published June 2017 | Baliartwords

Published June 2017

Sacred Monkey Forest and I Ketut Budiana: new entrances to old worlds

Monkeys, known as the sacred guardians of the forest in Bali, are not the only creatures who inhabit Wenara Wara. Sacred Monkey Forest as it is known, is also home to numerous other creatures, some of whom are depicted in the sculpted works of renowned artist sculptor and life artist I Ketut Budiana who graciously agreed to show me around this enchanted world where he grew up.

A new entrance way is being built to accommodate the growing number of tourists who are drawn to this forest and its creatures. and Mr. Budiana is in charge of decorating the new entrance. But I soon realized that -as with all of his works, Mr. Budiana is not so much decorating or even designing monumental artwork, but is in fact inviting people to experience a deeper layer of being using the 3-dimensional language of architecture.

Long before Monkey Forest became a tourist attraction, it was the backyard of the local cemetery and the playground of Durga and her creatures. In Bali, she is known as Rangda and as Mr. Budiana explained, when he was a kid, few people dared to visit this place -except for during ceremonies, as the forest was known for the daunting energy of both its visible and invisible creatures. As a child, Ketut was curious and brave and came to know many of these creatures which he eventually rendered into the sculptures we see today.

Mr. Budiana greeted me in front of one of the new sculptures that he is working on, a robust and beautiful woman dressed in garb fit for a deity with large nipples that are intended to become small fountains. The concept is still awaiting approval from the Customary Village that runs this attraction. “After all it is from women that all life emerges, I don’t see why this should be a problem”, he said matter-of-factly. I was instantly charmed by his candor and slightly mischievous smile.

As we came to the mouth of the new entranceway of the forest, we were met by a priest dressed all in white standing next to a big block. Mr. Budiana explained that a linga-yoni fountain would sit atop this block so that visitors could sprinkle themselves with holy water, as is the custom when entering a temple.

There are certain protocols that are called for when visiting any temple in Bali, which are designed both to protect the visitor and to maintain the harmony of these sacred places. Perhaps the most important is to come with a clear heart and good thoughts and to ask permission to enter but also includes wearing certain types of clothing and not bleeding in any way. Monkey Forest itself is not a temple, but this linga-yoni fountain invites visitors to acknowledge the sanctity of the forest nonetheless.

The invitation to look deeply into ourselves is made even more palpable by the design of the entrance itself. As we descended the walkway lined with Balinese-style bas reliefs depicting monkeys holding cell phones and other humorous images, we approached a dark cave. The walls of the cave-like entranceway are still being worked on, so the area was brightly lit, but Mr. Budiana ran ahead to turn off the lights, explaining that is important to have the feeling of entering a dark damp place, the innermost sanctum from where all life is born.

The cave-like passageway curves slightly, so that when we reach its center we can see neither the entrance nor the exit. Here we are architecturally invited to become still, look deeply within ourselves and connect with the source of creation. The walls had chalk drawings of Balinese mythological beings and Hindu deities that will be rendered into bas-reliefs in the coming months and the floor had various buckets and planks scattered about. But, for a moment I was nonetheless truly transported into the mythological/prehistoric past and back further still to a place beyond time and space.

The artist and designer explained that small lights would line the floor of the cave tunnel. I could not help but protest that the floor was flat enough that no lights were needed, that the intended experience of this entranceway would best be served by having visitors plunged in darkness even if only for a brief moment. He just nodded and smiled agreeably.

As we left the cave our eyes were greeted with streams of light dappling through the lush greenery. Turning back towards the cave entrance, Mr.Budiana pointed out two small enclaves set into the cliff on either side of the entrance that would soon have sculptures of figures seated in meditation added to them. We then came upon two giant banyan trees honored with checkered cloth around their trunks. As I stopped and looked around, he said: “yes that is the cemetery up there”.

