Old Balinese painter says he's ready to die

By Putu Wirata

UBUD, Bali (JP): "I'm ready to die and surrender to my fate, just like Sutasoma," said Gusti Ketut Kobot, an old painter in Pengosekan village in Ubud, Bali, as he talked about art, life and death.

Sutasoma is the character in a legend about a kindhearted prince, who was willing to sacrifice his body to be devoured by Bhatara Kala, the god of death. In the story, King Purusada was ordered by Bhatara Kala to present 118 kings, whose blood would be sucked for the god's pleasure. When Sutasoma heard about the order, he voluntarily gave himself to King Purusada to be taken to Bhatara Kala. Sutasoma was the 100th king presented to the god, but when the god was about to eat him, the god became weak and realized his wrongdoing. The story reflects Buddhist capitulation and Ketut Kobot loves the story very much.

"Extreme power sometimes wanes by kindness. My idol is not Bhima or Gatotkaca, (they are) too strong," he said, referring to the two mighty wayang (shadow puppet) characters.

Gusti Ketut Kobot is only one of a few painters from the 1930s generation who is still alive. He is also considered an artist who insists on painting only themes taken from wayang or mythology, and does not aim to explore daily life in his art. Looking at some of his works, Kobot's art is mostly about the mythological bird Garuda fighting against dragons, the great Garuda Wisnu Kencana, the Bharatayudha war, Goddess Saraswati and also about Sutasoma, who was to be devoured by Bhatara Kala.

But it is with this strong submission he has lived his life until now. In his advanced age, he is now over 75 years old (he does not know the exact time of his birth), Gusti Ketut Kobot can no longer paint.

After getting up in the morning, he takes medicine to maintain his health. From behind his thick eyeglasses, he sometimes reads Hindi religious books. In the meantime, collectors are hunting down his works, priced from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of rupiah.

"About the price of the paintings, ah! It's up to us how much we ask, but it should feel right with the buyers," he said.

It is hard to talk about the prices of his works because he has handed the matter over to his grandchildren.

His first memories of painting are from the 1920s. He often came to Ubud Temple for ngayah, a sort of voluntary work for the king, and certainly, his favorite work was painting the pangider- ider cloth, which is usually placed around the lower part of the building. Pangider-ider usually depicts scenes of gods and goddesses, or holy tales about the journey of spirits in heaven.

His other favorite theme was shadow puppetry, painting figures from the Mahabrata or Ramayana epic stories. His more mundane work was cutting grass for his family's cows.

"It was not too arduous. After cutting the grass, I often took part in ngayah at temple, I went there on foot from here," Ketut Kobot said. He had to pass through rivers and over cliffs as there was no road connecting Pengosekan and Ubud at that time.

In the 1930s, Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet came to Bali. Along with local artist Tjokorda Gde Agung Soekawati they began to attract painters to Pita Maha, a group which introduced new themes, techniques and vision to painting.

While traditional Ubud painters painted only gods taken from the Mahabharata and Ramayana epic stories, Pita Maha introduced themes from daily life -- farmers working in the fields, the ngaben ceremony, a mother giving birth to a baby. It also introduced new materials and space perspective on canvas. Ubud paintings were mostly without perspective, but filled all the spaces with figures or ornaments, crowding the canvass with colors and forms.

Many Pita Maha painters started to experiment with perspective -- sometimes finding it a challenging task -- but there were also those who maintained their old style, including Gusti Ketut Kobot.

"I like painting like this, and I can't change to new techniques," Ketut Kobot said.

He said his ultimate satisfaction was in painting wayang, which was once taught by Rudolf Bonnet, and felt that in this he could use all his creative skills. For him, shadow puppets and their figures are almost like an alternate reality, glued into his experience.

When asked why he took shadow puppets as his theme, Kobot explained that he is among the traditional painters upholding the rituals of Balinese Hindu. He holds a ritual for his painting tools during the observance of Saraswati Day every six months.

The goddess Saraswati, the master of knowledge and art, is worshiped on this day.

According to Kobot, wayang is about sacred values, while daily life is profane. Wayang could reflect a ritual in a temple, while daily stories like people going to market or folk stories are to him mere decorations.

"Whenever thinking about painting, I could be carried away until I sleep," Ketut Kobot said.

One day, in the 1950s, Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, visited his home.

"He shared with me a theory on how to judge painting. He told me not to sell the best and most preferred painting. And how to know whether a painting is good: After completing the painting, cover it with cloth, and a week later -- after it has dried -- uncover it, then you can see its flaws," recalled Kobot, saying with a laugh that the theory works well.

And what surprised Kobot most was that Sukarno asked for his best painting, the one that the painter liked best.

"His aide came here, saying that he was asked by Pak Karno to get the picture. Well, I was very happy to give it to him," he said.

But Kobot's friends then joked that the painting had flaws that should be fixed.

"My friends told me I had to go to Tampaksiring (palace) in the morning to fix the flaws," said Kobot.

When he visited Bali, Sukarno stayed in Tampaksiring palace. He often invited local artists to the palace and sent trucks to pick them up.

Kobot said he wanted to go to the palace but was confused because there was no public transport. Ida Bagus Made, an eccentric old painter from Tebasaya, then took him to Ubud district office to use the telephone, and to call Bung Karno's aide directly.

"I was surprised, Gus Made said we should be picked up with a sedan since it was Bung Karno who needed me," said Kobot with a laugh.

Now, Gusti Ketut Kobot and Ida Bagus Made are both old. Just like Sutasoma, who surrendered to Bhatara Kala, Kobot said he also had surrendered his life.

"Since my wife died, in 1982, I have lost my spirit to live and paint. Life and death feel the same," he said.

Some of his works are now in the collections of Museum Neka, Museum Puri Lukisan, Museum Agung Rai and Museum Rudana in Ubud. Meanwhile, in his studio in Pengosekan village, some of his works are displayed beside art awards, the Dharma Kusuma award from Bali's provincial administration and Widya Kusuma award from Gianyar's local administration.

"These, I don't want to sell," he said, pointing to several of his works.

Kobot might not sell them, but maybe his grandchildren will. Meanwhile some collectors have quietly persuaded Kobot to sell some of his favorite works.