published 2018 Dec-Sept

Published December 2018

The eternal and the temporal meet in a place of beauty

Painted works of I Made Sujendra

There is certainly no shortage of tremendously talented artists in Bali and with art-making playing such an important role in the religious practices of Balinese culture there is not only myriad beauty on the island but also a general and deeply felt understanding of the powerful ability of creativity to affect personal and social harmony. Art as a commodity is a relatively recent phenomenon in Bali, and the framing of this art market and support for artists are still being developed.

Titian Art Space is dedicated to making a positive contribution to this development by exhibiting works of talented Balinese painters but also through their foundation that promotes and supports Balinese artists with a vision for allowing the wider world to become more familiar with the specific strengths of Balinese art and also to provide young Balinese artists with exposure to the wider art world.

One of the specific attributes that nearly all Balinese artists share is access to a massive wealth of aesthetic, philosophical, spiritual, and conceptual knowledge and practices from which they can draw on their own personal exploration of their artistic process. What is referred to as traditional art may appear to be simply a repeating of conventions, however, there are in fact many artists creating distinctly contemporary works drawing on this wealth of ancestral wisdom and aesthetic markers which hold incredible depths of meaning - both specifically Balinese and also universally human notions.

I Made Sujendra is one such Balinese artist who has been extending the boundaries of what is thought of as traditional painting for the last 20 years. Titian Art Space is currently exhibiting Hell SIgns -an exhibition of his works, which express his vision of karmic repercussions depicted with both beauty and humor. Drawing on specific aesthetic components of the Batuan Style of traditional painting and traditional Balinese Hindu concepts, folklore, and legends, Sujendra brings contemporary examples and perspectives into his works with exceptional finesse.

Sujendra was one of the first Balinese painters to combine distinctly traditional elements and contemporary aesthetic approaches to the canvas space. While all of the works of this exhibition include the blue light of the divine and the red smoky lines of our darker tendencies as humans, this vision is not one in which good must overcome evil but rather a gentle invitation to look at what choices we make and why with ancestral wisdom showing what might likely lead to our happiness.

The large empty spaces of the black background of his works mark them as distinctly different than traditional Balinese painting which always fills the entire space with equal detail, but it is not just this use of the canvas space that makes Sujendra’s works distinct or contemporary. As Sujendra explains: “I love the beauty handed down to me by my ancestors - both the visual beauty and perhaps, more importantly, the philosophical beauty. I believe that there is something eternal about this beauty and I am eager to translate it into forms that express my own personal experience and current conditions and that can be understood by young people today. I am not so much interested in just maintaining tradition but rather in keeping what is most valuable and applicable today alive and vibrant and this requires creativity. This requires that I am honest about all the changes that we are experiencing. But I don't think this requires me to abandon everything about the past, as there is great wisdom that is still valuable today”.

I Made Sujendra’s exhibition entitled Hell Signs will be on display at Titian Art Space, Jalan Bisma no 88, Ubud until January 20.

Painting by Made Sujendra entitled 'Sold Out' currently on display at Titian Art Space

Happy Ending, just beginning

Eight young artists share their vision

A small yet very bright exhibition entitled Happy Ending is currently on display at Maya Resort, Sanur whose artistic curator, Pak Aryawan clearly values the power of beauty. The current exhibition features the works of eight artists in their early twenties. The theme of the show looks at what makes us happy but also refers to the year-end tendency to look back at the previous 12 months and think about what has made us happy and what might make us happier in the coming year.

Each artist has taken an aesthetically and conceptually distinct approach to question our source of happiness yet with only one exception ( a black and white series of lino-cut on canvas) all the works use both vibrantly bright colors and broad strokes of one kind or another which in itself speaks to the simplicity and light that is at the heart of all human happiness.

Coming at this theme from different directions, including, religious, social, imaginary, and personal as well as the variety of styles and media represented, these young artists all have a clear vision and voice expressed in these works and speak to us of they have to draw on both the past history and the present flood of images available online, into distinctly personal and contemporary works of beauty. As exhibition curator and writer I Made Susanta Dwitanaya explains in the exhibition catalog: “unlike plants and animals, humans have the ability to express their feeling of happiness in works of art, and while we form part of the same whole with plants and animals, these young artists show us how diverse this similarity can be”.

Despite their age, I Made Surya Subratha, U Wayan Noviantara, Riski RIwaldi, A. A. Istri Ratih Aptiwidyari, I Kadek Suardana, I Kaedk Septa Adi, I. G A Bagus Ari Murata and I Dewa Johana. not only have impressive experience exhibiting their works but more importantly show a remarkable dedication to their artistic practice as seen in the powerfully beautiful works yielded thus far. We can expect great things from each of these artists in the coming years with the happy ending of this year no doubt leading to even happier beginnings next year.

Happy Ending will be on display at Maya Resort Sanur until January 31, 2019.

Published November 2018

I Made Supena Solo Exhibition at Gallery Santrian, Sanur

Abstract painting can arise out of any number of intentions, including a desire to explore the formal qualities of the medium of painting itself, to free oneself from the meaning of specific forms, to extend the limits of what is needed to recognize a given object or subject or even to allow colors to convey their own message.

