Introduction

Melati Suryodarmo's work is the result of ongoing research in the movements of the body and its relationship to the self and the world. These are enshrined in photography, translated into choreographed dances, enacted in video or executed in live performances. Her work is known for long durational performances, influenced by Butoh, dance, and history, among others. By compiling, extracting, conceptualising and translating some of these factors of presence that she recognises into her work, she intends to tease open the fluid border between the body and its environment, expressing her concerns about the cultural, societal, and political dimensions. Suryodarmo has performed across the world for 20 years, in Art Festivals, Biennials and museums. Her works have been collected by many internationally renowned institutions such as Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, National Gallery of Australia, Singapore Art Museum, and Museum MACAN.

Melati Suryodarmo (b. 1969, Solo, Indonesia) graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunscheweig, Germany under the tutelage of Marina Abramović and Anzu Furukawa with a Meisterschüler qualification in Performance Art. She currently lives and works in Surakarta, Indonesia. She presented her work in various international exhibitions, including Thailand Biennale, Phuket 2025: Eternal [Kalpa], Phuket, Thailand (2025); The Natural Contract, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, China (2025); Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea (2024); Passionate Pilgrim, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, U.K. (2023); I'm a Ghost in My Own House, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Netherlands (2022); Why Let The Chicken Run?, Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia (2020-2021); Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone, Asia Society Museum, New York, U.S.A. (2020); Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (2019);  SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now, National Art Centre Tokyo & Mori Art Museum, Japan (2017) 8th Asia Pacific Triennale, QAGOMA, Queensland, Australia (2015).

Since 2007, Melati Suryodarmo has organized the annual Performance Art Laboratory and Undisclosed Territory, a performance art festival in Solo, Indonesia. In 2012, she founded Studio Plesungan, an independent art space dedicated to performance practices and experimentation. She served as Artistic Director of JIWA: Jakarta Biennale 2017 and later directed Indonesia Bertutur in 2022 and 2024, underscoring her ongoing commitment to fostering performance art and interdisciplinary cultural exchange in Indonesia and beyond. Suryodarmo was a finalist for the APB Foundation Signature Art Prize (2014) and received the Bonnefanten Award for Contemporary Art (BACA) in 2022.