Titik Kumpul (Meeting Place)
Art Jakarta with ISA Art Gallery
26-28 August 2022
Booth C3

Participating artists: Alexander Sebastianus, Arahmaiani, Aaron Taylor Kuffner, Bonggal Hutagalung, Gabriel Aries, Hadassah Emerich, Hannah Shin, Hardi Budi, Ida Lawrence, Ines Katamso, Jompet Kuswidananto, Jumaadi, Marisa R. Ng., Miko Veldkamp, Nico Dharmajungen, Sinta Tantra, Tara Kasenda, and Vanessa Jones.

Mimosa pudica is a plant originating from Central and South America and growing wildly in many countries including Indonesia (how it got there is another story). If disturbed or touched, its leaflets instantly react by folding themselves closed. Its common name in Indonesian is putri malu, ‘shy princess’. This painting imagines other reasons ‘she’ closes in on herself after being repeatedly disturbed:

Tidak malu sih
tapi bosan
tersinggung dan
sangat sangat capek.

[Not shy actually,
but bored
offended and
very very tired.]

T. wishes she had a garden and asks that I send her photos of flowers from my walks. I live in Berlin, a city with lots of parks, and she lives in Jakarta, a city with basically no public space. I send T. photos of plants in exchange for photos of my niece and nephews. 

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narrative paintings