Art festival mixes traditional and modern culture

Art festival mixes traditional and modern culture

By Putu Wirata

TIRTAGANGGA, Bali (JP): The Milleniart Festival held in Bali
from Sept. 9 to Sept. 14, 1999, aimed to celebrate and respect
cultural diversity. In addition, the event focused on ways to
help individuals realize that it is not necessary for them to
subject themselves to the domination of globalization, which may
lead to an inferiority complex in local cultures.

Rites and traditional art forms from various regions were on
display, including: the Batak uning-uning from Sumatra; bissu
dance from Pangkep (Sulawesi); berassi dance from Lamaojang
(Flores); the pepaosan from Lombok; gandrung from Banyuwangi; and
the wayang wong, genjek and joged pingitan from Java. All the
cultural exhibits displayed how tradition born as a collective
creation should be appreciated and respected.

The contributions of the Balinese artists illustrated the
continuity between traditional and contemporary creative works.
It could be seen in their work how traditional art has become a
source of inspiration when composing contemporary works.

Two works in particular surprised viewers, Pembelaan Dirah
(Dirah's Defense) by Cokorda Istri Sawitri and Ritus Seni (Art
Ritual) by Nyoman Erawan. Both artists were born and raised
within a traditional environment, and their works reflect an
evolutionary change from traditional culture. Indeed, it is not
possible for a contemporary culture to develop in a sociocultural
vacuum.

'Pembelaan Dirah'

Cok Sawitri, is a local poet and dramatist, who presented her
Pembelaan Dirah in the form of a monolog.

It reversed a subconscious belief within the Balinese
community, imbued for centuries through myths, that Dirah, a
widow with one child in the Kediri kingdom, was an evil widow and
practitioner of black magic.

She was allegedly the cause of a large-scale epidemic in
Kediri and was killed only after Mpu Bahula discovered the secret
of her supernatural powers. This belief has endured for
approximately four centuries and has become a sacred myth in
Bali.

Sawitri questioned this myth: Was Dirah the scapegoat of
political power-mongers? Is it possible that a woman leading a
small monastery in a remote village dared to defy the powerful
authorities and soldiers? With its spirited words, and within the
context of Indonesia's sociopolitical environment throughout the
past 30 years, the monolog Pembelaan Dirah reflected reality.

Sawitri's performance was an attractive one, with its
endeavor to reverse the community's subconscious acceptance of
the official interpretation of the myth. Black-clad gendang
(drum) and seruling (flute) musicians shared the stage with
dancers whose faces were smeared with paint.

The accompanying music consisted of only kendang (small drum)
beats that penetrated the gloomy ambience. These represented
Dirah's feelings of hurt at being made a scapegoat. Perhaps
victims of an authority's political engineering suffer the same
fate; they spend the rest of their lives with an empty heart.

'Ritus Seni'

Using a pool measuring 30 meters by 50 meters as a performance
space, Erawan created a setting which reminding us of one of
Bali's festive ritual ceremonies. The pool contained cloths of
many colors and gongs hung in a circle, representing the Balinese
concept of cosmology and the nine directions of the universe.

The repeated sounds of the bleganjur and the kidung malat in
which a number of women sing a kidung (hymn) of death, were
followed by eight young men jumping in the pool with a black or
white duck -- images closely associated with Balinese traditional
cultural symbolism.

Erawan, a graduate of Yogyakarta's Indonesian Arts Institute,
depicted the nawasanga Hindu cosmology philosophy in his work.
The Tirtagangga water tower became the lingga (Siva's phallus)
symbolizing the solidity of the divine pillar in establishing the
world.

According to critic Jim Supangkat, Erawan's art demolishes
the framework of fine arts. It is unequivocally clear that it
tells us about Balinese culture with its emphasizes on rites and
collectivity.

Erawan also presented an installation, dance, tembang (sung
poetry) and a piece of music combined as one. "I just roll on to
do my art work," he said categorically. He lives and is immersed
in both the Balinese tradition and also an urban modern one.
Erawan creates art which reflects this.

He has not neglected traditional art, and as such he does not
want to see it stagnate. Therefore, his works include both
traditional iconic symbols such as warna poleng (checkered
patterns), sobekan (torn pieces), spears, krises and antique
cloths, in addition to modern media such as dolls, electronic
equipment and slide projectors.

He has reinterpreted Balinese traditions with fine art in
recent performances including Cak Seni Rupa Latta Mahosadi, Ritus
Seni Nyoman Erawan, Ruwatan I 1997 (Art Ritual by Nyoman Erawan,
Exorcism I 1997) and Pralayamatra 1998.

In the latter, Erawan used dolls and electronic equipment to
create blood bubbles in his work. Erawan's work is very
interesting due to its portrayal of the evolution and development
of traditional culture by a post-traditional artist who is in
touch with a new culture.

Erawan believes the extraordinarily beautiful traditions,
which are the heritage of the Balinese community, formerly derive
from a dialog with a pre-traditional culture.

Balinese traditions are an assimilation of Hindu Majapahit
culture with earlier cultural developments.

Now, assimilation is taking place on a wider scale with modern
culture arriving from various parts of the world, especially
considering Bali's status as a popular tourist destination.