Nudity, sexuality, prostitution, rape…. These are key themes in the work of Indonesian visual and performance artist Arahmaiani-not issues nice Muslim women are supposed to discuss in public.

Arahmaiani—whose name combines the Muslim word for "loving" with the Hindu word for "human"—has achieved international recognition as Indonesia's most accomplished, and certainly most openly feminist, performance artist. As a child in a religiously observant Muslim household in Jakarta, she wanted to be a prophet, like Muhammad, "but as a woman this was impossible," Arahmaiani recalls.


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Some Indonesian artists joined in the student protests. Through installations in exhibitions and performances, these artists expressed their criticism of the Soeharto regime. Indonesian 'protest art' has had some precedents: first during the colonial period, when Indonesian painters supported the struggle for Independence (1945-1950). The second was at the beginning of the 1970s when the 'New Indonesian Art Movement' (Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru) was founded. This movement supported the student protests against the government which took place in that same decade. Some members, like one of the founders, Harsono, are still active.
The last part of the exhibition shows works by artists who are political activists as well. Arahmaiani (1961) and Harsono (1949) participated in the student demonstrations and observed the riots that took place in May 1998. The chaotic situation in which plundering, arson, murder, and rape were the order of the day inspired Arahmaiani to make a series of charcoal drawings with the title Tropical Elegy. Dark silhouettes watch passively while their house is burns. A woman is threatened with a knife. In New Order Wayang, dead bodies are impaled on a bamboo stake. The tree of life, used to signal the beginning and the end of a Wayang performance, has been placed in the middle. Above the tree, a seated figure with a necktie is in power. A tank is aiming its guns at the performance.
The agression and violence used by the army and the police during May 1998 have been portrayed by Harsono in his series Republik Indochaos. Based on the enlarged form of a hundred rupiah postage stamp, these etchings are a documentation of 13 and 14 May 1998. Combining photographs, texts, and etching Harsono demonstrates a harsh reality: burning bodies, the army shooting, and the police with clubs beating up demonstrators. A portrait of Soeharto bears a diagonal stamp with the text 'expired'.