I Wayan inscribes cultural wizardry on palm

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.