Shadow of the Sakura

The three-year history of past violence that changed the fate of thousands of Indonesian women forever through the ianfu system seems to have never been fully resolved. Instead, the gap in knowledge of history to the current generation seems to be widening.

Confronted with this horrifying past, Arief Budiman seeks to bridge this gap through artistic research during his art residency in Japan. Using the performativity approach of imaginary interviews with one ianfu, sites of historical violence and artificial intelligence, he then investigates the narratives revolving around society and the internet.