Cantik Itu Luka // Beauty is a Wound
a street-art interpretation by Theano Giannezi
Paste up in Pasar Kembang (the Flower Market), the "Red Light District" of Yogyakarta, Indonesia March 2021
The title has taken from the novel of the Indonesia author Eka Kuriawan "Cantik itu Luka" translated as "Beauty is a Wound" and is the tragic story of a young prostitute, named Dewi Ayu, with an exotic beauty of Dutch and Indo mixture.
The book combines Southeast Asian folklore, supernatural horror, satire, independence struggles and the explicit, violent history of a region beaten down by the heinousness of war.
It exposes the everyday violence that women must endure and men have been taught to inflict for generations.
By making this artwork in Pasar Kembang, hopefully will make people remember the daily struggle of woman working as sex workers in the area, the woman fighting for their independence, the woman standing for their choices.
Is a personal need to speak out about the patriarchal stereotypes and the way society counts and judge women's value from their image until nowadays.
Beauty indeed is a wound when is treated in this way...
let's try to chance that.
video of the papercut process "Cantik itu Luka / / Beuaty is a wound"
Video of the placement process in Pasar Kembang (the prostitute area), in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