In the case of I Made Supena, although there is an element of each of these intentions his ultimate intention in creating abstract works is to allow his feelings to be expressed unfettered by any preconceived ideas or judgments For Supena feelings are both fleeting and yet extremely powerful, a source of inspiration and yet can also be rather troubling.

The influence of feelings on Supena as a person has been so profound that after many and varied experiences he chose to share something of their essence with others through his artworks as a way to shed light on feelings as a shared human experience. Instead of being overtaken by feelings as a deeply personal experience, Supena has taken up the challenge of focusing on allowing them to be what they are and focusing instead on trying to interpret the message that feelings convey in visual form.

However, rather than conveying any specific feelings in his paintings, Supena has created powerful works that invite us the viewer to interpret the feelings elicited from the forms and colors of his works.

Even after almost a hundred years, abstract painting still evokes a sense of confusion in many people who are challenged by the lack of specified objects in such works. While the value of any painting is determined by many factors – clarity of form being the least of them, abstract painting remains the most often misunderstood genre of painting.

Here Supena gently invites us to approach this genre in general and his paintings in particular with the freedom that abstraction generally intends, freedom from the need to evaluate based on mental constructs or specified criteria. Instead -as art generally intends, we are invited to move away from evaluating feelings altogether and instead allow the judgment-free space of the heart to guide us towards increased appreciation for life in general and art in particular. In so doing we are also invited to allow the space of our hearts to do as it is intended to: interpret feelings.

Painting by I Made Supena currently on display at Gallery Santrian

Nouveau and Ambang Embeng

Two exhibitions seeking to free the arts from expectations

Two exhibitions currently on display in Ubud speak to an interesting development in the art-scape of Bali. While visually these two exhibitions do not stand in great contrast to one another - with predominantly abstract images and few references to anything specifically Balinese, the two exhibitions represent two distinctly different approaches to a similar theme.

Identity, whether it be personal or collective is always a tricky business with its constant fluctuations and yet requiring something constant to remain intact. And while identity is something both constructed and very real to us as an experience, how we approach this concept is as varied as the factors that make up our different identities.

“Nouveau” is the title of the exhibition currently on display at Gallery Oka Kartini, Ubud, and features the works of 9 painters (Wolfgang Widmoser, Nadya Korotaeva, Pavel Dudochkin, Tien Hong, I Made Gunawan, Teguh Ritma Iman, I Nengah Sujena and Ida Bagus Suryantara) who are distinctly inspired by Bali and bring to their canvases questions that arise from their interactions with this island and its culture. The title of the exhibition refers to the reactive nature of Europe’s art nouveau movement but comes to this place from a different angle.

Here, these artists are not reacting to specific shared conditions nor referencing a specific movement per se, instead, the title refers to the ways they are inspired to speak of their surroundings through the lens of their personal experience. Instead of representing Bali through recognizable signs and symbols, the artists of the “Nouveau” show are seeking to use the formal and conceptual elements of their chosen medium as vehicles for conveying their personal vision.

Ambang Embeng, which translates as something like “the space in between empty space”, currently on display at the Arma Museum Gallery, features the works of 7 Balinese painters (I Gusti Ngurah Putu Buda, I Made Galung Wiratmaja, I Kadek Agus Ardika, I Komang Trisno Wirawan, I Nyoman Dwiraprupa, I Ketut Sugantika, I Ketut Murdika) and is also a sort of reaction to the symbol-heavy art so well represented in Bali. In this case, it is from a more spiritual approach to identity that the artists come to their work.

“Ambang Embeng” refers to the desire to get beyond specific and often constructed indicators of identity to an expression of the process of becoming which takes place in a wide-open space free of specific cultural traditions and social constructs, so as to reach beyond questions of identity at all and explore what remains when such notions have been stripped away and we acknowledge our deepest personal experience of being as a process that can be seen in the artworks but is not defined by them”, explains the description of the show.

While all the paintings of the Ambang Embeng exhibition lie somewhere on the abstract spectrum and deliberately seek to escape the confines of stated identities or any image that could be tied down to a specific socially constructed concept, the reactive nature of the exhibition itself speaks to the contemporary art-scape of Bali albeit in slightly different terms than say the works of the Nouveau show.

Both shows however represent a sort of new movement in Balinese art that is freeing itself from expectations – whether it be the expectation to use culturally based symbols or the expectation that great art must be free of them. This new space being carved out by artists today promises to yield increasingly interesting and beautiful works that neither rely on nor shy away from references to specific notions of identity but instead free the artists to express their vision in whatever way they feel inspired to.

Ambang Embeng will remain on display at Arma Museum Gallery, Ubud until December 5, 2018, and Nouveau will remain on display at Gallery Oka Kartini until December 8th, 2018.

Paintings by I made Galung Wiratmaja, Ida Bagus Syuryantara and Ketut Sugantika

Museum Batuan exhibiting works by 70 artists with integrity

Museum Batuan was first established as a place to showcase the wealth of talent found amongst the unusually large number of painters working in this village, and houses a truly astounding collection of Modern Traditional Batuan Style Paintings on October 29th the museum opened an exhibition of contemporary works entitled “Integrity”.

