Juliana Yasin

Juliana Yasin (1970 – 27 August 2014) was a Singaporean contemporary artist and curator whose practice spanned painting, installation, video, and performance art. Her works examined notions of identity, subjectivity, and community practices. Pedagogy and research further complemented her artistic practice,

Juliana is notable as "one of the early voices of Malay women contemporary artists", exploring the position of Muslim women in Singaporean society through her practice since the 1990s. She was an active member of significant contemporary art groups in Singapore such as The Artists Village (TAV) and Plastique Kinetic Worms (PKW). Juliana also co-curated the first iteration of the community-based Jatiwangi Art Festival in 2006, later taking Jatiwangi in West Java, Indonesia as her "second home". She wore headscarves as a teenager, only to stop during her university years in Australia; she also embarked on pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina.

In February 2014, she had to undergo intensive surgery following a relapse of the disease, which had spread to other organs. Organised by Yvonne Lee, former director of the now-defunct Plastique Kinetic Worms, the exhibition included works from more than 40 artists, featuring prominent Singaporean artists such as Amanda Heng, Vincent Leow, and Tang Da Wu. In their attempt to break from stereotypes, their performance envisioned an ironic outcome, with Heng parodying the stance of the Statue of Liberty. At PKW, Juliana also curated and participate in the performance and installation exhibition Fusion Strength in 2001, with it travelling to Indonesia and Australia in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Juliana responded to media attention by explaining her desire to question narrow definitions of Muslim female identity. Also featured were other Singaporean artists from The Artists Village, including Tang Da Wu, Lee Wen, and Agnes Yit. The success of the first iteration in 2006 led the organisers to organise the second iteration of the Jatiwangi Art Festival in 2008.

In December 2007, the solo exhibition Kites, Veils and Boarding Passes was held at Plastique Kinetic Worms, marking the developments in Juliana's artistic practice since 1991. In 2019, a selection of music and lyrics from Juliana's projects at Jatiwangi from 2009 to 2010 was posthumously exhibited at the 6th Singapore Biennale, curated by artistic director Patrick D. Flores. The music album Tali Timba from Juliana's solo exhibition in Jatiwangi in 2009 was presented with another 2010 album, For Peace and Togetherness: Tantejules dan Pemuda Inisiatif, which consisted of seven songs in English and Bahasa Indonesia "promoting and celebrating peace, love, and solidarity".

Art Juliana came from a background in painting, having done many portraits in particular. Juliana began to see herself as a subject, bringing the human face into her work and distorting it, fond of the idea of being able to convey a face by concealing it. This notion of concealment carries through in later works which feature masks, veils, and cloaks. While her identity as a Muslim woman artist led her to draw upon issues of the hijab and tudong in works such as The Veil (2001) or Covered, Veiled, Bound (2003), Juliana stated that she did not see herself as representing minority groups.

Collaboration was a significant aspect of Juliana's practice, whether with other artists, collectives, or communities, she described herself as being better able to "push [her] boundaries" when working with others. This manifested in her many collaborations with other artists and with collectives and groups such as The Artists Village, Plastique Kinetic Worms, and with communities in Jatiwangi. Australian artists Karee Dahl and Colin G Reaney were frequent collaborators of Juliana, performing alongside her at previous projects such as Traffic Space at Para Site, Hong Kong in 2001, The houseWORK Project at the Alliance Française de Singapour, Singapore in 2003, the CP Open Biennale, Jakarta in 2003, and TAV's Artists Investigating Monuments series in 2004/5.