Nadia Bamadhaj

Nadiah Bamadhaj (Malaysia, b.1968) is a contemporary artist based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Trained as a sculptor in New Zealand at the Canterbury School of Fine Arts, Bamadhaj works in digital media, sculpture, installations, and is well-recognised for her signature style of charcoal and collage drawings. Her artwork engages with the social intricacies of life in Indonesian society, depicting people, flora and fauna, batik motifs, mythology, and architecture in her multi-layered pieces. She has worked in non- governmental organizations, lectured in art, and has written on both Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2000, she began her full-time art practice and was awarded the Nippon Foundation’s Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship in 2002, electing to spend her fellowship period in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where she currently lives with her husband and son. Bamadhaj has participated in various solo and group exhibitions locally and internationally, including the Biennal Yogya VII in 2005, Jakarta Biennale 2006, Singapore Biennale 2008, Gouangzhou Triennale 2008,  Jogya Biennale X in 2009, Jakarta Biennale 2021, and Bangkok Art Biennale 2023.