Ratu R. Saraswati
Ratu Rizkitasari Saraswati
born in Jakarta, Indonesia
based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Ratu Rizkitasari Saraswati, (b. 1990) uses storytelling, performance and photography to engage with people as she aims to nurture empathetic relationships. Saras obtained her BFA from the Faculty of Art and Design’s Institut Teknologi Bandung in 2013. In 2015, she was a resident at Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She performed her performance piece with her mother and her sister in JIWA: Jakarta Biennale 2017. In 2019, she conducted the gathering “Optik-Optik Kecil” in Rumah Tangga Depok, a participatory performance collecting morning dew. In the same year, she performed at Biennale Jogja XV EQUATOR #5 in Jogja National Museum.
She was a resident at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 2020 - 2022, where she wrote and published the collection of parables “Route of Flowers”. From the performance art gathering Temu Seni Performans Indonesia Bertutur 2022 in South Sulawesi, she wrote “Parable of the Tongue”. In late 2022, this was compiled with other stories and proverbs, based on her interactions in the neighbourhood of Molenwijk during her art residency with Framer Framed, into “A rising flower makes a garden”. In summer 2023, Saras received a stipendium grant from Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst that will support her Amsterdam based projects until 2024.
Photo credit: Verena Blok