Maharani Mancanagara was born in Padang, West Sumatra (Indonesia). Her work reflects on and reinterprets Indonesia’s complex and sometimes sensitive issues of modern socio-political and cultural history through fictional storytelling. She studied printmaking at the Institut Teknologi Bandung, where she began to utilize drawing, print, painting and installation oftentimes on used wood surfaces.
Drawing on her personal family experiences of relocation and aggression in Indonesia prior to independence, Maharani’s work refers to and develops conversation about the condition of social equality, investigating its political and social complexity via the study of form and materiality. Maharani’s interest towards history began when she discovered her grandfather’s diary, which led her into a journey of intertwining a plethora of personal histories that reflect larger socio-political dynamics of 20th century Indonesia. In her study, she frequently met compelling personal narratives, often imbued with the source’s own subjectivity, which offers an alternative view towards documented history as well as revealing its complex layers.
She has held multiple solo and group exhibitions in Indonesia, Taiwan, Australia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and USA. Her recent residencies include at De’ Lapae Art Space (Thailand, 2025), Pier-2 Art Center (Taiwan, 2024), Fremantle Arts Centre (Australia 2024), and Devfto Printmaking Institute (Indonesia, 2022). She currently lives in Bandung, Indonesia.
