Fitri Ya’akob

Photographing complex familial relationships
By Vivyan Yeo

Singapore artist Fitri Ya’akob (b. 1996) explores the complex relationships between family and challenging topics such as spirituality, blood relations, the environment and geographical distance.  She combines her primary medium of photography with film, performance and poetry, featuring sensitive snapshots of rural neighbourhoods, staged familial scenes and fleeting organic interactions. 

Fitri graduated with a BFA in Photography and Digital Imaging from the School of Arts, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University. She received the Kwek Leng Joo Prize of Excellence in 2019 and has exhibited at the 2019 edition of the Pingyao International Photography Festival in China. Fitri has also participated in several group exhibitions, including ‘How to Desire Differently’ (2020) at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, ‘Seeing the Forest For the Trees’ (2021) at Art Agenda and ‘With you Here Between: Defamiliarizations’ (2021) at Objectifs.

Fitri Ya’akob, still from ‘Akar’, 2020, film, 5 minutes 38 seconds. Image courtesy of the artist.

Malay dance has been an integral part of Fitri’s practice. Introduced to the art as a child growing up in Indonesia, she continued to practice Malay dance when she moved to Singapore and considered joining the Atrika Dance Company as a possible career choice. With over eight years of experience, the art has helped her maintain a deep connection with tradition. She describes Malay dance as “beautifully poetic”; its gestures are informed by lived experiences, social practices and the symbiotic relationship between the community and nature. 

The short film ‘Akar’ (2020) integrates Fitri’s diverse experiences in Malay dance, spoken word poetry and photography. Created during the pandemic, the work exudes a longing for her family home in the Riau Islands. She was unable to visit for a prolonged time and tried to find semblances of home in Singapore. In the film, Fitri dances in natural landscapes with little geographical trademarks, allowing the viewers and artist to imagine a more familiar place. As she moves, her spoken word poetry narrates life at home with melancholy and loneliness.

Fitri Ya’akob, ‘The Face I Borrowed’ from the series ‘Binte Ya’akob’, 2018, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.

Another work that examines strained relationships is ‘Binte Ya’akob’ (2018). The photographic series was derived from Fitri’s phantasmic relationship with her biological father, wrought with self-loathing, anger and yearning. “The mere thought that I was related to somebody who had caused my mother so much hurt was painful, and I attributed myself as one of the reasons for her pain,” relates Fitri. “I desperately wanted to erase any traits I share with my father: my surname, face and birthdate.” Accompanied by prose detailing these complex emotions, the series reveals how intergenerational trauma is often borne by a child who struggles to make sense of her difficult circumstances.

Fitri Ya’akob, ‘The Last Vestiges of a Mirage’ from the series ‘A Prayer | A Plea’, 2020, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.

Spirituality is a significant theme in Fitri’s oeuvre. As a recipient of the Kwek Leng Joo Prize of Excellence, she presented her photography series ‘A Prayer | A Plea’ (2020) at DECK as part of the duo exhibition ‘A Self I Once Knew’. While the photographs narrate carefree and joyous interactions among family members, their greyscale tones and blurred quality suggest that these moments are fast vanishing. Blood ties are emphasised in Islam. As Fitri and her stepfather do not share the same blood, there is a chance that their fond relationship cannot be shared in the afterlife. Instead, she will have to create a connection with her biological father, who stirs painful emotions. Raw, sincere and thoughtful, Fitri navigates human bonds with deep sensitivity. 

Click here to read our dialogue with Fitri Ya’akob.