The Balinese artist giving centuries-old scroll painting a feminist twist

CNN — At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that the work of contemporary Indonesian artist Citra Sasmita was made hundreds of years ago. On large-scale traditional tapestries and Kamasan scrolls, Sasmita depicts an array of stories that defy inherited myths and tradition, instead imagining a post-patriarchal world populated entirely by women. “Much of our inherited literature, in our old manuscripts and the epics, portray women as only having a sexual function — especially in the Kama Sutra story and Panji Tales.” By rewriting these myths and replacing every man with a woman, Sasmita is “rethinking the stories that are being told,” the exhibition’s curator, Lotte Johnson, told CNN. She added that while Sasmita “incorporates the motifs, iconography and stories associated with Kamasan art, her work is a response to the tradition — rather than a product of it.” Jo Underhill/Barbican Dr Siobhan Campbell, a scholar of Indonesian art and textiles, told CNN via email that like many cooperative art practices throughout Indonesia, “there has traditionally been a division of labor based on gender.” Through her work in the Kamasan community, Campbell found that women’s roles in the painting process has historically been downplayed. “As a result, I didn’t have a chance to find a book and learn about traditional Balinese artists, or about who the Balinese masters were.” Although this is her first UK solo exhibition, Sasmita’s eyes are firmly set on the continuation of artistic culture back home, where she works closely with a traditional artistic community.