Sarang Puan was also created in honor of R.A. Kartini Day, celebrating the Indonesian women’s rights icon known for championing women’s emancipation from rigid patriarchal norms that sought to confine them to domestic roles and limit their professional aspirations.

Through Sarang Puan, Girls Pay the Bills attempts to expand on the conversation started by Kartini all those years ago on women’s autonomy—to criticize not only the existing discriminatory stereotypes and gender biases against women—but also to highlight the intersectional struggles that women face including class, race, religion, and so on.

Among the many pieces showcased in the installation, Fatamorgana stood out for its powerful commentary on society’s control over women’s bodily autonomy. Set in a kitchen—a symbol of domesticity—the piece explores the suffocating limitations placed on women and the lack of ‘breathing room’ afforded to them. It invites the audience to imagine a world where these expectations were placed on men instead, flipping the script to provoke empathy and reflection.

At its core, Fatamorgana calls for the emancipation of women from the confines of the home, while also shedding light on how domestic labor—much like women themselves—is often undervalued and disrespected. Effectively bringing together said core ideas that were presented in Sarang Puan, “...dunia yang lebih humanis dan setara, di mana peran dan posisi seseorang [...] tidak ditentukan semerta-merta dari alat kelamin.”