Melati Suryodarmo: In the Moment

Presented by Founding and Lead Partner UBS

Performance art is often defined by its ephemerality – existing in time, space, and memory. Acclaimed Indonesian performance artist Melati Suryodarmo joins UBS Art Collection’s Elaine Choi to reflect on her practice and the recurring themes that run through her work – endurance and repetition, love and vulnerability, emotional labour, and the politics of the body. Referencing her performance, I Love You (2007) – the video documentation of which is part of the UBS Art Collection and is presented at the UBS Art Studio during ART SG – the conversation will also consider how performance art is documented and collected, and what it means for a work to persist beyond the live moment.

Speaker:
Melati Suryodarmo – Artist, Indonesia
Moderated by:
Elaine Choi – UBS Art Collection Manager (APAC), UBS AG

Melati Suryodarmo | Artist, Indonesia

Known for physically demanding durational performances rooted in research on the body’s relationship to self and world. Melati’s multidisciplinary practice, spanning performance, installation, photography, and film, explores home, spirituality, family, and personal history, drawing on Javanese culture, socio-political, activist, and feminist ideas. She has presented internationally at institutions and events including the Van Gogh Museum, Asia Pacific Triennial, Singapore Biennale, Museum MACAN, and Asia Society Triennial. Founder of Studio Plesungan (2012) and Artistic Director of Jakarta Biennale (2017) and Indonesia Bertutur (2022, 2024). She received the 2022 Bonnefanten Award for Contemporary Art with a solo exhibition at the Bonnefanten Museum.

Elaine Choi | UBS Art Collection Manager (APAC), UBS AG

Since joining UBS in 2017, she has overseen the acquisition, activation, and display of the UBS Art Collection across the firm’s headquarters, branches, and activation spaces throughout APAC. She leads multiple artist commission projects and serves as the Collection’s spokesperson, sharing UBS’s collecting strategies and fostering public engagement with contemporary art.

Elaine holds a Master of Arts in Transcultural Studies from Heidelberg University in Germany and a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She expanded her academic experience with exchanges at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.