Presented by Baik Art

Mella Jaarsma is inspired by the site of the post office in Jakarta’s old town that was built by a Dutch architect during the colonial era. Many letters have passed through this place. It has been the centre of communication for so many years and sending letters has been a very important mode of communication, especially between Indonesia and the Netherlands. When Mella started living in Jakarta in 1984, writing and posting letters to her family and friends in the Netherlands was a part of the artist’s daily routine. 

‘Surat Terakhir / Last Letter’ refers to the idea that the ‘Kantor Pos’ is entering a new stage in history. Part of its history has been cut off or made obsolete. It occupies a new purpose now, searching for other ways of transmitting messages. In this transition a certain chapter closes. ‘Surat Terakhir’ is an installation about the many letters that have passed through this post office bearing within them so many stories and emotions. 

Mella collected some of these postcards from her Dutch family members that were sent from Indonesia to the Netherlands in the 1940s. Some postcards and envelopes she found in various archives that still bare stamps from the 18th and 19th century. This collection of postcards and handwritten envelopes shows certain aesthetic conventions that have lasted for so many centuries, but which will not be carried on by the generations to come.