, for instance, Rotua Magdalena took Leonardi's
image and transformed it so that it represented a woman's search
for self-identity. "Photoshop can do a lot, but it's the personal
touch that provides the accent", says Rotua Magdalena.

At first, she called this kind of work "graphic painting", but
then she arrived at the term "mixed media photo-graphic", which
is closer to what she is doing.

Tuning into an upmarket shopping mall's campaign slogan "Woman
in You" Rotua Magdalena has made a kind of installation focusing
on the dynamics of being a woman.

While the installation of photo-graphics and dry leaves and
branches was an excellent idea, a more fitting space would give
the artwork its proper due.

Meanwhile, the audio-visual presentation is a poetic
celebration of the dynamics and flow of a woman's life. For
passersby, the presentation provides a moment of quiet
reflection, although it is only shown on weekends.

The second interesting exhibition is held at Galeri Oktagon,
where French artist Maroussia Rebecq and Indonesian artists Keke
Tumbuan and Renjani Damais highlight the controversial issue of
the jilbab in photo installations under the heading Like A
Virgin.

There are various definitions of the jilbab, from "a full
length coat or cloak" to "a cloak that conceals all of the body
including the head", to just a head scarf, or fashion accessory.

Opinions on the meaning of jilbab are as varied as the modes
of jilbab.

However, none of the artists wishes to enter into any such
dispute. What they hope to present is just the head scarf as it
is found today, and its place in fashion. However, the undertones
of confused ridicule are loud and clear to serious observers. The
near-sensual jilbab wearers of Maroussia's photos are juxtaposed
against a sweet teenage jilbab wearer, as well as Rejani's
"boxed" jilbab women and pictures of ordinary women wearing the
head scarf.

Like a Virgin? Keke's tiny images in rows, which suggest a
woman taking a home pregnancy test, have the same mysterious
ambience as that of the traditionally perceived virgin.

Maroussia Rebecq, the initiator of this exhibition starts her
"narrative" with a picture of a female head from the back, with
hair peeping out from the sides of her neck, suggesting
sensuality. A bamboo stick is put against her body, "to represent
struggle", according to Maroussia.

A sequence of pictures like a jilbab fashion show start with
drawings on a board about the use of the veil. Following, is a
photograph of a sweet teenage girl wearing a jilbab, who appears
like an icon with glitter glued on at all directions, like
uprooted roots.

Following are photos of women wearing strapless dresses and
transparent veils, or touching their bridal-like veils while
their legs are spread. There are two giant photographs of women
in jeans. In one photograph the subject wears a jacket with a
capuchon, evoking the notion of a burka. In the other, the woman
wears a blouse and pink head scarf. However, her jeans are torn,
showing the white flesh beneath and underlining the ambiguity of
the jilbab wearer.

Absolutely ghastly is the nude with a death mask as another
kind of headdress.

To suggest the wall that surrounds the mystery of the jilbab,
Maroussia places a photograph of stones next to a picture of a
woman in a strapless dress, who cries out in frustration.

There is also a photograph of a woman in a sleeveless dress,
her head is covered and she rides a motorbike. This is beyond the
imagining of many Westerners, to whom the jilbab is associated
with narrow-mindedness and the sexist dynamics of religion.

While breaking the monotony of the space with a black
transparent curtain, Maroussia puts the accent on horror by
suspending a puppet in the fashion of Halloween.

Less provocative are the photos of Keke Tambunan, a graduate
of the Amsterdam Photo Academy, who tries to keep her comments as
subdued as possible in tiny little shots, which reveal their true
nature only on closer observation.

For Renjani Damais, a sculptor by profession, who fills the
right corner of the space with installations, the jilbab is both
imprisonment and fashion. Twenty-one tiny boxes with doors, made
with great precision, are hung against the wall. Each contains a
photograph of a woman wearing a jilbab. In addition, she has
displayed 28 photos of various woman wearing Muslim dress and
jilbabs. To complete the installation, Renjani has hung 17
portraits of women wearing the jilbab at various heights from the
ceiling.

Although the exhibition is a veiled critique of the ambiguity
of the veil, it is at the same time an eye-opener to the fact
that the meaning of the jilbab is undergoing a radical
transition.

The Woman in You
Mixed Media Photo-Graphics
Plaza Indonesia: Until April 30

Like A Virgin
Photo Installation
Galeri Oktagon
Gunung Sahari Raya 50A
Jakarta Pusat
Until May 15, 2004