I Wayan inscribes cultural wizardry on palm

By Susi Andrini

DENPASAR (JP): Balinese art veteran I Wayan Muditadnana, commonly called I Wayan has given Indonesian literature a new breath of life with his Balinese pictorial stories, or prasi.

Prasi consists of inscriptions on palm.

"Once finished with a prasi drawing, I am not immediately satisfied. I end up redoing one thing or the other, right from the start. There is a lot of trial and error work done," he says.

The people of this archipelago have been familiar with pictorial stories and inscriptions for the past two thousand years. Contemporary comics -- the most recent of the kind -- have taken a different direction.

Indonesians today are as hooked on kung fu adventures as they were on traditional comics decades ago.

Traditional comics such asprasi which inspired legendary performances in the wayang have been sidelined through generations of comic scripts.

Artists strived to preserve the age-old culture. Wayang characters come alive and epics are inscribed in intricate detail.

"If not us, who will preserve our own culture," says I Wayan.

Born in the village of Tenganan on Sept. 16, 1935 to I Siari and Ni Siari, I Wayan Muditadnana lived through the uncertainties of rural life as he grew up.

He sat in on elementary classes at what was then a public school. At 10 he became child to a single parent, and left school soon afterwards.

His desire to study never lessened, even as the struggle against material obstacles made it impossible.

He pored over Balinese literature and picture-stories, and learned to master the art.

This form of inscriptions began their history with the kutai epigraphy -- which illustrated the reign of King Mulawarman. The arrival of the Pallava Awal, Kawi, or old Javanese inscriptions the form gained recognition.

Historical changes demanded better quality and flexibility in the art form, with different styles of the Kawi-Akhir, emerging in Bali, Pasundan and Central Sumatra.

With a single alphabet the adaptations came to reflect the sounds and structures of the Balinese language.

I Wayan took up serious study of the Balinese inscriptions. He mastered many six-lined Javanese verses in the legends of Bharata Yudha, Peparikan, Arjuna Wiwaha and The Ramayana, along with ballads such as Bagus Diharsa as well.

Dadong Resni, Kaki Resni and Dadong Kerti became his mentors. I Wayan also diligently mastered the customs and traditional behavior of Balinese sects, particularly of Materuna Nyoman and Awig Awig Teruna Nyoman.

At 16, I Wayan also learned the art of tabuh gender wayang (playing the musical instrument of metallophone with keys suspended on thongs and chords over sounding tubes).

He plays the modest set at home during leisure hours to fill the void in an otherwise busy day. The routine lured him to making pictures of the Wayang.

Sheaths of leaf and bamboo with cartons were used in the designs to form pictures to accompany Sanskrit texts for children, using the Balinese language in the acts of Bharata Yudha and Arjuna Wiwaha.

The master artist has retained a delight in the discovery of the new. His passion for learning led him to study Balinese literature, moving on to Wayang themes, and old Javanese poetry in 1956.

Chapters of Hindu scriptures -- Utara Kanda, Mahabharata, Kapi Parwa and other Hindu teachings -- became elegant works of words and pictures alike, once he mastered the art of Javanese lyrical poetry.

Reading materials were scarcer then than palm. 1957 saw the master inscribing palm leaves with tales from Balinese literature.

Among those inscribed included the Lubdaka, Arjuna Wiwaha, Bharata Yudha, Bomantaka, Sutasoma, Arisraya, Gatotkacasraya and Usada Usada.

Three months of Wayang inscription study under Wayang artist Bapak Berata at the village of Besan, spurred his ambition. Following a long period of labor over Wayang pieces, I Wayan wrote the Sanskritic inscriptions to Wayang known as the Dharma Kusuma. He owned musical instruments, which were as important as Wayang leather puppets.

At 24, he courted a Balinese woman and is now married with five daughters and two sons. Marriage does not seem to have curbed his desire to learn. Both managing an organization and his inscriptions have become a daily routine.

His organization has branched into the neighboring village of Bukit Kangin, east of Tenganan.

I Wayan had cherished dreams of building a library for the village -- a means of imparting history to future generations. His dream came true in year 1970, and the library was called Wrddhi Castra.

Complementary pictures, interspersed with old Javanese poetry told their tale on leaves in 1972. The craftsman had Ramayana and Bharata Yudha inscribed on palm, simultaneously adding to the domain of culture. Notable ones done on palm are Usana BaliSundarigama and Sundari Bungkah Pararaton.

The bygone days of Balinese culture are captured brilliantly on prasi. The works have drawn many prominent visitors including former president of Italy Sandro Pertini.

A piece of prasi work costs US$150 and takes a month to finish. Buyers of the old Javanese inscriptions hail from the U.S.A., Germany, Honolulu, Japan and Holland.

A volume of prasi work requires 15 palm leaves measuring 5x40 cm each, purchased from a neighboring villages at Rp 500 per leaf.

Other utilities include five pieces of pengrupak or engraving instruments, drawing pencils, shards of wood and fruit of the candlenut tree popularly known as kemiri to dye the inscriptions and drawings black.

I Wayan has devoted his life to the arts and literature of Bali, earning him a lontar(palm-inscribing) award in 1973 and 1990, completing a prasi in the 1984, and winning the Dharma Kusuma Madiya artist of the year 1987 award.

Even as his name is synonymous with the art of prasi, the crowning glory in the year 1996 came with the presentation of an award for his contribution to "Ways in forming and developing the art of prasi".

Despite his age, the virtuoso also journeys into the literary domain. I Wayan works on the prasi all day long. The day starts at 3 a.m. and sees him working on his life-long passion to breakfast at eight o'clock.

He resumes his work following breakfast until the time for his afternoon meal. The time between 3 and 6 p.m. is spent in leisure, playing the gamelan, reading, or entertaining guests who drop by for a visit.

The following hours are spent working on the piece, until time comes for the artist to turn in.