The village of Batuan has an extremely long and rich history that includes an extraordinary visual and performing arts heritage. The village temple, which itself demonstrates the great skill of painters, sculptors, dancers, and other artists, also houses a document that refers to an artists guild that already existed when the temple was established some 1000 years ago. Archeological evidence also shows that skilled artists were already working in Batuan long before that.

For most of Batuan’s history, art was created in the religious-cultural context as a communal act of devotion intimately tied to a holistic way of life wherein all aspects of life were understood as being part of a unified cosmo-vision. While these Balinese Hindu practices still ensure that arts continue to thrive here with exceptional power, painting in particular has been developing on its own uniquely fine-arts path, with traditional methods being expanded to include more contemporary themes and approaches.

The newly opened exhibition is a tremendous show featuring a remarkable 70 artists from Batuan, Bali, and indeed the world. While the artists of this exhibition work in a variety of styles, techniques, and methods, they share a common source of inspiration: Bali -and more particularly the spiritual, philosophical, or unseen forces that inspire them to create.

Keeping with the tradition of devotional works, each of the paintings speaks to the artist’s personal exploration of the unseen either within themselves or as it is expressed collectively and as such are direct references to the notion of ‘integrity’.

As museum owner, Pak Dewa explained: “my father created this museum as part of his dream to celebrate the rich artistic heritage of Batuan and Bali. I am pleased to say that this exhibition indeed celebrates the wealth of talented artists working in Bali today and is in integrity with the vision of this museum”.

Although the word integrity is often used to refer to being in alignment with one’s principles, integrity in fact has a wider meaning. Integrity is defined as ‘being part of the whole and in the context of this exhibition refers to the bringing together of different artists who share a common source of inspiration but it also refers to this source of inspiration and how it is expressed.

Balinese culture is -broadly speaking, based on integrity both in terms of acknowledging all parts of life and also in terms of how this is expressed with art, religion, farming, economics, architecture, fashion, cosmology, education, social, political, personal, spiritual practices interweaving as individual threads that make up part of a larger whole.

Each of these aspects of life is clearly tied to the others and this interrelatedness is explicitly acknowledged in the traditions of Bali in myriad ways. Painting is no exception and although most painting on the island is no longer created in the same communal devotional context that it once was, this understanding of life remains an integral part of art practices on the island.

So strong is this understanding, that even visitors to the island who may not fully grasp the astonishing degree to which these connections are honored here, certainly feel it.

Maintaining an artistic practice requires a certain degree of integrity anywhere in the world as it comes with numerous challenges – the greatest of which is perhaps remembering that we are always part of the whole of life and persevering in trying to express this integrity in artworks that necessarily fall short but always hold the potential of bringing us that much closer to expressing this integrity with all that is.

From Balinese fold tales and shadow puppet stories that carry moral teachings to scenes of everyday life in Bali represented as unified visions of life as one interrelated unfolding, to more conceptual expressions of particular struggles to maintain traditions or personal experiences of interactions with the subtle forces that inform these traditions, to satirical representations of our changing times, to simple homages to the beauty and power of the land of Bali whether literal, symbolic, metaphoric, conceptual or poetic, whether abstracted, personal, imagined or remembered, each of these paintings stands as a testament to the remarkable and enduring strength of the land and culture of Bali to invite us all to appreciate the beauty of life and our integral place in it.

INTEGRITY will be on display at Batuan Museum, until October 28th, 2018.

Detail of painting by I Wayan Kaler currently on display at Musuem Batuan

Divas in the spotlight

Some of Bali’s best female painters exhibit at Denpasar Art Center

As most people know, there are a staggering number of talented painters in Bali, including many women who paint in a variety of styles. For a variety of reasons, female painters do not tend to exhibit their works as often as their male counterparts.

In order to encourage the likelihood of having their works seen by the art-loving public, several female painters have coalesced into the Perupa Perempuan Bali (Bali Women Artists). The PPB as they are known holds regular exhibitions and while each member has their own unique style and approach to art, they share a passion for making art which is clearly seen in their works.

As 70-year -old PPB member, avid painter, and art professor Bu Sutriatini explains: “there are no boundaries of age or gender when it comes to painting, our youngest member is 17-year-old and all of us are dedicated to continuously developing our skills”.

Their latest exhibition entitles Vidya Diva draws attention to the light that women embody and all of the works of the exhibition speak to some aspect of womanhood. While they often exhibition works on a range of themes this particular exhibition sheds light on their experience as female painters.

This is the second time that they hold a group exhibition at the Denpasar Art Center’s Gedung Kriya, known for hosting exceptionally high-quality exhibitions. As Denpasar Art Center director of arts programming Pak Gung Adiputra explained: “Although the gallery itself can only house works of a certain size, there is a kind of pride in having exhibited here due to the history and charisma of the space itself. This is the second time that we invite this woman’s group to exhibit. We want to provide as wide a space as possible to female artists who need a special kind of support”.

The exhibition in 2017 was a great success and was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and while such funding was not available this year, the Art Center was determined to hold the second of what they hope to make a regular yearly event partly because of the success of last year’s exhibition, partly because of the high quality of art produced by these female painters and as Pak Adiputra explained also to shed light on the powerful role that women play as human beings. “In reference to the Mahabarata, in which all of the gods get their power from their female partners, we came up with the title Vidiya Diva” which means divine light. We changed Deva to Diva to make it more contemporary”, he said with a smile.

