Dreams Beyond Precious Ruins is looking for more dreamers and allies
By design, we view history through artifacts archived and presented by the authority that we consider to be the truth. But when we challenge the truth by asking who is archiving these artefacts and what they stand for, prejudice and political agendas become clearly visible behind museum display glass cases. What are they showing us? Why are those things being shown? What is not being shown?
These questions hang heavy over my research about how women’s lives have evolved from 1925 to 2025. When I realized that it is mostly not my incapability as a researcher that hindered my search, but instead the failure of archiving institutions in Indonesia to provide an accessible archive about women’s lives.
So, we have fragments of clues instead of a full story. Traces of women in photographs, letters, movies, and even advertisements provide clues into what kind of life women in Indonesia used to live. In Ephemera As Evidence, José Esteban Muñoz introduces the concept of ephemeral evidence, using traces of something that transpired as enough evidence to explore out-of-the-box identities. We are inviting Indonesian women to explore our identities that history has deemed to be out-of -the-box. Through archival objects, we dream about what could transpire inside the gaps within our history.
If you are an Indonesian woman* who wants to contribute to this counter-archive, please click on the button below!
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