COVER IMAGE I GEDE WIDYANTARA The Ever Changing Face of Bali 115 x 81 cm Acrylic on Canvas FOREWORD Om Swastyastu, It is our pleasure to present our annual exhibition, KebiarSeni XIV, with the theme of REAWAKENING. This year we celebrate the reawakening of the artists in the village of Batuan. In the early 1930s, there was a conuence of ideas between several foreign artists, such as Walter Spies (German)and Rudolf Bonnet (Dutch), and indigenous artisans of Bali that gave birth to the so-called Modern-Traditional Balinese Art. During this time, Bali art community experienced an abrupt shift in subject matter, perspective, composition, coloring techniques and their patron that formed various schools such as Ubud, Sanur and Batuan; each with distinct characteristics. Since then, there have been many inuences coming from various parties and directions. The Batuan artists are now in contact with other Balinese artists, with other artists from dierent regions in Indonesia, with artists in Southeast Asia and with the global artist community. Aligned with the mission of Museum Puri Lukisan to preserve and develop modern- traditional Balinese art, this year we gave the opportunity to the Batuan Artists Association to have their annual exhibition at our museum. A group of younger artists of Batuan innovated a new genre of paintings that signicantly deviate from their tradition, but still maintained their traditional techniques. We hope you enjoy the product of the Reawakening of the younger Batuan Artists, as much as we do. We would like to thank the artists who have participated inthis exhibition, the RatnaWartha Foundation, the entire sta and employees of ourMuseum, Richard Hasell, SoemantriWidagdo,and all those who have helped us to make the annualKebiarSeni exhibition possible. Om Santhi, Santhi, Santhi, Om. Ubud, July 2013 Ir. Tjokorda Bagus Astika Museum Director KEBIAR SENI XIV 1 INTRODUCTION During the early 1900s, Western anthropologists ocked to Bali to study its unique culture. Americans, Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson spent two years (1937-1939) in the village of Batuan, their studies culminating in the publication of their controversial work, the Balinese Characters. During their stay, they collected some 2000 Batuan paintings, all black and white drawings, depicting the fearsome experiences of ordinary Balinese caught in the constant tension between the world of seen, niscaya, and unseen, niskala. It was a great challenge for the Batuan artists at that time to respond to Bateson and Mead’s unusual requests. At the same time, it was liberating and, in away, a path to escape from the strict rules of the classical Wayang painting tradition. During these years, the Batuan artisans created daring drawings, their styles drastically bifurcated, and a new branch emerged: a stylistic awakening from their sleep. After the Second World War, and particularly after the tragic and traumatic period of mass killings in Bali c. 1965, the Batuan artists and artists from other regions in Bali chose to stay away from politics and other controversial subject matter for their art. For this exhibition, we challenged the members of the Batuan Artists Association to produce new themes while maintaining their traditional Batuan techniques. With the progress of democracy and freedoms in Indonesia, some of the younger Batuan artists (such as I Ketut Sadia, I Wayan Malik, I Gde Widyantara and I Made Sujendra) have started to venture into more daring subjects, while the majority (including I Nyoman Toya and I Ketut Murtika) stayed within their comfort zone. 2 KEBIAR SENI XIV “An Indonesian plane carrying more than 100 passengers broke in two after missing the runway at Bali airport and landing in the sea, leaving dozens injured but no fatalities, April 13, 2013.” The Age Traveller Within a month from the date of this accident, I Ketut Sadia (b. 1966) created a painting recording the event, thereby acting more as a reporter or a historian rather than strictly as an artist. In a similar way, I Gusti Nyoman Rai of Sanur had acted as reporter/ historian with his paintings of many Beached Whales on Sanur beaches (c. 1960s) as well as the capture of Bali from the Japanese army by the US air force (c. 1945s). I KETUT SADIA (b. 1966), Lion Floating Happily Acrylic on Canvas, 100 x 150 cm Sadia chose to document the magical moment when ordinary Balinese came to the rescue of one hundred frightened passengers aboard the Lion Airplane that missed the runway by a few meters. Fortunately most of the passengers were able to walk away safely from the shallow water, and were happy to see the smiling faces of their rescuers. KEBIAR SENI XIV 3 