Melati Suryodarmo (b. 1969, Solo, Indonesia) graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunscheweig, Germany. Her practice is informed by Japanese Butoh, dance and history, among others. Her work is the result of ongoing research in the movements of the body and its relationship to the self and the world. These are translated into photography, dance choreography, video and live performances. Suryodarmo has presented her works in locations all over the world, including Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland; MMCA, Gwacheon, South Korea; National art Centre Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; Para Site, Hong Kong; QAGOMA, Australia; and Singapore Art Museum. She has presented her choreographic pieces in various festivals, including at TPAM, BankArt, Yokohama (2016) Witch Dance Festival, Sophien Saele, Berlin (2016); Europalia Festival at KVS Brussels (2017); De Singel, Anwerp; Frankfurt LAB, Frankfurt (2015) and Indonesia Dance Festival, Jakarta Theatre, (2016).
In 2019, she created Orfeus a dance piece based on Goenawan Mohamad’s poetry, performed at Salihara Jakarta. In December 2019, she directed and choreographed Opera Gandari, an opera composed by Tony Prabowo at Graha Bakti Budaya, Jakarta Art Centre, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta. Since 2007, Suryodarmo has been organising PALA and Undisclosed Territory, both annual performance art festivals, in Solo, Indonesia. In 2012, she founded Studio Plesungan, an art space for performance artists. She was the Artistic Director of the Jakarta Biennale 2017, and since 2021 she has been working as Artistic Director of the Indonesia Bertutur, the art and culture festival presented by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia.