Ancient Bugis epos goes international

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Not many people outside South Sulawesi know about this most unique epos, La Galigo. Some may even think it is French. But don't be mistaken. La Galigo is authentic Bugis.

Known mostly among the best seafarers in the world, the Bugis are also a cultured people, as evident from their exceptional literature. Myths,local histories, ritual chants,law books, almanacs, genealogies and wise sayings; all is told in a wide variety of texts.

Among these, the vast epic myth of La Galigo is the longest and most voluminous in the world.

Now, for the first time, this ancient epic will be staged worldwide, with the world premiere starting on the wide stage of the Singapore Esplanade, Theaters on the Bay.

Collabrately produced by Bali Purnati Center for the Arts and Change Performing Arts/Italy, it will be directed by no less than the world's foremost theater director Robert Wilson, and sponsored by Esplanade Singapore, Het Muziek Theater Amsterdam, Lincoln Center New York and Forum Universal de les Cultures Barcelona.

One may wonder how this towering figure of theater came to be interested in an ancient epic myth from one of the most remote spots in the Indonesian archipelago. Let's say that it all came about because it just happened. Wilson, acknowledged worldwide for his contemporary visual and visionary theater, had known Restu Imansari since the time she was a dancer in his work The Days Before.

Time and again Wilson had asked Restu for an authentic Indonesian drama, but there wasn't one that Restu thought relevant. Restu is the director of Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, which seeks to highlight Indonesian cultures such as those in Eastern Indonesia, which have not yet enjoyed as much exposure as those from Java and Bali.

Then, Rhoda Grauer, a bissu researcher from America, and an international award-winning producer in the performing arts, who had fallen in love with I La Galigo, suggested this ancient epic to Restu. Together they presented their idea for the production to Wilson, who agreed almost immediately, and Change Performing Arts/Italy joined in.

What then makes the epic, which goes international on March 12, so interesting? For one it is the longest ever in the history of the world's mythology. The size of the whole work is estimated at about 6,000 folio pages. It consists of dozens of episodes, each with its own protagonist, and although spanning six generations, it is still a unified whole.

La Galigo, also called I (pronounced as the English "ee") La Galigo or Sureq Galigo, is the story of the initial residence on earth of the gods and their descendants, the Middle World, how it came about, interacted with the realms of the gods in Upper and the Under World, how the interaction came to a halt, and a new world was created.

Sawerigading is the main protagonist of the whole story, which may also be thought of as a love story of godly descendants, a twin -- girl and boy -- whose love for each other was strictly prohibited.

Sawerigading ultimately marries his cousin in a far-away country, the precise image of his twin sister. While the twins cannot marry, their children can. And it is the daughter of Sawerigading and the son of We Tenriabeng, his twin sister, who ultimately become the first beings in a world, deserted by the gods, a brave new world.

The poetic language is exceedingly beautiful. Roger Tol, a Bugis specialist and head of the Dutch KITLV in Jakarta, says

"When we read or hear a piece of La Galigo, it is not hard to imagine the enjoyment the text provides through the sheer beauty of its wording, repetitions, and parallelism -- the fundamentals of Bugis poetics," while Nurhayati Rahman, the only female academic of Bugis literature, and one of the few who can still read the old Bugis script, reveals the fascinating poetry is of an astounding transformative nature, in many ways down to earth.

It is interesting that the epic, which had developed orally, was written down by a Bugis woman, a queen at that, who responded to Dutch scholar BF Matthes, and scouted, with him, the villages around Luwuq for stories she then wrote in the old Bugis language in 12 complete manuscripts, some of which have been translated into the Indonesian language. Queen Arung Pancana Toa did the writing between 1852 and 1860.

I La Galigo will bring to life Asia's greatest literary find in recent history, states Esplanade chief executive officer Benson Puah, hoping that by hosting a world premiere of this stature with this international masterpiece, Esplanade is playing a key role in the rise of new Asian theater.

With a cast of no fewer than 40 actors, mostly from South Sulawesi, Timor and Papua, wearing Indonesian material, German- designed costumes, coordinated by a combined Indonesian- international team, the first-ever showing of I La Galigo will offer a unique opportunity to see ancient history given a contemporary relevance.

Following the premiere at the Singapore Esplanade on March 12 and March 13, La Galigo is scheduled to be staged in Het Muziek Theater, Amsterdam, Forum Universal de les Cultures Barcelona, Bilbao, Lyon, Ravenna, Cyracuse, Jakarta (Art Summit 2004) and America (2005).

I La Galigo, produced by Change Performing Arts/Italy and Bali Purnati Center for the Arts Esplanade Singapore Theaters on the Bay, March 12 through March 13. Tickets at Esplanade box office and Sistic outlets: www.esplanade.com. An Indonesian package tour with Garuda is being prepared by Sejati Tours Indonesia, tel. 5250082, fax 5250013 (Ade, Reza).