After being asked if they painted as a hobby or if they were actually professional painters, the exhibition curator responded by saying: “they come from a variety of backgrounds, maybe we can hear from each of the artists themselves to get a clearer picture”. This was followed by each of the 18 women participating in the exhibition giving brief, humble, and remarkably impressive descriptions of their experience and background as artists. Ranging from international acclaim to technically innovative, deeply spiritual, and just about everything in between, they left no doubt that they not only represent the tremendous talent found amongst female artists in Bali but also that the power expressed in their works indeed represents Vidya Diva.

Governor of Bali’s wife Ibu Putu Putri Suasitni will officially open the Vidya Diva exhibition on November 3, 5 pm at the Gedung Kriya at the Denpasar Art Center, with the Governor of Bali’s wife and art lover Ibu Putu Putri Suastini and will remain on display until December 3rd, 2018.

Man from Bangli builds lavish temple instead of buying gas stove

Any visitor to Bali is sure to notice the innumerable temples that grace the Island of the Gods, though it may not be obvious to the casual observer just how important these temples are to the Balinese.

From the most grandiose like Besakih to the most humble family home temples these places of worship - connection to the divine and to one’s own ancestors, all resonate with a distinct vibration of deep inner beauty. Some temples also have distinct outer beauty deliberately crafted to represent the greatest of worldly possibilities for connection with the divine.

One would expect important temples like Besakih or even Tirta Empul to be lavishly decorated with the finest materials as so many different people go there to pray and support the upkeep of such temples. Even a village temple is used by hundreds of people and thus worthy of having attention given to its outward appearance. Nor is it surprising to see family temples of wealthier families replete with gilded ornamentation and finely carved wood and elaborately sculpted stone.

But it is not a matter of how important a temple is, how wealthy the family that prays in it nor how many people pray in it that makes a temple worthy of being constructed with the utmost care to detail, beauty and craftsmanship. Rather, as Bangli native Bli Rempuh explains, it is the importance given to the unseen world and one’s ability to prioritize such matters that determine how beautiful a temple appears. This is not to say that very powerful temples always have gold leaf and the finest roofing and such, only that sometimes Balinese people will give great priority to the quality of a family temple as a sign of respect and honor.

One example of such a case is the family temple that Bli Rempuh and eight other of his family members recently built in Bangli. Bli Rempuh himself is actually from Desa Deso and so was his family temple. However, a few years back when the Balinese tangerine market was booming, he dedicated himself to tending his plantation some distance from his village.

At first, he spent most of his days on the plantation and his night in a simple bamboo shack, cooking over a wood stove. As the years passed and his family grew he added a few more buildings like the simple gazebo and extra rooms made of concrete. He would still return to his home village to pray regularly and for other community activities but over time as many others from his village also moved to their plantations these visits were less frequent.

Entering Bli Rempuh’s family compound next to his cattle stables tucked away amongst the lush surrounding forest, the space is distinctly inhabited and -despite the fierce barking dogs, quite welcoming. The buildings are however extremely modest as one would expect of a remote village. The main wall of the central thatched bamboo-walled house is well worn by the seasons and smoke emerges from the equally modest kitchen where his wife cooks over a wood-burning stove. There is nothing lavish or ornate and there is little no decoration or many objects at all, except for a few offering baskets stacked on the rickety outdoor shelf, some portable chicken coops scattered here and there, and the odd bucket.

Behind the family compound is an additional Balinese tangerine garden and to get to it, one passes the new family temple. It is hard to say if it is the contrast between the humble appearance of Bli Rempuh’s home that makes the temple stand in such grander, but what is certain is that this is no ordinary family temple.

“When business was good we started saving money to build a proper family temple here. We brought in the finest craftsmen from Karangasem to sculpt the black stone and wood carvers from Gianyar for the ornamentation of the shrines. The black palm hatch is the best we could find and tightly bound together so that it will last long. We didn’t have to have so much ornamentation and gold leaf but we thought that we are only here on earth for a short time so why not honor our ancestors and the divine powers that have given us life as best we can”, explained Bli Rempuh.

When asked why he chose to put all his money into the temple instead of buying a car or saving for his children’s education he responded in his distinctly matter-of-fact and humble manner: “well, the way I see things is that everything on this earth comes to us through the grace of the unseen powers that be, so if I don’t start by honoring these then everything else will be harder to do. I guess you could call it an investment”, he said chuckling but then added: “I get my greatest joy from my family and I believe that business will pick up again one day. Of course, I would like to have a nice car and send my kids to a good school – but first things first”.

Bli Rempuh is not alone in prioritizing spiritual matters over material ones, this is in fact one of the things that Bali is known for. Although ceremonies and their accompanying offerings do contribute significantly to the local economy, the amount of effort, time, and attention that goes into prayer on the Island of the Gods can certainly not be attributed to economic incentives as it just does not add up– at least not in the way that economics is most commonly understood.

Bli Rempuh's home by his tangerine field in Kintamani Bli Rempuh's family temple being worked on (not included in published version)

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival wraps up 15 years of bringing people together for the good of all.

