Episode 1: FX Harsono – What’s in a name?
In this episode, I’m joined by an artist, a good friend and mentor of mine, FX Harsono. I’ve known Pak Harsono for many years now and have learned so much about my own Chinese-ancestry and history in Indonesia. During the New Order in 1967, Chinese Indonesians were forced to change their names into Indonesian-sounding names and were forbidden to practice our traditions publicly including celebrating Chinese New Year. FX Harsono was only 18 years old when he was forced to change his name, an experience that he later revisited in his seminal and moving work Writing in the rain. In this heartwarming and quite emotional conversation we talked about the power of art in uncovering hidden histories and in healing. We talked about the politics of name, what’s in a name, and what kind of meaning it carries within our identity, memory, belonging and the ways in which we persevere and survive through history and changing times.
About FX Harsono
FX Harsono is a seminal figure in the Indonesian contemporary art scene and has been making art for 46 years to date. He co-founded Indonesia’s Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (New Art Movement) in 1975, with a group of young artists who believed in engaging with social and political issues, through an emphasis on experimental and conceptual approaches that incorporate everyday materials. Harsono’s own biography and family history are often the basis of his art, pointing at the disconcerting situation of minorities, the socially underprivileged against the backdrop of Indonesia’s own history and political development. This intersection of the personal and the political is particularly evident in his most recent works. For the past decade, Harsono’s projects focus on the mass killings of Chinese-Indonesians in Java in the years 1947-49.
Find out more about the artist: @ini_fx _harsono