b'FX harsonoNAMA FEATURES A CHOIRof young Indonesians,names are chanted and then replaced with Indonesian who first chant a 1966 Indonesian law requiring itsnamesbut I chose not to. Instead, I present them ascitizens of Chinese ethnicity to change their namesa litany of chants without accusing anyone. The chant-to Indonesian-sounding ones. They then sing outing of prayers invites us to contemplate, without anger namesinitially in Chinese, subsequently in Indone- or revenge, the forced act of changing ones name, sian, and finally with their original meanings. They arewhich resulted in the Chinese being uprooted from all dressed in white shirts and blue-and-white batiktheir traditions.skirts, which are clothes that Indonesians of ChineseThe acquisition of NAMA is in line with SCMAs descent would wear at funerals. The catholic chordsstrategic goal of expanding the collection in thealso unite the singers, who appear to be from differentarea of South and Southeast Asian art. A founding ethnic backgrounds.member of seminal experimental art movementsThis performance focuses on a self-referentialin the 1970s that explored socio-political issues,subject that artist FX Harsono has been preoccupiedFX Harsono has continued to be widely recognizedwith since the fall of the Suharto regime (19671998) as an eminent figure in the Indonesian contemporary hostility against Indonesias Chinese community toart scene. This acquisition also enriches SCMAswhich he belongs. From Dutch rule to Suhartos risegrowing collection of video art, particularly by estab-to power in the 1960s and culminating with the 1998lished and emerging Asian artists, such as Cao Fei, riots, this ethnic minority has suffered oppression andChien-Chi Chang, Kyung Woo Han, Rinko Kawauchi erasure in violent and legalized forms. and Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook. As SCMA actively Adopted from the Dutch word naam, the titleengages in antiracist work, this video addressing nama in Indonesian means name. FX Harsonosissues of race and ethnicity in a foreign country offers artist statement explains the choice of mournful choiryet another reality and perspective that complicate singing that gestures more toward healing and recon- and complement the discourse centered around ciliation instead of defiance and accusation: Namesracial dynamics in the United States. Is injustice most are given by parents as a kind of prayer attached toharmful when produced in systematic ways and does their child, to protect his life so he will be a dignified,it often result in national trauma? What happens when respected, and happy human being. In the videodiscrimination and violence are targeted at ethnic NAMA, I imagine names as a form of prayer, recitedminorities who are perceived as unable to assimilate? repeatedly as a litany. I could easily have expressedWhat role do immigration, colonization and religion protest or anger in the video, in which the Chineseeach play in social transformation?art acquisitionhighlightsFX Harsono. Indonesian, born 1949. NAMA, 2019. Single-channel video, 5.1 surround sound; edition 1/10. Running time: 12 minutes. Purchased with the Carroll and Nolen Asian Art Acquisition Fund69'