Leyak is synonymous with the black magic practitioners, who are particularly feared in Bali. Their ability to transform into various living creatures, to snatch babies and toads and to cause all sorts of supernatural manifestations gives them a fearsome reputation. “As unpredictable—and probably just as controversial—as UFOs, leyak are a supernatural phenomenon most feared by many Balinese. Appearing as reballs, strange animals (normally pig- or dog-like creatures) or demons, leyak appear as oating apparitions and, according to eyewitnesses, can move at extremely high speeds. Interestingly enough, not only Balinese claim to have seen them, but also other Indonesians and foreigners. Not only that, they do not always appear hovering over rice elds (the more ‘romantic’ version), but have also been seen in high population density areas such as Kuta. Since the majority of people associate leyak with practitioners of black magic, it is not considered a good thing to have witnessed one. Stories of witches in the form of leyak baby snatching, spreading illness and general suering abound—it makes sense that they don’t have a great name. However, Balinese who have studied magic or at least observed the initiation and disciple process will tell you otherwise. According to an article published in Taksu magazine by Gde Mahendra, being able to transform oneself into another form, manifesting as a leyak, is part of the process of learning magic. It is a developed skill that is learnt by all practitioners of magic, both black and white. The unique ability to take on another form may be used for good or bad and is very much in the hands of the practitioner. When in a meditative state, a practitioner focuses on certain magical symbols to the point that they emit light (like an aura) and leave their bodies to wander about experimenting with the power of their forms. These are the apparitions that some people claim to see. However, almost nostalgically, in most parts of Bali, leyak sightings seem to be a thing of the past. This is attributed to modern times with all its chaos—seemingly these days leyak are, somewhat ironically, ‘afraid’ to show themselves. Vaughan Hatch (2010) I WAYAN MALIK Leyak Demonstrating Acrylic on Canvas 60 x 80 cm I Wayan Malik (b. 1963) created a painting of Leyak gathering from all over the world to protest and protect their reputations. Their defense is that many men do evil things in the name of Leyak. They suggest that many tourists, expats, government ocials, non-Balinese and greedy Balinese use the excuse of Leyak to cover their evil deeds. Notice the waves in the form of “eyes” surrounding the protest? 4 KEBIAR SENI XIV I GEDE WIDYANTARA (B. 1984), The Ever Changing Face of Bali Acrylic on Canvas, 115 x 81 cm The original title was “The Face of Bali,” but I took the liberty of changing it to “The Ever Changing Face of Bali”. There is a face of a man, but you need to step back to see it! Within the man’s face you can see the two worlds: old and new Bali comingling in harmony (or is it?). At the top, above the “eye”, you can see a serene Balinese temple gate and Balinese ladies entering the temple with a helicopter and an airplane hovering above them. In the middle world, below the “eye”, you see the popular Kecak Dance being lmed by a tourist with their exotic car as the nose of the man’s face. And underneath you see the everyday life of the modern Balinese living in Ubud, comingling with and bombarded by tourists. A lady wearing a Balinese sarong is shown on a motorcycle chatting on her mobile phone while balancing a temple oering on her head, witnessed by her son sucking a candy. What a phenomenon! KEBIAR SENI XIV 5 I MADE SUJENDRA (B. 1964), The Monkey and The Goats Acrylic on Canvas, 60 x 80 cm This painting tells a story of goats and a monkey who agree on a joint venture to do farming together with the understanding that the goats will eat the leaves of the crop while the monkey will get the fruits. However, the goats eat all the young leaves, and so the crop does not produce any fruits for the monkey to harvest. The painting captures the scene where the Monkey, who thinks that he can outsmart the goats, ask the goats to pull the heavy plow while he is directing and maneuvering the plow. Unlike most Batuan painters who populate every inch of the canvas, Sujendra chose to leave the background bare with a solid black that provides the necessary contrast to showcase the main characters of the story. 6 KEBIAR SENI XIV I NYOMAN TOYA (B. 1966), Durga Murti Acrylic on Canvas, 30 x 40 cm I Nyoman Toya depicted a mythical story of the God Siwa who sent his wife, Durga, to earth to get fresh cow’s milk to cure his illness.