Visual Arts Library
Which One Should be Covered?
Artist: Anna Zuchriana
Date:
1999
Medium: Seriograph on paper and collage
Dimensions: 80 x 60 cm
Event: Indonesian Conflict
Motif:
Faces
Growing up Moslem with a Chinese mother and a Jakartan Malay father, Zuchriana was all too familiar with the social conflict between the Malay Moslems and the Chinese. This conflict arose from the accusation that the Chinese minority did not support Indonesia's struggle for independence and is, therefore, not patriotic. In 1998, Zuchriana's own search for self intensified during the violent social disturbances that followed Soeharto's resignation. Chinese minorities, including those in Zuchriana's neighborhood, were terrorized; their houses were burned and many women were raped and mutilated. Zuchriana was untouched, but still felt terrorized. She became one of a very few Indonesian artists to expose the conflict between the Chinese minority and the majority. In response to the violence, she produced Which One Should Be Covered? She had seen Chinese women cover their faces with Moslem scarves and with thick make up to look Malay in order to avoid attack. "I realized that the traumatic experience had made these women deny their identity and hate their history," she said. "They were backed into a corner just because of the color of their skin and the form of their eyes." Admiring this, she put a photograph of her mother's eyes in her work. --Jim Supangkat
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