Maharani Mancanagara
Period: 2024/01/01 ~ 2024/03/30
Nation: Indonesia
Genre: Installation, Printmaking
MaharaniMancanagara, or known as Rani, is an Indonesian artist whose works explore andreinterpret Indonesia’s complex and sometimes sensitive issues of modernsocio-political and cultural history through fictional storytelling. Shestudied printmaking at Institut Teknologi Bandung where she began to utilizedrawing, print, and the installation often time on wooden surfaces.
Rani’s interesttowards history began when she discovered her grandfather’s diary, which ledher into a journey of intertwining a plethora of personal histories thatreflect larger socio-political dynamics of 20th century Indonesia. In herresearch, she often encountered intriguing personal narratives, often imbued ofthe source’s own subjectivity, which offers an alternative view towardsdocumented history as well as revealing its complex layers.
In 2018, Rani held her solo exhibition titled “Zero Sum Game” at GaleriSoemardja, Bandung. The exhibition presents works centered around the HikayatWanatentrem series, a fictional fable that offers the audience alternativehistory based on the stories of political prisoners at Pulau Buru after 1965.Through these fictional fairytales, Rani subtly addresses a sensitive politicalissue that has been polarizing the nation for decades and invites us toquestion the widely accepted historical narratives, which are often written bythose in power and left the minorities estranged. Rani challenges thehistorical narratives by reconstructing them in her rendition through metaphorsand allegories.
