BUAH TANGAN: An Exhibition of Indonesian Diaspora Artist's

ISA Art and Design is proud to present Buah Tangan, a group exhibition of Indonesian Diaspora artists, as part of our exhibition lineup for the inaugural session of Art Jakarta Online Art Fair 2020.  Featuring artworks from Adam De Boer (USA), Hadassah Emmerich (NL), Ines Katamso (ID), Ida Lawrence (AU), and Sinta Tantra (UK) selected works will be available for viewing on Art Jakarta’s online platform and the full show will be exhibited at our gallery in Kebayoran Baru. 

Buah Tangan features artists that came from Indonesian diaspora backgrounds; having mixed heritage or living away from Indonesia yet still feel somehow connected to the culture. While still identifying themselves with parts of Indonesian culture and identity, the diasporic narratives and experiences are different from the mainstream ones.  

The artists in this exhibition explore the fluid concept of national identity, locality, and belonging in contrast to the rigid and permanent state narratives. It also explores expressions of topophilia and terraphilia, as well as the sense of space attachment, placement, and displacement. 

The title of this exhibition plays on the double entendre of the figure of speech Buah Tangan, contextually means ‘souvenir’ while at the same time carries the literal meaning of Buah (Fruit) and Tangan (Hands); the fruit of the hand. Fittingly, these artists are also bringing home mementoes from places afar, -with the “place afar” and “home” being constantly interchanging, or even simultaneous for them; East and West, Self and Other, Foreign and Familiar- while at the same time expressing their itinerant experiences through the creations of their hands.

Through this exhibition, ISA Art and Design is providing a platform for alternate narratives as a homage and reminder to the dynamism of Indonesian Art history canon and visual tradition.