Tejakula performances reveal unknown layer of cultural life<\/p>\n
Benito Lopulalan, Contributor, Tejakula, Buleleng<\/p>\n
Has anyone ever heard about Tejakula in Bali?<\/p>\n
On the map, Tejakula is an isolated dot midway on the dry
\ncoastal road from Singaraja in the north of Bali to Karangasem
\nregency in the east of the island.<\/p>\n
A few aficionados of Balinese culture will tell you that it is
\nhome to Bali's most famous wayang wong: a classical dance
\nfeaturing Rama and the monkey kings of the Ramayana epic.<\/p>\n
But the beach is dull and apart from its isolated location,
\nthere is apparently little else to enjoy. It is a place few
\npeople would select for the holding of a cultural event.<\/p>\n
Yet one of the most interesting events Bali has staged
\nrecently took place there last Saturday. A theatrical performance
\ncalled Persamuan Samudra Giri (Encounter of Sea and Earth)
\nbrought together itinerant artists from Java, a theater group
\nfrom Denpasar and local village artists.<\/p>\n
It took place at the Taman Seni Cili Mas, a park that houses a
\ncombination of beach bungalows and a cultural center. It was set
\nup by Nyoman Tusan, Bali's first modernist painter, who dreamed
\nof bringing combining the creativity of Balinese tradition with
\nthat of contemporary art.<\/p>\n
The itinerant artists were invited by the Tejakukus Foundation
\nof Tejakula, and the Dharma Nature Time, a Bali-based art
\nassociation.<\/p>\n
The event was particularly interesting in the way it revealed
\nthe existence of a virtually unknown layer of Indonesian cultural
\nlife, in this case, that of the itinerant artists.<\/p>\n
Take for example the choice of venue.<\/p>\n
So as to cater to the needs of urban readers, the media tends
\nto cover events at prestigious venues like galleries and museums
\nbased on the assumption that these are the lifeblood of the art
\nmarket, and unfortunately pay little attention to people who
\npurposefully position themselves outside the mainstream.<\/p>\n
The itinerant artist tradition, however, harks back far into
\nthe past to the wandering warriors of the wayang stories and the
\nwandering \"students of wisdom\" of the Javanese epic recorded in
\nthe Serat Centini.<\/p>\n
But today's wandering artists are not merely searching for
\nspiritual enlightenment.<\/p>\n
Winarcho, 41, one of the invited artists, explained, \"When I
\nenter a village, I usually live among the local people for
\nseveral weeks or months before I do an installation event with
\nthem, bringing together ceremony and ecology, and thus creating a
\nkind of new awareness among the local people.\"<\/p>\n
To these artists, therefore, the notion of \"art\" and the
\nrecognition it entails are irrelevant. What matters is
\n\"communication\". Their \"action\" negates all boundaries, be they
\nbetween art genres, between \"art\" and \"non-art\", and between
\nsocial classes.<\/p>\n
It is an attempt at reestablishing primeval unity. Cultural
\nencounters are sometimes organized where these artists meet other
\nartists with similar leanings, far from the beaten path, far from
\nthe art-lover crowds of elite tastes and postures, and with no
\nother spectators than dumbfounded villagers from the surrounding
\narea.<\/p>\n
In Tejakula, the three itinerant artists from Java --
\nWinarcho, Oentong Nugroho, and Adji Nugroho -- combined their
\naction with Teater Got from Denpasar, under the direction of
\nAgung Eksa.<\/p>\n
It started with an installation-cum-performance of the Teater
\nGot. Cardboard puppets were placed in a semicircle on the sand of
\nthe beach as in preparation of a primitive religious rite.<\/p>\n
The performers, their bodies painted in earthy colors, then
\nsurged in slow motion from the sand where they had been lying, as
\nif they were being born from the clay of the earth.<\/p>\n
The spectators -- village children and young people -- watched
\nin respectful silence, as if witnessing a ritual to honor the
\nearth goddess, Pertiwi.<\/p>\n
Then, one of the actors picked up a hammer, and with slow
\ngestures, repeatedly hit a big stone, symbolizing Man's burden of
\nwork and labor. As he was doing so, other actors were slowly
\nstanding up and moving forward, uttering mantraic exclamations
\nand poems.<\/p>\n
Then the actors all stood up, walking slowly, a crowd of
\ngleeful youth in tow, heading in silence for the village one
\nkilometer away. Then they walked back to a different part of the
\nbeach, where installations from the wandering artists waited for
\nthem.<\/p>\n
They ended their journey with a ritual bath in the sea, which
\nsymbolizing the rediscovery of harmony with the earth and the
\nsea.<\/p>\n
Just by the sea, a small river had dried up leaving a pool
\nbehind, and it was here that Winarcho, Oentong Nugroho and Adji
\nNugroho presented their show.<\/p>\n
Their theme was unity, the encounter of sea and earth, river
\nand sea, sea and river, light and night, and Man with all of
\nthese.<\/p>\n
Just by the beach, Oentong had made a small pyramid of stones.
\nNearby, Winarcho had hung a big stone from ropes over the small
\nriver, adding a dimension of air, while up the river bed, Adji
\nNugroho had created imaginary objects from roots and twigs.<\/p>\n
They would have all remained mere installations though if life
\nhadn't been suddenly instilled into them.<\/p>\n
Indeed, it was sunset, and as darkness slowly enveloped the
\nsea, river and trees, lines of flickering candles little by
\nlittle appeared, and suddenly, a thundering howl came from the
\nsea: Winarcho standing there, shrouded in a white cloth that grew
\ndarker with the waning of the sun.<\/p>\n
Then, still howling, he wobbled out from the sea and into the
\nwaiting pool, placing a light just below the hanging stone. With
\nno other spectators than this writer and a couple of friends from
\nDenpasar, Winarcho was creating his own ritual encounter between
\nMan and Nature.<\/p>\n
Thank goodness, even as mass culture spreads everywhere, there
\nstill remain people who are able to recreate the spell of human
\nprimeval calls.<\/p>\n
Then followed a creation by local Tejakula artists, Mr. and
\nMrs Dewi, featuring the union of Baruna -- the Ocean god -- and
\nPertiwi.<\/p>\n
Held on the beach at night, and consisting of a dance
\nperformed in \"shadows\" from behind a wayang screen, as children
\nsung and danced the kecak and jangger in front, it was yet
\nanother homage to the soul of nature.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, the spirit that has animated this Samudra Giri
\nevent will continue inspiring the public. The point is, artists
\ndo not need exposure nor spectators when haunted by the presence
\nof Nature.<\/p>",
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