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by Khairani Barokka (Author)
An experimental work of creative non-fiction that challenges art history, confronts colonial ableism, and reclaims a stolen spirit.
In Annah, Infinite, the dominant narratives surrounding Paul Gauguin's famous painting Annah la Javanaise (1893-94) are turned upside down. The book argues a simple point: what if the portrait is not one of a consenting muse, but a child in pain?
Annah, Infinite questions the colonial power that has defined the infamous subject's unknown history. Through the mythology of Annah, Okka draws attention to the systems of ablenormativity, racism, and sexism that shape what we learn of art history and what we see on museum walls.
Alongside her critique, the author engages with Annah la Javanaise through poetry, fiction, and visual art. A work of emotional heft, Okka asks us to acknowledge the possibility of pain in every single portrait, as well as the possibility of escape.
Author Biography
Khairani Barokka is a writer and artist from Jakarta, based in London. In 2023, Okka was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in the Arts and Culture category, and longlisted for the Loewe/Studio Voltaire Award. Her work centres disability justice as anticolonial praxis. Among her honours, she has been a UNFPA Indonesian Young Leader Driving Social Change, Editor of Modern Poetry in Translation, and Associate Artist at the UK's National Centre for Writing. Okka is the author of four poetry books, most recently Barbellion Prize-shortlisted Ultimatum Orangutan and amuk.
