Last week I had the honour of getting my work showcased at SHElebrate x KataHukum.id exhibition. It was an event held on 22-23 November 2024 by Indonesia Judicial Research Society (IJRS) to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women campaign initiated by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).
I was contacted at the end of October—around which time I was pretty swamped with an upcoming work event with ASICS and also an ongoing collaboration for my YouTube. I had to read the emails a few times to make sure I didn’t miss any details. While it was an immaterial collaboration, I wanted to support the issue so much that I accepted the opportunity.
Last week I had the honour of getting my work showcased at SHElebrate x KataHukum.id exhibition. It was an event held on 22-23 November 2024 by Indonesia Judicial Research Society (IJRS) to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism Against Violence Against Women campaign initiated by the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).
I was contacted at the end of October—around which time I was pretty swamped with an upcoming work event with ASICS and also an ongoing collaboration for my YouTube. I had to read the emails a few times to make sure I didn’t miss any details. While it was an immaterial collaboration, I wanted to support the issue so much that I accepted the opportunity.
📷 Exhibition photos courtesy of Indonesia Judicial Research Society (IJRS)
Redeeming the Victims
The brief for the exhibition was simple and pretty straightforward. The topic was clearly “violence against women.” We, the artists, were asked to submit works that support the victim of violence against women in a way that uplifts women or educate them regarding legal and protective actions they can take in the aftermath. For the exhibition, IJRS asked for at least 2 artworks to be submitted per artist, but we were allowed to submit pre-existing works. This was ultimately the point that I needed to consider the most. In the end, I decided to submit one existing work and one new piece for the exhibition.
IJRS never expected us to discuss our to-be-showcased work with them, to be honest, but I just wanted to make sure I got it right. So in the process of creating the new piece, I discussed with them from the get go—I offered a few sketches and asked them for feedback. Ultimately, they chose one that would later on be titled (NOT) Property of Husband. This piece was inspired by the Gisèle Pélicot story, the woman who found out she had been raped multiple times by strangers as initiated by her husband. Many of the culprits admitted that they didn’t think her consent was needed, since her husband’s consent was already given. That was insane to me! So this thought process is how that piece came to be.
Redeeming the Victims
The brief for the exhibition was simple and pretty straightforward. The topic was clearly “violence against women.” We, the artists, were asked to submit works that support the victim of violence against women in a way that uplifts women or educate them regarding legal and protective actions they can take in the aftermath. For the exhibition, IJRS asked for at least 2 artworks to be submitted per artist, but we were allowed to submit pre-existing works. This was ultimately the point that I needed to consider the most. In the end, I decided to submit one existing work and one new piece for the exhibition.
IJRS never expected us to discuss our to-be-showcased work with them, to be honest, but I just wanted to make sure I got it right. So in the process of creating the new piece, I discussed with them from the get go—I offered a few sketches and asked them for feedback. Ultimately, they chose one that would later on be titled (NOT) Property of Husband. This piece was inspired by the Gisèle Pélicot story, the woman who found out she had been raped multiple times by strangers as initiated by her husband. Many of the culprits admitted that they didn’t think her consent was needed, since her husband’s consent was already given. That was insane to me! So this thought process is how that piece came to be.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the exhibition myself because I had prior commitments—ahem, Joyland, recap coming soon. But Neka from IJRS was kind enough to keep me updated from time to time and provide me with the photos you see in this post right now. The other artists’ works are also amazing. My favourites are pieces from Aiko Yoshina and Maria Junia—they speak to me the most. I’m really sad I couldn’t see them in person. Even though this exhibition only lasted for 2 days and I’m definitely late in writing about it, I hope you got to see it while it lasted.
Thank you so much to the IJRS team for the opportunity
and being so patient with all my inquiries
Hope we get to meet up sometime!
Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend the exhibition myself because I had prior commitments—ahem, Joyland, recap coming soon. But Neka from IJRS was kind enough to keep me updated from time to time and provide me with the photos you see in this post right now. The other artists’ works are also amazing. My favourites are pieces from Aiko Yoshina and Maria Junia—they speak to me the most. I’m really sad I couldn’t see them in person. Even though this exhibition only lasted for 2 days and I’m definitely late in writing about it, I hope you got to see it while it lasted.
Thank you so much to the IJRS team for the opportunity
and being so patient with all my inquiries
Hope we get to meet up sometime!