Ancient Bugis odyssey begins its modern adventure

Ancient Bugis odyssey begins its modern adventure

Carla Bianpoen
Contributor
Singapore

A white transparent screen with ancient Bugis script, golden rain
against a cold-blue sky, costumes playing up the beauty of the
neckline and the abstraction of the body, skilled lighting and
the music of 12 musicians with 60 instruments.

All these elements contributed to a sense of the spirit of
ancient times for the few journalists lucky enough to watch a
workshop of the Galigo troupe at the Singapore Esplanade
Theaters-on-the-Bay.

The group of 70 artists and technicians with their assistants
had just started their third and last workshop before the world
premiere of this ancient Bugis epic myth this Friday.

As I sat watching it for three hours, the only scene to be
witnessed was part of the rehearsal of the Prologue; even so, I
felt drawn into the ancient world, changing our sense of time and
our place in the world. As the white transparent screen printed
with the archaic Bugis script started the journey through the
time tunnel, the notion of being part of a much larger continuum
persisted.

Against a green-blue background with dominating hues of blue,
and a tip of the rising sun at the far horizon, about 30 actors
-- each holding a basket, spear or other objects -- walked in
slow procession.

As they proceeded, the sun spread its light, resulting in a
gradual lighter blue of the background. Blue crawling figures on
the ground suggested the flowing of water or the underworld, and
flying figures now and then evoked the notion of natural
movements like that of the wind or thunder, breaking the rhythm
of slowness and the silence of the world that lies far behind us.

Wilson's meticulous design was evident in the process of
determining the lights, colors, the artists' bearing. At times
they had to persevere in standing motionless for 20 minutes or
more. This, I was told, was to allow them to get a perfect sense
of where they stand, their position in relation to other artists
and the light.

It also gives Wilson the time to "play" with the color of
lighting until he found the right shade for what the scene should
express.

The wisdom of Bugis philosophy revealed to him by Puang Matoa
Saidi, the head of the bissu transgender shamans, is of major
consideration. Every shade has a meaning, every place its
significance, said Saidi in a brief interview. Yellow, for
instance, is the color of the Luwuq kingdom and of royalty,
purple is for the aristocracy and red is for commoners. Blue
stands for clarity, beauty and the environment in which life can
prosper.

Asked why he, a priest of the highest level, should be in the
theater, Saidi answered that it was his task to guard the ancient
epic poem of the Sureq Galigo, held sacred by many Bugis people,
whenever and wherever it needs to be guarded.

This visual work for the stage is inspired by Sureq Galigo,
that has been interpreted to represent the Bugis world at the
dawn of their history. Longer than the Mahabharata and comparable
to Homer's Odyssey, it recounts the creation and destruction of
the Middle World, the realm of white-blooded descendants of the
gods. Here nature is created.

In the Bugis cosmos, there is an upper, middle and under
world, each of which is open to go in and out of.

The story of the first seven generations of the white-blooded
royal residents of the earth starts with the decision made by the
gods in the upper world and the under world to fill the empty
middle world by sending their children to live there.

Encased in bamboo, Batara Guru, son of the ruler of the upper
world, comes down with a thunder clap along a seven-color
rainbow, where he creates the flora and fauna before his spouse-
to-be Wi Nyiliq Timoq, daughter of the ruler of the under world,
emerges with the rumbling of the ocean's foaming waves.

When they wed, they become the first rulers in Luwuq, the
center of the Middle World. The core of this heroic poem begins
with the birth of a set of Golden Twins: a male by the name of
Sawirigading, and a female called Wi Tenriabing, the grand
children of Batara Guru and Wi Nyiliq Timoq. A prophecy predicts
the twins would commit incest; as this would destroy the whole
world, the Golden Twins are separated at birth.

But Sawirigading, the main protagonist of this epic,
eventually hears of his beautiful sister. He uses his magical
power to sneak into his sister's chamber at the palace. He falls
passionately in love, doesn't care about an eventual destruction
of the world and insists on marrying his sister. She, however,
persuades him to seek their cousin Wi Cudaiq in faraway "Cina"
(pronounced "chee-na"), who is her precise likeness. To provide
him with the means to go there, the largest and most sacred tree
is felled, which sinks into the under world, to emerge again as a
fleet of ships.

After many adventures and violent battles, Sawirigading asks
for Wi Cudaiq's hand in marriage. But, due to a case of mistaken
identity (her servants take Sawirigading's ugly servant to be
him) she refuses to marry him. Sawirigading and his men defend
their honor by waging war on Cina. To save her kingdom, Wi Cudaiq
finally agrees to marry Sawirigading, but on the condition that
all her kingdom be restored and all her soldiers brought back to
life, that there is no public wedding and that she never receives
Sawirigading during the day.

Sawirigading ultimately succeeds in reaching Wi Cudaiq who had
wrapped herself in seven sarongs and seven mosquito nets, locked
behind seven gates. She gives birth to a son, named I La Galigo,
who grows up a rascal, marrying many women and stealing other
men's wives.

At one time all the Gods' descendants are called to return to
Luwuq, as the middle world would be purged and all the royalty
must go back to the upper world and the under world.

Sawirigading and Wi Cudaiq are sent to rule the under world,
and Wi Tenriabing and her husband become the rulers of the upper
world. After seven years of chaos in the middle world, the gods
send Sawirigading's daughter from the under world, and Wi
Tenriabing's son from the upper world to the middle world.

After they wed and have a child, the gates that used to
connect the middle world with the upper and the under world are
closed for good, bringing into existence the first human
settlement in the Bugis kingdom of Luwuq at the northern tip of
the Gulf of Bone in South Sulawesi.

As this wondrous pre-Islamic, 14th century epic comes to life
with Robert Wilson's visual work at the Esplanade
Theaters-on-the-Bay, I La Galigo calls to world attention the
riches of Bugis poetry, signaling a new and major contribution to
world literature.

A public forum on I La Galigo, co-hosted by the Asia Research
Institute and The Esplanade, will discuss the role of this great
epic in Bugis society and its transition to the current
production.

It will include three distinguished scholars -- Prof. Leonard
Andaya (Hawaii), Ian Caldwell (Leeds) and Roger Tol
(Leiden/Jakarta), as well as Bugis cultural figures, director
Wilson and artists and organizers involved with the production.

------------------------------------------------
i-box:

I La Galigo, world premiere 12-13 March
Center Stage, Esplanade Theaters-on-the-Bay
Singapore Forum
13 March: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Esplanade Recital Studio
---------------------------------------