Reading is indeed a solitary activity yet at its basis is a desire to communicate with others, to see things in a way that we would not have access to otherwise. Although the internet provides a very large window into other worlds, books provide intimacy and depth that remains of distinct value, and judging by the thousands of people who attended this year's Ubud Writers and Readers Festival also remains of great appeal.

The 15th annual UWRF drew to a close over the weekend with its trademark festive gathering at the Blanco Renaissance Museum, with hundreds in attendance and hundreds more have taken part in the very real social exchanges of the festival itself.

While this truly impressive festival has been criticized in the past for its lack of local content, this is certainly no longer the case. Over the years, more and more local writers, filmmakers, musicians, and other culture makers have been participating and this year brought to us a remarkable number of exceptionally talented, interesting, and relevant speakers from Bali, Indonesia, and indeed the world.

With an astonishing number of discussions, presentations, book launches, film screenings, workshops, exhibitions, and performances over the course of the four-day festival, the URWF has grown into South East Asia’s longest-running literary festival which is also extremely well-organized offering a massive contribution both to tourism in Ubud but more importantly to bringing people together to explore topics of relevance to us all.

As organizing manager Wayan Januarta explained: “what makes this festival so important is that it provides an alternative space to discuss a range of important topics outside of the boundaries of governments and corporations, providing a platform for real exchanges to take place between people of vastly different backgrounds on a range of important topics”.

Acclaimed author Fatima Bhutto who was born in Afghanistan and raised between Pakistan and Syria for example gave a fascinating presentation about her new book which, explores the human side of terrorism questioning what emotional disruptions and sense of isolation lead people into terrorism. While her own experience as a refugee certainly gives depth to this understanding, her skillful storytelling also makes this sensitive topic accessible to a wider public. Indeed the spirit of the URWF is clearly based on this intention of sharing and reflected in the festival line-up more broadly.

Though vastly different in approaches and themes the underlying unity of the human experience was expressed in myriad ways throughout this year’s festival. From the ‘hidden gems’ of Bali including 55 Legong dances by the late dance master I Putuh Gusti Madra Griya put into a book by cultural scholar and dancer Prof. I Made Bandem, colored lontar being restored by Carma Citrawati and the untold history of Balinese kings travelling to south America in the 12 C as told by Ngurah Paramartha to discussions on Indonesian language, identity and politics, to the types of Islam practiced in Indonesia and central place that art plays in the culture of the archipelago as explored by Nassir Tamara and Richard Oh, to the first hand account by indigenous women activist Rukmini Toheka’s struggles for equal rights and experience of the recent tsunami in Palu, Sulawesi to books, films and talks about travel, disaster, violence, indigenous traditions, personal quests for peace and well being, human rights and GMO’s and other topics, the URWF continued to present a human face to some of the most important issues of our times from a number of different perspectives.

The grounds of the festival spread out into different locations with lots of space for casual and spontaneous meetings as well as the numerous cultural events allow for a dynamic and socially oriented atmosphere to prevail. So while at least half of the festival attendees are from abroad, the other half are from different parts of Indonesia (admittedly from urban centers) and the general socially interactive feeling of the festival is certainly very Indonesian in it’s attention to providing spaces to meet people and chat.

Having wrapped up its fifteenth year, Festival Founder and Director Janet Deneef expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the 15 full-time staff (12 of whom are Indonesian) and all who contributed to making the UWRF a success saying slyly: “this is the most well-behaved 15-year old I know”. Husband and founder of Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati in his comments for the festival program explained that this year’s festival theme “Jagadhita”, (desire for a prosperous world) refers to the diverse ways that we can express our highest intentions as humans with the ultimate goal of achieving prosperity of body mind and spirit for all. This year’s UWRD festival allowed us all to take one more –perhaps a small, but perhaps very important step towards achieving that goal.

Closing night performance at Blanco Museum

Published October 2018

Contemporary art flourishing in Bali

5 exhibitions reveal the tip of the tropical iceberg

Along with the monumental Art Bali that opened this week in Nusa Dua featuring some of Indonesia’s greatest contemporary artists, brought together for the first time on such a large scale on the Islands of the Gods, four other impressive exhibitions opened in Ubud this week with more specific focus but equally powerful contemporary artworks.

“The Challenge of Contemporaneity” which opened on October 6th at Arma Museum and Resort is showing artworks by artists from Java and Bali who explore various contemporary issues – whether they be aesthetic, cultural, political, or personal with great power and distinctly local perspectives. As the title of the exhibition suggests each of the artworks represents a specific aspect of the current time and place in which the artists work.

Each artist has their own unique focus, manner, and means of expression that speaks of today’s contemporary context (or time) -one in which boundaries between different places are being collapsed thanks to digital technologies and wider access to transportation. So today’s contemporaneity tends to include an awareness of other ways of seeing things, an awareness of one’s particular locality, and how this shapes our own perspectives as well as how this fits into the global context. This could be seen in the artworks in this show –some of which drew on distinctly local symbols and references, and others that drew on less obvious indicators of locality such as line and color to express more general themes from a locally influenced perspective.

