Nabila Ernada is an Indonesian design researcher and media artist. Trained as a communications specialist and social strategist in ID <love>, she earned a BA in Media Studies from Universitas Indonesia (ID) and later an MA in Social Design from Design Academy Eindhoven (NL). Her work explores the in-between zones of surveillance and resistance, tracing how media infrastructures govern visibility, legality, and the body, particularly within Indonesian contexts.
video / poem essay, online archive, fragrance
This project delves into the unsettling reality of "buruh siluman," the invisible laborers hidden within Indonesia's palm oil plantations. Inspired by the speculative lens of Javafuturism, akin to Afrofuturism, I explore the silenced narratives of these workers through a blend of research and artistic expression. Javafuturism's grounding in Javanese kejawen, a nature-based belief system, becomes a source of both exploration and metaphor. This project is based on the research of Dr. Hariati Sinaga, researcher/activist in women's labour relations.
The haunting presence of the Melati flower, or Jasmine, carries a dual meaning. Its fragrance evokes otherworldly spirits, echoing the spectral existence of the buruh siluman. Simultaneously, the flower's use as a pseudonym for sexual assault victims in media underscores the vulnerability hidden within these plantations.