We continued past a group of tourists taking pictures of mother and child monkeys sitting atop one of nature’s own sculptures and came to a monumental statue of Rangda at a fork in the path. Her large nipples are a different color than the rest of the sculpture and Mr. Budiana just said: “apparently some people complained about the fountain, so I covered them with cement”.

Her head was covered in a cloth rendered in stone and when I asked why her face was covered he explained: “You see the path to the left? It leads up to the temple where she resides. On certain occasions, she is brought to the cemetery over there in a ritual procession. Her eyes are so powerful that anyone who gazes upon them would become struck with fear, so her head remains covered in a white cloth until everyone arrives at the cemetery for the ceremony. There, people are prepared to so the cloth is removed”.

We took the path to the right that is lined with what looks like a fat winding stone railing. Along this ‘railing’ are all sorts of creatures, some of them recognizable as forest animals, others less so. “These are all creatures that live in the forest. Some of them I have seen myself, while others were described to me. You see this one here, I gave her the same features as that tree behind her”, he said adding that all of these sculptures are made of materials that allow moss to grow on them so that they blend in with their surroundings.

Following the fat snaking railing that lines the pathway, we found ourselves in front of the temple, where throngs of tourists were feeding the monkeys. "Rangda resides up there, and her power extends throughout the forest. Woman is the source of life, you see, and her power snakes through the forest emerging in different forms" he explained. In one of the trees by the steep ravine below, two male monkeys were shrieking and jumping wildly expressing their fierce wildness. A few tourists gathered looking on, recognizing this palpable raw power.

Right in front of this tree, the long snaking ‘railing’ reveals itself as a serpent or dragon. Just opposite the temple entrance its head interlocks with the head of another serpent coming from the other direction. “You see how these two serpents or dragons come together here? This represents the power of coming together", explained the charming artist. "Like as in a couple- a man and woman?" I asked. "No, no it doesn't have to be a couple it can be any two forces coming together, and this connection makes them both stronger, you see", he said beaming as if happy to remember and to remind others of the power of unity.

We then entered the temple so that Mr. Budiana could show me the first barong that he had sculpted back in 1974 as a form of ngayah or devotional service (as with all his artworks in the forest). The young lady who accompanied us, however quickly became nauseous and then fell into a kind of trance, making strange sounds and gesturing wildly. Mr. Budiana calmly waited for the storm to pass and gave her some water. Having come back to her sense, we casually continued on to the art gallery that is found just in front of the temple, below the large gazebo.

This art gallery has regular exhibitions featuring the works of the many talented artists from Ubud and surrounding areas. As a respected artist and senior figure in his community, Mr. Budiana is the curator, and the current and rather extensive exhibition features artworks of the ‘Young Artist’ style, popularized by visiting artist Arie Shmidt in the 1960s.

Elderly artist Ngurah Gede greeted us and showed me a photo of his artworks featured in National Geographic with a photo of him as a dashing young man. He joked that visitors might be confused when they come to see the ‘Young Artist’ exhibition and find this old man instead. He also pointed out his wife’s artworks that are part of the current exhibition. These impressionist style paintings he explained sell a lot better than his own more illustrative style paintings. Maybe Randa’s powers are at work here too, I thought.

Artist Ketut Budiana with his sculptures in Monkey Forest

Beyond tourism: Bali and Australia

Exchanging artistic visions and practices

Bali and Australia have a close relationship that is presently dominated by tourism, however, given their geographic proximity we can easily imagine that this relationship in fact dates back hundreds if not tens of thousands of years.

As part of Australia's Aboriginal Week celebrations (NAIDOC), the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, The Australian Consulate in Bali, and Bentara Budaya Bali organized an artistic collaboration between renowned and accomplished Australian Aboriginal artist Jandamarra Cadd and Komunitas Djamur, a Denpasar based street art community.

This collaboration involved Jandamarra Cadd sharing art techniques with young Balinese artists but perhaps more importantly, exchanging visual stories about Aboriginal and Balinese symbols and myths. This exchange also involved Jandamarra Cadd and an artist from Komunitas Djamur creating a mural together in which two mythical creatures from Bali and Australia respectively share the space of the single artwork.