Bringing artists specifically from Yogyakarta and Bali together for this show in itself speaks to both the long history of relations between these two places – a relationship that dates back many hundreds of years, as well as the contemporary context in which these two places are hotbeds of artistic talent and cutting edge creativity. There is indeed an ongoing interaction between artists from Yogyakarta and artists from Bali, which is at times contentious but always inspiring, and tends to bear exceptionally delicious fruit.

While Yogyakarta is known for yielding artworks that lean heavily toward the conceptual, and Bali is known for yielding artworks that lean more heavily toward the artisanal, the greatest artists of both these places manage to combine both these two aspects in their works with varied and stunning results.

“Inner Gazing” opened at Komaneka Gallery on October 7th and although smaller in scope with just 4 Balinese artists being featured, the exhibition is no less powerful than the two previous ones mentioned above and in a similar vein.

These four artists are also distinctly contemporary in their approach and treatment of their art, with a keen awareness of the context in which they work and creative exploration of both themes, subjects and materials. Although they each come to art making from different angles and produce works with equally divergent aesthetic styles, they each bring something new to the table.

This newness however is not based on a desire to push the envelope of art making per se, but rather arises naturally out of their honesty in expressing their innermost perspective. A perspective that is most certainly informed by their personal visions – visions that are also certainly shaped by their particular cultural backgrounds and lived experiences. However, as with other great contemporary artists, their contemporaneity includes an awareness of the crumbling boundaries between localities. So although their works emerge from the distinctly Balinese context in which they work, this context is in itself informed by more global perspectives.

“Legacy” which opened on October 8th at Monkey Forest Gallery features the works of an artist collective from the village of Batuan who work in a style known as Traditional Batuan Style Painting. Although these works are not contemporary in the sense of expanding the visual vocabulary of art or drawing on specifically contemporary perspectives of art making, they most certainly reflect contemporaneity in their choice of subjects and approach to traditional themes. The title of the show refers to traditional heritage being carried on but opens up the question of whether traditional art can also be contemporary.

These works are referred to as traditional for their adherence to specific techniques and compositional style, however, unlike traditional painting in other parts of Bali, many of these artists of Batuan certainly express their contemporaneity in their works. Where the boundary between traditional ends and contemporary begins is up for debate, as the exhibition currently on at Museum Puri Lukisan clearly speaks to. This solo exhibition features works by a young artist who distinctly draws on traditional techniques and compositional style, yet introduces distinctly contemporary approaches in her choice of subjects and themes, as well as aesthetics to such an extent that she is not considered to be a traditional artist by most.

These five exhibitions represent the tremendous wealth of talent expressing itself in contemporary art in Indonesia today (particularly Bali), and bear witness to the great artistic heritage of Indonesia that is today taking shape in new and exciting ways. The truly mind-blowing artistic heritage of Indonesia serves as the most fertile ground for new growth and there is indeed great promise for the future of contemporary art in Indonesia. All five exhibitions will be on display until early November 2018.

Art exhibition in Bali revealing tremendous contemporary talent

Women, tradition and art in Bali

Young painter Satya Cipta breaking ground

Museum Puri Lukisan was established to maintain a high level of quality in the arts of Bali at a time when artistic production was shifting away from the purely religious into the realm of the commercial. Although art in Bali is no longer produced exclusively in the context of religious and cultural practices, the cultural and religious practices of Balinese Hindus are inseparable from artistic expression and also inform how art is viewed more broadly.

Although what is today referred to as traditional Balinese art is certainly rooted in these cultural and religious practices it stands apart from them in certain distinct ways, including the relative freedom given to express a certain amount of personal impressions. Forms and techniques are also given a wider berth.

How far the boundaries can be stretched before a particular artistic expression is no longer considered traditional is up for debate. While some consider any art produced using traditional techniques and style to still be traditional, others feel that themes and subjects should also remain within certain boundaries to be considered traditional.

The works of Satya Cipta stand somewhere in this grey area of tradition -and perhaps intentionally so. Cipta was born to Balinese parents in Sulawesi where she grew up as a cultural and religious minority. After studying art in Jakarta and returning to Bali with her family she found herself in a new kind of minority as her experience with and exposure to other ways of seeing and being in the world, left her no choice but to question certain aspects of her own culture – most notably the role that women are expected to play in Bali.

Cipta married a man from the village of Batuan, which is known the world over not only for the tremendous number of skilled artists of all disciplines who call this small village home but also for the way that panting, in particular, has flourished due to the extending of traditional boundaries in the subjects presented, while still maintaining certain core foundations.

In a very short time, Cipta learned to paint in the traditional style of Batuan but soon felt that the wide berth given to artists here to explore different subjects was too narrow for her. She went on to explore the style of painting developed by I Nyoman Lempad and then found a master painter in Ubud whose style and subject and approach she resonated with.

I Ketut Budiana is a truly masterful painter and sculptor whose works are distinctly rooted in the visual and philosophical traditions of Bali, yet depart from conventions in an equally distinct manner. Although a great number of painters in Bali have been influenced by Budiana’s style and approach, few if any have studied directly with him – until Satya Cipta that is.

In little over a year, this talented young painter came to find a visual and conceptual vocabulary of her own. In line with the Balinese tradition of learning directly from master painters by imitating their style, Cipta has taken key elements of Budiana’s work – both visually and conceptually. However, instead of only minor personal additions or derivations from her master’s style and methods, Cipta has leaped into an entirely new field of inquiry.

