Mask courtesy of Udeido Collective Hidden Faces of Papua by Danielle Hofmans
As part of the exhibition Lawan!, on show at Framer Framed from 12 to 21 September 2025, Udeido Collective and Kevin van Braak present their work, Hidden Faces of Papua. Art historian, researcher and art writer Danielle Hofmans details the context and importance of their collaboration below.
When Dicky Takndare and Kevin van Braak met in Yogyakarta in 2017, it marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration. Van Braak was on a research visit to understand his grandfather’s role in World War II and the subsequent Indonesian War of Independence. His daughter, Van Braak’s mother, was born on the island of Biak in West Papua. Takndare grew up in Sentani, also in West Papua, not far from the border with the independent Republic of Papua New Guinea. His artistic practice gives a voice to the West Papuan people, who are silenced in many ways and on many levels by the Indonesian government. In 2018, Takndare started the internationally operating Udeido Collective with six other artists and activists from West Papua. The present project is a collaboration between Udeido and Van Braak. The concept of masking is relevant to both their practices, often focusing on issues that are in the dark because they receive too little attention and are actively hidden and trivialised. Masks are used in many forms in traditional ceremonies in Papua, but they also function as important symbols of how people (have to) hide their identities, expressions, and truths. The number of seven members that make up the collective is significant. The colonial government divided West Papua into seven main regions (wilayah adat) and the current Indonesian government has adopted this classification of their province. This division is controversial, because of the diversity of tribes and communities in Papua. However, the seven regions are also reflected in political symbols such as the Morning Star flag (emblematic of the struggle for an independent West Papua), in which the seven regions are represented as seven blue, horizontal bands.
The exhibition addresses current pressing issues in the Papuan regions, with the reality of cultural genocide recurring throughout the works. The masks and related paintings successively highlight the persistent misrepresentation of Papuan identity and culture driven by colonialism and contemporary state-sponsored narratives (Bekaku Ba); the suppression of indigenous and ancestral culture through the imposition of nationalist education (Tewed); the marginalisation of indigenous Papuans through state-led transmigration policies (Toboo); the cultural and spiritual disorientation, particularly among youth, through the systematic erasure of traditional culture and the enforcement of state agendas (Karwar); the land grabbing and catastrophic transformation of the sacred Mount Nemangkawi into the world’s largest gold mine (Nemangkawi Holes); the gross violation of human rights and freedom of expression (KUG); and the silencing of an entire population (Bihm).
Masks are chosen as the artistic language to make people aware and underscore the fact that West Papuan issues are among the most isolated and neglected worldwide. The aforementioned cultural genocide takes place through atrocities against the Papuan people, which some scholars have described as a “slow-motion genocide”.
With this presentation, the artists want to open eyes, ears, and mouths to the injustices happening in West Papua – a para para that opens up to the world, encourages action, and refuses to be silenced any longer.
Danielle Hofmans
September 2025
Collectives / Indonesia / Colonial history / Art and Activism /
Exhibitions
Exhibition: Lawan!
An exhibition that brings attention to the legacies of post-colonial imperialist expansion in the Indonesian archipelago and West Papua
Agenda
Opening: Lawan!
Exhibition opening of a pop-up show bringing attention to the colonial legacies in the Indonesian archipelago and West Papua.
Network
Danielle Hofmans
Writer, Researcher
Udeido Collective
Art and Activist Collective
Ignasius Dicky Takndare
Artist
