'Lontar' leaf engravings stuck in creative rut
By Putu Wirata
DENPASAR (JP): Tenganan, five kilometers north of the famed Candidasa beach, is well-known for its ritual called perang pandan, in which adult villagers beat each other with pandanus leaves until they bleed all over their bodies.
It is equally renowned for its locally made cloth, gringsing, a top tourist draw, and engravings on palmyra palm (lontar) leaves.
Considered sacred, the cloth is made from natural materials and is the only one woven with double ikat in Indonesia.
"In fact, our people also inherit their ancestors' painting skills," said village chief Wayan Wartawan.
"It's a shame that people are more drawn to the gringsing business because the thousands of tourists streaming to Tenganan every month are more interested in the cloth."
Swiss anthropologist Urs Ramsayer has written a book about the cloth, which has become one of Bali's main attractions in various exhibitions in Japan, America and Europe.
But the Tenganan villagers' painting skills have not developed as well, apparently because they have not been exposed to contact with foreign artists.
In contrast, Kamasan village in Klungkung kept its fame for its once-endangered unique puppetry thanks to the innovations introduced by artist Rudolf Bonnet during the 1930s. So did traditional arts in Ubud and surrounding regions, which progressed because of ideas from Bonnet and his German contemporary Walter Spies.
Tenganan's savior was not a painter but a scientist who loves art, Ramsayer.
There is no doubt that many Tenganan villagers are talented painters.
"We have inherited this (skill) from our ancestors," said Made Pasek, 65, a retired policeman whose engravings are among the best in the village.
He does not know for sure why his ancestors began to make pictures on palm leaves, but he theorizes that it has to do with the Tenganan villagers' specific way of setting their holidays.
The villagers determine them based on the lunar calendar, or sasih system, while Hindus in other parts of Bali designate their holidays based on the pawekon system that falls every 210 days.
As far as Made Pasek can remember, the engravings on palmyra palm leaves are mostly symbols of the sasih calendar system. Over the past year, the villagers have chosen the Ramayana and Mahabarata epics as themes of their paintings. Tourists are their target.
Wearing a sarong and bare chested, Pasek is mostly available at his home in front of his house. Passersby can observe the old man with thick glasses hard at work.
He has inspired other villagers to revive their talent.
"I have studied a little with Pak Pasek, but my grandfather was a palm leaf engraver, too," said Komang Joni, 20, a high school graduate who paints on palm leaves to earn his living.
"I have no other sources of income. It is impossible for me to become a civil servant because I don't have connections with government officials. Neither do I have the grease money."
Scores of Tenganan inhabitants engrave on palm leaves to survive. In front of more than 60 percent of the houses, there is a man sitting in front of a table where artworks are displayed. It is an inviting sight.
A set of lontar usually has between six and 12 leaves. They are connected with thread. To show them at their best, the leaves are attached to two bamboo poles decorated with pictures before they are painted brown to give them a timeworn look.
"I finish one palm leaf in three to seven days," Joni said.
How much can he make?
"It depends. If the client is highly interested, I will ask Rp 250,000 (US$23). If I see that the client is doubtful, I charge as low as Rp 50,000. I sell most of them for Rp 75,000."
In a month, Joni sells not more than five pieces.
The production process relies on tradition. Mature palm leaves are soaked in warm water mixed with traditional herbs for 24 hours. The next day, leaves are dried under the sun. It is on the dried leaves cut into pieces measuring 15 centimeters that they start engraving with a very small knife.
"In the long run, our sight will be impaired like Pak Pasek's," Joni said with a laugh.
When the engraving is finished, a solution made from candlenut and charcoal is applied. The black substance will stick to the curves of the lines, providing a contrast between black and the light yellow of palm leaves.
Very few engravers dare to go their own way in choice of subjects. Each offers a representation of puppets, the same calendar symbols, the Nine deities (dewata nawa sanga) and a scene from Ramayana and Mahabarata epics.
When asked why artists did not draw I Tundung, a mythical figure in local folklore who protects the Tenganan forest from poachers, Joni said: "It would take a long time and great effort to create something new. These ones are easy. The samples are there. All we need to do is copy them."