Art Jakarta
ara contemporary
2025
Natalie Sasi Organ’s new series of works for Art Jakarta 2025 interrogates the paradox of Methavalai Sorndaeng, a Bangkok restaurant opened in 1957 located next to the democracy monument —its colonial interiors and militarised service uniforms preserved under the tagline “Authentically Thai”. The space feels trapped in a performative loop: Thai pop ballads from the 1980s drift through the air, their synth melodies clashing with the gaudy draped curtains—both a façade and a veil—critiquing how such spaces, marketed as cultural bastions, often privileging aesthetics of power over authenticity. Now in the midst of renovation as the new generation of the family-owned business takes over, this series has become an act of preservation and a testament to the collective memory spaces hold for generations before and generations to come.