While, like Budiana, she focuses on expressing her own inner world through the lens of the lexicon of Balinese traditional arts, Satya has begun to explore her experience as a woman in Balinese society. This exploration ends up speaking of the role of women more broadly, bringing up some rather uncomfortable questions about the place of women including sexual violence, objectification, and the silencing of the female voice both in terms of the subjects presented in her works and the manner they are presented.

Perhaps if she had chosen to use a different visual vocabulary to express her feelings about such subjects, her works could be read as more personal explorations. However given the fact that the style of her works -though certainly not strictly traditional in technique and compositional style, they do contain enough elements of traditional Balinese painting, to draw attention to the particular context that she is referring to.

Satya Cipta’s works will be on display at Museum Puri Lukisan from October 6th to November 6th in a solo exhibition that presents her learning process. From the at times awkwardly self-conscious compositions of her earliest works to her powerfully harmonious rendering of lines in her more recent ones, this exhibition represents a momentous shift in woman’s place in the art of Bali.

Through her own personal explorations of her place, position, and feelings about these within her own culture, Satya Cipta has perhaps unwittingly carved out a new way of looking at and being a woman in Bali.

Drawing by artist Satya Cipta currently on display at Museum Puri Lukisan

Passing down traditional Batuan style painting to the digital generation

The village of Batuan has long been known for its exceptionally talented artists in all disciplines with particular attention from the global art scene for its painters. The distinct Batuan style of painting in fact goes back many hundreds of years -if not more. The village temple which was established in 944, houses texts that refer to an artist’s guild, which quite likely predates the temple. Indeed a prehistoric archeological site was unearthed right next to the Batuan temple that revealed many stone works of exceptional artistic merit. How far back the artistic traditions of Batuan date remains to be officially established but is doubtless very old and has clearly been passed down with remarkable assiduity.

Batuan became known to the wider public in the 1960s when painters and sculptors here started including elements of contemporary life in their works which, nonetheless remained well within the aesthetic norms of the Batuan style. The number of truly awe-inspiring works that have been produced in this small village over the last few decades is nothing short of mind-boggling and stands as a testament to the ability of Balinese tradition to adopt new elements without being diluted by them.

What has become a concern for some is the continuity of this long-standing tradition of artistic expression. Since the turn of the millennia, with the advent of digital technologies available to ever-growing numbers of people, less and less people have the patience to create the masterful works of the Batuan style. Changes in lifestyle and attitude brought about by the increasingly widespread influence of consumer culture left many of the master painters of Batuan worried that the next generation would not carry on this tradition of art creation as their ancestors have done for countless generations before them. Traditional Batuan Style Painting is about to be officially recognized as one of Indonesia’s intangible heritages, but this does not guarantee continuity.

Painters coalesced into the Baturulangun Batuan painters group, led by I Ketut Sadia painters decided to take matters into their own hands. Whereas in the past these techniques were passed down from artist to pupil informally and often within the same family, given the current context, Sadia and his friends decided that a new approach was needed. So in 2015, they approached the village government and started offering traditional drawing classes to elementary school children at the town hall. Although there was initially a lot of interest, after a year, they found that very few students were not sticking with it.

So, they decided to team up with local elementary schools to make traditional Batuan painting part of the school curriculum, giving classes in the schools on Saturdays and at the town hall on Sundays. By having the students graded for their efforts and taking part in monthly competitions, the youngsters not only stuck with it but more and more children started attending the Sunday classes. After a year of this success, the works of these enthusiastic youngsters were brought together for an exhibition at the Bali Arts Festival and later in a gallery in Ubud both of which were extremely successful.

Since then youngsters from areas outside of Batuan have also started attending the Sunday classes and the artist’s group has a plan in the works to open classes for junior high school students next year so that those who have been studying this traditional technique can continue learning after elementary school.

The success of this simple endeavor can be seen not only in the enthusiasm of the young students to persevere in learning this rather challenging technique but also in the exceptional works they have been producing. Nearly everyone who sees their works blurt out something to the effect of :” were these really produced by children?”. The answer is a resounding yes.

The youngsters are guided step-by-step through the learning process, from practicing drawing simple lines and shapes in order to develop their dexterity. They are then encouraged to create their own compositions. Here there is no particular guidance offered, though the youngsters are exposed to a large number of works from their village as inspiration. Once they have drawn the outline of their picture in pencil, they go over the lines in felt pen. Then the first layer of ink is added to create shading. This is where the real challenge begins.

Batuan-style painting has a particular method for creating layers of light and dark to create shading that involve spreading ink with one brush and water with another. Sometimes, the teachers will apply the first layer of ink to encourage the youngsters. Once they have a hang of the initial inking process the children start applying the subsequent layers.

The paintings they have produced thus far are not only remarkable in the clear lines and beautiful shapes that these very young students master with staggering ability but also in the amazingly well-balanced compositions they produce, depicting a wide range of scenes. One cannot help but wonder if there is either a genetic element at play or if there is something in the drinking water of Batuan than makes for such talented artists – even at this tender age.

