On the Edge I See Yellow marks Maharani Mancanagara’s first body of work examining fragmented narratives from the borderlands. Focusing on traditional practices in West Sumatra, Indonesia and Narathiwat, Southern Thailand, this project connects private memory to broader collective histories and positions art as a space for recovery and repair.

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After more than a decade of working with generational political trauma, her focus expanded during her 2022 trip to West Sumatra, Indonesia where she became interested in local rituals, architecture, and the use of turmeric, a plant she views as a symbol of resilience. Her research traces turmeric’s endurance: its origins in pre-colonial time, it’s marginalization in colonial period, and it’s continued use in healing practices today.

This trajectory shapes the exhibition, where architectural references from the Sriwijaya Kingdom and rumah gadang (traditional West Sumatra house) appear alongside imagery of colonial-time trade activity. These works explore turmeric’s cultural presence across time, while visualizing how colonialism and modernization shaped trade and side-lined turmeric, contributing to the erasure of traditional healing practices.Turmeric’s survival –passed down through oral traditions and domestic knowledge– becomes central to this exhibition. Imagery of women, domestic life, and acts of care highlight the resilience of  localized knowledge. The body of work includes naturally dyed canvases and pillows made from kain lepas, a multipurpose cloth commonly worn in Southern Thailand for daily activities to rituals practices. The exhibition also features collaborative works with visual artist Nuriya Waji and writer Mubaraad Saleh, who engaged in an exchange of knowledge around traditional healing practices and memory within domestic spaces.