As Jandamarra Cadd explained: "this collaboration really touched my heart because I know that our ancestors must have been sharing ideas for a very very long time, so I feel honored to be able to continue this tradition". Balinese artist Sang Anonim expressed similar feelings saying: "This project was really special because even though we do not speak the same language, art allowed us to connect deeply about the traditional cultures that inform our work".

The sea turtle served as the icon for this project representing the transnational oceanic space that these two people have been sharing since time immemorial. Animals were also a dominant theme as a reminder of the deeply rooted respect that both of these cultures have for the natural environment and their place in it.

The didgeridoo is a traditional wind instrument from Australia that has also contributed to building ties with Bali. Traditionally, the long tube of the didgeridoo was created by ants eating out the center of a certain type of Australian wood. However, as this instrument has gained popularity worldwide, the ants can no longer meet the demand for these instruments. Woodworkers in Tegallalang have taken up the slack for the ants by becoming producers of this unique instrument.

Local bamboo crafter, instrument maker and performer Rizal is best known for having created his own unique instrument known as the Rasendryia, a bamboo instrument that combines guitar, percussion, and digeridoo in a single instrument. Rizal has teamed up with the digeridoo producers of Tegallalang to offer a 3-day workshop (July 24-26) at Omah Apik in Pejeng, exploring the history, techniques, and healing potential of this Australian instrument from the perspective of an Indonesian artist.

Clearly, the relationship between Indonesia and Australia continues to flourish and shows great promise for the future of all.

Art Exchange Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia

Contemporary art in Ubud

Apart from all having once been part of the Majapahit kingdom, which certainly left its mark on the aesthetic traditions of Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia, these three nations no doubt share many other similarities despite their divergent histories, languages, and social conditions. These similarities and differences have been evolving over time and have given birth to contemporary art forms that express both.

Recently 18 brave artists from Indonesia, Myanmar, and Thailand undertook to explore some of the similarities in the art and culture of these three nations as part of the most recent rendition of ART EXCHANGE PROJECT, an independently organized series of exchanges between artists of Indonesia and other other Asian countries (as well as a few renditions in Europe and Africa). These exchanges involve artists from the participating countries going to visit, create, explore and exhibit in the countries of the other participating artists.

The modern era has brought increasing opportunities for people from all walks of life to see into the cultures of others, whether through ease of access from air travel, communications technology, or mass media. Artists from all over the world are now exposed to ever more globalized aesthetics. How this is processed and expressed by artists of different localities and how the particular aesthetic language and meaning derived from these localities takes form in the face of this influence is apparently endless and increasingly complex.

Arma Museum's contemporary art gallery is displaying the works of these 18 artists and during the vernissage for the ART EXCHANGE exhibition, the founder of Arma, Agung Rai expressed his sincere appreciation for this project that has brought artists from abroad to share their vision with Ubud. Agung Rai explained that art is such an integral part of life in Bali that the Balinese language has no word to distinguish this creative activity from other parts of life.

He also explained that part of Arma's mission is to maintain the essence of what is known as Modern Traditional Balinese Art and at the same time expose painters of this style to other styles, techniques and visions so that local artists can continue to expand their aesthetic vocabulary and perspective. He emphasized the history of exchange with foreign artists that have shaped the face of art in Bali over the last century, allowing for ever new iterations of the essential nature of so-called Balinese art.

The paintings in this exhibition display a variety of styles and techniques, from textile art to realist, expressionist, abstract, and pop, each artist speaking in their own distinct visual language. There remains nonetheless a subtle though undeniable attention to the detail of craft in every one of these works, as well as a reference to contemporary conditions, resulting from the socio-cultural context in which these artists work and live.

Anyone interested in contemporary art of South-East Asia in general and the beauty of painted works, in particular, is well advised to check out this show that will

be on display at Arma Museum until, June 5th, 2017.