Mella Jaarsma has become known for her complex costume installations and herfocus on forms of cultural and racial diversity embedded within clothing, the bodyand food. She was born in the Netherlands in 1960 and studied visual art atMinerva Academy in Groningen (1978-1984), after which she left the Netherlandsto study at the Art Institute of Jakarta (1984) and at the Indonesian Institute of theArts in Yogyakarta (1985-1986). She has lived and worked in Indonesia eversince. In 1988, she co-founded Cemeti Art House (with Nindityo Adipurnomo),the first space for contemporary art in Indonesia, which to this day remains animportant platform for young artists and art workers in the country and region.Mella Jaarsma’s works have been presented widely in exhibitions and art eventsin Indonesia and abroad, including: the 20th Sydney Biennale (2016); ‘TheRoving Eye’, Arter, Istanbul(2014); ‘Siasat –Jakarta Biennale’, Museum ofCeramics and Fine Arts, Jakarta (2013); ‘Suspended Histories’, Museum VanLoon, Amsterdam (2013); ‘Singapore Biennale’, Singapore Art Museum (2011);‘GSK Contemporary –Aware: Art Fashion Identity’, the Royal Academy of Arts,London(2010); ‘RE-Addressing Identities’, Katonah Museum, New York (2009);‘Accidentally Fashion’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei (2007); YokohamaTriennial (2005), and many others. Her work is part of the collection of theQueensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia and the Singapore Art Museum,amongst others.