Sadia and his colleagues have succeeded in taking the first very important steps in assuring that their ancestral legacy is passed on to the next generation. As Sadia himself said: ”Until only very recently all art in Batuan was produced as a devotional offering, to the gods, to our ancestors, to our community, so it gives me great pleasure to participate in maintaining not only this art technique but also this approach to art making. It is the least we can do to honor all those who came before us for creating and passing down this amazing legacy to us. I would be ashamed to do anything less”.

The children of Batuan are currently preparing for their next exhibition, which is still in the work but should certainly not be missed. The master painters of Batuan who have been teaching the youngsters will be exhibiting their own works at Monkey Forest Gallery (inside Monkey Forest, Ubud), from October 8th to November 8th. Also not to be missed.

Batuan instructor guiding children drawing

Published September 2018

Creative power of spin

Epic art works by I Ketut Budiana and Ida Bagus Putu Sena

Whirling or Muter Tattwa can be understood in any number of ways - from the playful motion of a spindle to the chaos one experiences in the mind, to the rotation of the earth through space, however, the meaning intended for the exhibition currently on display at Museum Puri Lukisan becomes tacitly clear when viewing the truly epic works of Ketut Budiana and Ida Bagus Putu Sena whose works speak of the essential life force and how humans confront this often bewildering reality we call life.

I Ketut Budiana is a truly unique and masterful painter. Drawing on the far reaches of his inner explorations, framed by the depth of wisdom, knowledge, and symbolic language of his native Balinese culture he yields striking phantasmagoric images that are equally beautiful and terrifying. His paintings speak directly to the soul by way of forms that lure us in with their enchanting beauty to discover the darkness that lurks within us all.

Budiana spent the better part of his youth wandering in the graveyard forest of his village where he found both quite beautiful in the lush plant life and untold mysteries involving the queen of darkness and death itself lingering in the mist after mystically infused ceremonies. “No one dared to visit the forest unless there was a ceremony going on, but I found a kind of peace there that continues to inspire me to this very day”.

Balanced between distinctly traditional representations of the unseen forces that work in and around us - most distinctly the spells or prayers cast in line drawing by Balinese 'shamen', and the very individual forms and compositions that grow out of these roots, Budiana’s works offer visions of what it means to be human and to confront these forces by expanding the visual and conceptual vocabulary of traditional Balinese visual forms into deeply personal landscapes and entirely new visions. that invites the viewer to ask themselves some of the most poignant questions possible.

Although to the Balinese public, there is certainly another layer of meaning that can be read into the symbols and forms used in his paintings, their symbolic language is ripped away from the context from which they arise and stand in a new space that makes them accessible to anyone who has the courage to open their heart and mind to the simple messages they convey.

Ida Bagus Putu Sena whose paintings make up the majority of this exhibition is described by his thematic choice of the words Muter Tattwa which means "spinning world" but refers to a Balinese Hindu concept that includes the place of humans in the universe.

Like Budiana, Sena’s works also draw strongly on Balinese imagery -specifically wayang or shadow puppets, which are used in the cultural-religious context of Bali to transmit deeply philosophical tales of the human journey. Carrying both philosophical message and mystical power, wayang performances physically reflect the light and shadow that make up this life, as do Sena’s paintings.

Often wayang stories are based on the Hindu epic tales of the Ramayana and Mahabharata and indeed Sena certainly references these stories in his mystical and at times troubling works. Unlike Budiana however, Sena maintains the more traditional compositional style and codes of reference focusing instead on the specific forms within his paintings to convey his individuality.

For Sena the painting process itself is a kind of ritual process often taking many months to create a single artwork as he works his way through ever deeper layers of understanding of the concepts he portrays through these painted works until he feels satisfied with his understanding.

This creative process is only partly calculated, a greater portion involves allowing ever deeper layers of truth to reveal themselves to him in the forms that emerge. For Sena the meditative state required to produce these intricate works allows him to reflect on how the concepts he is working with are reflected in him and then translate these into new visual forms. Like wayang shows themselves, Sena is interested in not just telling a story but rather inviting the viewing public to reflect on how we are living our lives, for what purpose, and with what intention.

As exhibition curator and writer Jean Couteau said during the formal opening of the exhibition: “it is important that tradition be maintained in its stringent boundaries as these boundaries serve to contain an immeasurable depth of wisdom and beauty, however, it is equally important that some artists dare to expand these boundaries and explore what current conditions draw out in them”.

Before the audience was beguiled by the enchanting singing of young painter and performer Satya Cipta , the new vice-governor of Bali Cok Ace as he is familiarly addressed, poignantly expressed a similar view with added poignancy. “We all have our own unique journeys and duties which we should perform to the best of our ability. Likewise, each place also has its own unique characteristics which should be honored nurtured, and expressed to the fullness of its potential. Ubud is indeed the center of art and culture in Bali and is also one of Bali’s biggest centers of tourism, so it is fitting to have this exhibition here as the works of both of these painters represent the ability to maintain the core values of our traditional heritage while allowing room for innovation that does not destroy tradition but rather enhances the power that traditional customs and values have to -amongst other things, draw people from around the world”, he said with characteristic poise.

Whirling- Puter Tatwaa will be on dispaly at Puri Lukisan until October 1rst.

Vernissage for Whirling exhibition at Museum Puri Lukisan last Thursday