How can we preserve the heritage, care and lived experience of our female ancestors? In a world where physical archives are increasingly at risk and the loss of cultural expression is a tangible threat, there is a growing need for art that grounds practice and passes knowledge on with sensitivity. Azzah Salwaa places this concern at the centre of her work, drawing attention to women's labour, tradition and the experiences of her own family in Indonesia, as well as to the narratives and stories that sustain cultural heritage in the present.
Gadis (2025) is a tactile archive of femininity, tradition and identity. Bound in fabric, the work brings together carefully selected words and passages, interweaving reflections on the sanggul – a traditional Indonesian bun – cultural beliefs and the transformation of identity across generations. Photographs of Azzah's mother, aunts and grandmother wearing the sanggul during their years as gadis – unmarried young women – and later in their roles as mothers capture not only the passage of time, but also the shifting forms identity assumes throughout a lifetime.
The work invites viewers to engage directly with its contents and to peel back the layers of distance created by time and space between ourselves and our relatives. By embroidering the lessons on hair care passed down through her family – and by inviting us to read them as though they were mantras – Salwaa allows us to internalise the power and reverence embedded in women's existence.
Sanggul Gadis (2025), in turn, takes the form of a textile letter, presenting both a map and an index of domestic identity and cultural preservation. Through this structured sequence of hairstyles, Salwaa transforms a personal archive into a collective monument, ensuring that ephemeral rituals are preserved in an intimate form that carries their emotional weight.
Azzah Salwaa (b. 2000) is an Indonesian artist based in Milan, where she is currently completing her master's degree at NABA. Her practice spans textiles, video and installation, addressing domesticity, invisible labour and matrilineal storytelling. Drawing on her personal archives, she translates everyday gestures of care into physical sites of memory.
Salwaa's work has been exhibited internationally across South-East Asia and Europe, including in Berlin, Milan and Jakarta. She was recently selected as an artist-in-residence at the Sharjah Art Foundation.
Text by Silvia Laurelli