Shul: Int'l experiment in installation and performance art<\/p>\n
By Jean Couteau<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): A challenging art experiment took place
\nin Bali (from April 6 to April 26 at Sika Gallery and April 9 to
\nApril 23 at Gallery Sembilan): Shul, an international art event
\nby contemporary installation and performance artists. With Shul,
\na Tibetan name for \"imprint\", Bali seems finally to be coming to
\nage as a platform of international art.<\/p>\n
This was not the first time \"international\" encounters have
\ntaken place on the island. Until recently, however, the word
\n\"international\" had, with regard to Bali, a connotation ill-
\nsuited to the taste and action of contemporary artists. History
\nweighed heavily in the matter.<\/p>\n
When Western artists settled in Bali in the 1930s it was, \"in
\nthe best case\", to \"teach the locals\": Walter Spies and Rudolf
\nBonnet \"creating\" the Pita Maha school of village artists in
\nUbud. In the worst case, the Westerners fulfilled their exotic
\ndreams and sexual fantasies -- the effete boys and bare-breasted
\nwomen of international fame.<\/p>\n
Some even married their models: Tarzan, Tintin and Gauguin
\namong the natives! And the myth is alas still alive! In the 1990s
\nat last, things started changing a little. \"Cosmopolitan\" artists
\ncame to the island to create works beyond exotica, and some
\nstarted communicating on a equal footing with Balinese\/Indonesian
\npartners.<\/p>\n
A new mentality emerged. With many ups and downs, it is this
\ntendency which is now coming to fruition with the holding of
\nShul: an artist event, the first installation show really created
\nin Bali \"by artists\", \"for artists\", in an atmosphere bereft of
\nthe ambiguities of tourism and aimed at exposing the real
\nproblems of the world. As the conceivers of Shul, motored by
\nVictoria Cattoni and Wayan Karja, announce in their manifesto:
\n\"With Shul, we hope that as artists we can position ourselves to
\nbe sensitive to the cultural, local, political shifts, however
\nsmall, and to find some new ground upon which to work
\nartistically and create a shared field of activity and dialogue.\"<\/p>\n
They add that \"it is our hope that Shul will set a precedent
\nfor future collaborative installation projects in Bali, bringing
\ntogether artists from all backgrounds to explore new media and
\nconcepts\".<\/p>\n
In the original concept, all the artists -- Wayan Karja
\n(Bali), the Sudamala Group (Bali), Victoria Cattoni (Australia),
\nMidori Hirota (Japan), Agoes Jolly (Jakarta), Michael Pinsky
\n(Scotland), Pande Ketut Taman (Bali), Hendrawan Riyanto (Java),
\nCipung (Java) and Sigitas Staniunas (Lithuania) -- were to arrive
\nat least two weeks ahead of the event and create their works in a
\ncollaborative exchange of ideas and materials.<\/p>\n
This collaboration, however, didn't really materialize as the
\nbudget, mostly self-financed by the artists, didn't allow for
\nsuch spare time. But the result achieved was nevertheless
\nimpressive.<\/p>\n
On the opening night at Sika Gallery, two performances drew
\nthe most attention.<\/p>\n
Hendrawan Riyanto and Cipung, sitting in front of a panel
\ndrawn with colored lines representing the waves and feelings of
\nlife, launched themselves into a long ritual wail calling down
\namong the humans, in sounds derived from the wayang puppet
\nmaster, the outer forces of the world.<\/p>\n
Another impressive performance was Agoes Jolly's. Enmeshed in
\na net full of fish, he slow shuffled forward, half-dancing half-
\nwalking, in front of an imaginary outrigger made of colored
\nplanks. A dramatic fisherman, he performed the slow upcoming end
\nof all sea life.<\/p>\n
Victorial Cattoni provided the counterpoint to this
\ndramatization of the social. In slow, controlled gestures,
\nrepetitively folding a kebaya (Indonesian blouse) and imprinting
\nfloral patterns onto the ground, she underlined the ritualistic
\nrole of the ordinary in life and ipso facto, enhanced it with a
\npoetic dimension.<\/p>\n
On the poetic, meditative side was also a
\npainting\/installation by the young Balinese painter Wayan Karja.
\nHis work, made in collaboration with Hendrawan Riyanto,
\nrepresented an abstract version of the Balinese cosmic wheel or
\nPangider-ider: a flat monochrome amber surface, with barely drawn
\nseparations symbolizing the Pangider-ider. At the foot of the
\npainting, two Cili-shaped wooden pieces (symbols of the goddess
\nof rice) added an ecological connotation.<\/p>\n
The last installation, by Pande Ketut Taman, was a flock of
\nwooden ducks accompanied by a clattering sound: the squeaking of
\nthe ducks, real and symbolical. All in all, a very good show,
\nalthough in a somewhat cramped space.<\/p>\n
The second evening, three days later at Gallery Sembilan,
\nwas no less interesting.<\/p>\n
Michael Pinsky presented a video criticism of the invasion of
\ndaily life by all sorts of means of transportation: from stalls
\non wheels to motorbikes, cars and trucks. By shooting his film in
\nexactly the same spot and shifting the images inside this natural
\n\"stage\", he skillfully managed to create on the screen the
\nimpression of a continuum of vehicles.<\/p>\n
Midori Hirota exhibited a tall, phallic shaped \"pottery\"
\nsymbolizing both the cosmic mountain and the \"Babel tower\",
\ncommon home of modern Man. The Sudamala Group, founded by
\nstudents from the Denpasar ASTI School of Art, presented several
\nmeshed wire figures in the throes of pain as their bodies are
\ntranspierced by iron rods. Much of the attention of the public,
\nhowever, was caught by the multiple shows -- performance,
\ninstallation, paintings -- of Sigitas Staniunas.<\/p>\n
His installation was a teepee made from local material. His
\npaintings featured eerily, outlandish romantic women in the mood
\nof the early 1800s. As for his installation, held under the
\nvrooming noise of helicopters, it represented the release of
\nballoons from the head of a youth and finished with a shadow map
\nof Indonesia. Indonesia's fate in a few images and gestures.<\/p>\n
More could, and perhaps should be said of all these
\nperformances and installations, now completed by a program of
\nseminars and artist forum encounters. But a general conclusion
\nhas to be drawn.<\/p>\n
Considering that these artists were brought together to Bali
\nwithout consideration of religion, nationality or political
\nideology, one cannot but be happily surprised by what their
\nencounter has revealed. All these young men and women, be they
\nBritish, Japanese, Lithuanian or, of course, Indonesian, speak
\nabout the same things: the balance of Man and Nature, human
\nbrotherhood and peace. They are a ray of hope.<\/p>\n
This is why, considering also the quality of the works and
\nperformances presented, a single question has now to be answered:
\nwhen Shul II? Both Bali and Indonesia need a few more breezes of
\nfresh air.<\/p>\n
The writer is an art critic and curator based in Denpasar<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/shul-intl-experiment-in-installation-and-performance-art-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }