Ghosts from the Past is a joint exhibition by Ipeh Nur (b 1993) and Enka Komariah (b 1993). On this occasion, the Yogyakarta artist couple exhibit artworks rooted in research-based projects concerned with historical narratives and memories. The centrepiece is Rumah yang Yahud (A Cool House), a collaborative installation including drawings, paintings and building scaffolding measuring 300 x 400 x 400 cm. The installation reflects the process of rethinking and rebuilding Indonesia as a national identity, in the context of the post-Pacific War and the country’s independence. The artists explore the persistence of violent histories through speculative narratives, as responses to their absence in the official historiography. Ipeh and Enka each also present new bodies of solo work on related themes. Ghosts from the Past reveals how a younger generation of Indonesian artists articulates their perspectives on the path of their country’s history. The linking of speculative history with artistic research has not only contributed to the current debates on contemporary artistic practices and their possibilities, but it can also be an alternate way of looking at the past in our complex present.