The 17 of August, the National Indonesian Independence celebration (kemerdékaan), is in the most populous Muslim country, an occasion for girls or young women, to not only don traditional clothes (adat) but also modern attire.
This series of portraits realised in Berastagi, Sumatra during this celebration, shows the diversity of attributes and adornments, the modern and traditional apparel, not only from North Sumatra, but from all parts of Indonesia.
Both types of attires, even the modern, can be partly understood as an expression of freedom which favours the dialogue with the other.
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About the Artist
Raphaël Blum has lived and worked in Paris, South East Asia and South America. He studied Visual Arts at the University of Paris Sorbonne, and also Eastern Languages and Civilisations at INALCO, Paris.
Raphaël Blum develops a work close to the field of anthropology concerning exoticism in different geographical contexts, urban or otherwise (Paris, the Philippines, Indonesia, South America).
His work was exhibited in different International Festivals, museums, galleries, art centres, and various on-line platforms. He has recently exhibited at the Cordillera – Cultural Centre of The Philippines, Manila (2013); Suites Brasileiras, Institut Français du Portugal, Portugal (2012); Shanghai World Expo 2010; 4th Jakarta International Video Festival, Indonesia (2009); and Museum Volkenkunde/National Museum of Ethnology, Holland (2008), amongst others.