Gendering the Environmental Artivism: Ekofeminisme and Unjuk Rasa of Arahmaiani’s Art

Abstract

This article focuses on Indonesian contemporary art with an activist agenda, meant to create awareness about environmental issues and mobilise a critical or problem-solving response. I examine the work of Arahmaiani, which stands out for providing a gendered perspective on the socio-political dimensions of envi-ronmental problems and solutions. In examining Arahmaiani’s oeuvre, I use the concepts of unjuk rasa and ekofeminisme, which are derived from Indonesian academic and artistic debates around environmental art and activism. This approach extends the interconnections between creativity, gender and environ-mental activism beyond the field of contemporary art to include traditional and popular media and platforms of creativity. I argue that Arahmaiani’s personalised nomadism has facilitated reconnections with Indonesia’s past, alternative inter-pretations of the homeland and the nation-state, and visions of more just and inclusive forms of community. This includes environmental projects in Java, Tibet and elsewhere of an increasingly practical nature.