Non-fiction
Here you can find Victoria's non-fiction pieces in both Indonesian and English.
Despite the excellence of the production, I am critical of the fact that Union House Theatre (UHT) elected to hire professional actors rather than have an all-student cast. While I imagine that the combination of Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and UHT alumni such as Aldrich and Blum, and current students such as Missen and Liu must have created a rich environment for collaboration, Union House Theatre is meant to be a space for student theatre-makers.
Frida Kahlo adalah sebuah nama yang telah menjadi akrab bagi kita semua. Ketika kita mengucapkan nama Frida Kahlo, sebuah gambar akan serta-merta muncul di benak kita atau kepala teman-teman kita. Maka itu, kita melupakan siapa sebenarnya seniman Meksiko itu. Intinya, we’ve taken her for granted; beliau dan seninya.
Keberangkatan oleh Nh Dini jauh melampaui ekspektasi dan harapanku. Ketika pertama kali aku belajar tentang novel itu, melalui mendengar sebuah cuplikan darinya, aku pikir ia akan ‘sekedar’ bercerita tentang hak dan posisi perempuan dalam masyarakat Indonesia. Meskipun kedua tema merupakan tema besar dalam novel itu, tapi ada tema ketiga yang tidak boleh diabaikan: penelusuran jati diri.
There is no other relationship in the world like the relationship between a mother and a daughter. A mother’s love for her daughter, or any of her children, is “supposed” to be the strongest force, an unbroken bond, a thread that can never be cut — yes, yes, and yes, but if all of these phrases are taken out of their romanticised context, does not the mother-daughter bond appear quite stifling, claustrophobic, and possessive?
Apakah artinya untuk mengenal Indonesia seluruhnya? Mungkin di dalam kata ‘pulang’ sendiri ada seribu kata yang samar atau saling menentang. Dimas menyatakan ‘rumah adalah tempat di mana aku rasa bisa pulang’, tetapi jika ini benar mengapa ia merasa Indonesia sebagai “rumahnya” bahkan ketika ia tidak bisa pulang (secara harafiah)? Tidakkah dua hal ini saling berbenturan?
It is a rare talent to be able to articulate and express in such an engaging manner the complexities and intersectionalities that come with being a woman of a historically rich and oppressed indigenous community. I connected with Elsa’s navigation through her culture on a personal level. It is heavy to inherit the good, the bad, and the ugly from one’s ethnic community.
