Portraits of Resilience: Dewi Candraningrum's Tribute to Gerwani Women Affected by the Indonesian Mass Killings of 1965-1966

Between 1965 and 1966, more than half a million communist Indonesians were hunted down, imprisoned, tortured and killed as a consequence of a political coup backed by the CIA. Today, the nation still struggles to reconcile with and heal memories of the killings, with communists stigmatized throughout the nation and perpetrators of the massacre yet to be tried. To recall the 1965 Mass Killings and seek long overdue justice for its victims and survivors, feminist painter Dewi Candraningrum has created a portrait series titled Perempuan ‘65 (The Women of ‘65). These are portraits of aging survivors of the killings who were Gerwani, a nationwide association of women communists, whose stories of imprisonment and gender-based violence and torture haunt Indonesia to this very day. This is why Dewi Candraningrum’s Perempuan ‘65 is relevant to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality, Reduced Inequalities and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

Candraningrum is known for her impressionistic paintings that manifest in quick brush strokes. Much like the impressionists that came before her, she is more concerned with capturing fleeting impressions and the emotions of a moment than with capturing reality. Her choice of colours, however, is bold and stark, resembling fauvist beasts whose aim was to shock viewers amidst a market that was saturated by the impressionists’ calming colours. Because of this, viewers of Perempuan ‘65 are met with a sense of unease, a deliberate choice made by the artist. These are also portraits of old women, a sight that popular media and portraiture art shuns. These elements combined amplify the audience’s sense of discomfort with the tragic and painful stories that Candraningrum lays bare to them.

Candraningrum deliberately made these creative decisions to honour and translate the traumatic experiences that the Gerwani survivors had to endure. One painting, titled after the sitter’s name, Suti, is accompanied by the subject’s story. It reads, “Her dress turned red. The bullet hit her left cheek and passed through her left jaw. She lost three teeth and her palate was destroyed. Eleven days later, she delivered her baby prematurely, weighing only 1.7kg.” 

In her portrait, Suti's face belies quiet resolution. She does not meet the viewer’s gaze, allowing audiences instead to look directly at the bleeding bullet wound on her left cheek. She wears a red kebaya, a traditional Southeast Asian garment meant to signify enthusiasm and hope. This is a hope for a better future, where survivors and victims of the Mass Killings will, at long last, see some form of justice and accountability for the violence they withstood.

At the time, Gerwani women such as Suti were subjected to a witch hunt. State-sponsored propaganda furthered a false narrative which demonized them as sex workers who helped to orchestrate an attempted coup. In reality, they were once the biggest women’s organization in Indonesia, with over 2.5 million members. They ran literacy programs for all ages and actively advocated for women’s rights. They were feminists who were seen as too independent, constantly hatching devious schemes to overthrow and harm the patriarchy and, therefore, the establishment. Research by Saskia Wieranga, a professor at the University of Amsterdam, found that during the 1965-1966 Mass Killings, Gerwani women were subjected to gender-based abuse. They were sexually assaulted, humiliated and tortured en masse. One survivor shared how she was made to stand naked while soldiers threw knives at her. These are the brave and resilient women that Dewi Candraningrum has depicted in her portraits.

To this very day, the violent events of the 1965 Mass Killings are not acknowledged in national history books. Most still peddle Cold War propaganda that was used to persecute the communists. Survivors of the killings and their family members have been subjected to state surveillance and discrimination, effectively silencing those who were directly affected. 

Over the years, small organized efforts have been sprouting sporadically, including the formation of the Foundation for Victims of the 1965/1966 Killings, which aims to advocate for justice for the former political prisoners of the time and the formation of the Dialita Choir that turns their stories into songs. Yet, there has been little to no official governmental effort to promote justice and accountability for survivors and victims.

This is why Dewi Candraningrum’s Perempuan ‘65 series is important. It helps to keep memories of the 1965 Mass Killings alive and to keep conversations around it going. All so that one day, the perpetrators of this gruesome event may be held accountable and these formidable women receive the justice they have long deserved.