Click here to download:

betlehem vo wayangu.pdf (7.46 MB)

We feel a great responsibility to share our incredible cultural experience that we gained during our study on the island of Gods, as Bali is often referred to. Especially because it is quite difficult to find information on eastern fine arts culture in our western art literature. 

I can only hope that as the time passes, we will manage to fill the gap in knowing the eastern Asian cultures to enrich all of us.

(Following text is a fragment of text written by my friend Milan Regec who is a guardian of my exhibitions.)

 Wayang Kamasan

 The first Balinese painters were inspired by shadow theater wayang kulit and on their canvas they pictured surface figures or illustrated episodes from religious and historical eposes. This style is called wayang classic or wayang kamasan (named after a village where come together all artists caring for keeping the historical heritage and natural development of this style). Wayang kamasan is still very popular among the locals as well as tourists and it is basically imposed for all religious purposes.

 It is best to compare wayang classic with icons and iconography that are known from eastern Churches. A picture always captures a story – allegory from Ramayana epos, or even more often from much more extensive Mahabharata (both belong to basic texts of Hindu stream). There are strict rules applied as well – shape, placement of the figures, clothing, jewelry, and even the shape of mouth and eyes – all these have not only a prescribed form but they also carry a lot of meanings. For instance, the size of stomach tells us about the figure’s character – no stomach, small stomach, stomach leaning over, gigantic stomach. However, this is not an expression of obesity. For instance, a figure with bigger stomach can express that the person has a witty personality with sense of humor (often mocking). It is not only about dichotomy of the good and the bad – this is being expressed by placing the figure to the left, looking to the right or vice versa. There are also the good who slip to the evil from time to time or, on the other hand, the bad who would desperately like to be good, but they just can’t manage. Even a good character can be moody, indelicate, or sometimes too careless and dreamy – eyes, mouth, mustache, stomach, chest, teeth (teeth are considered to be the most distinguishing sign) and, of course, posture of the body can express even the smallest tones of human nature or mood. Therefore the artist doesn’t get a set of strict rules but rather a range of expressions from which he can create characters and situations according to his ideas.

To be able to understand the wayang pictures it is necessary to be at least a bit familiar with the mentioned rules. And maybe you would be surprised to see that even native Bali people are sometimes a bit lost – caste relevancy perhaps is not in direct relation with wealth and the social status but it is definitely visible in religious education. Brahman (a member of the highest caste) would describe the wayang picture perfectly, others, however, can have a problem even with identifying the main figures – something also with “reading” their characters or actual intentions in relation to illustrated action.

Wayang pictures are full of characters and action – there is no color used for painting the background. A simple rule says that the more characters and action, the better the wayang. Everything should be „filled“. The characters are captured in three quarter profile (so at all time at least two eyes are visible) in a tense pose determined by rules and hierarchy. In many ways they resemble the much older Egyptian relief paintings. However, the people in Bali didn’t use stone and since the humid tropical weather is not very gentle to the traditional materials, the oldest preserved wayang paintings are not even 200 year old. Originally were used only natural colors (ocherous yellow, red, black and white). The secret of color production preserved but the plant to produce for example yellow color is very difficult to find in Bali nowadays. The Dutch brought into wayang new colors – green and blue. Natural or acrylic, the dyes are mixed into light mild tones so as to give the picture a historical touch.

Preservation or restoration are quite unknown in Bali – it is much more common to let things fall apart and then build them again. For the local people this represents a natural circle of life – they try to keep their traditions alive, instead of preserving them.  This applies also to wayang pictures (another example is the permanent re-writing of texts written on lontar palm leaves, which can last for approximately 50-70 years). The oldest ones of them started to appear in temple decorations since the 17^th century.  The oldest and the most important artifact is the ceiling decoration in round balé – stage of the king’s palace Kerta Gosa in Klungkung. Except that there must have been some water leaking in, it stands unprotected on the corner of the most frequent crossroad in the city. In the past the place fulfilled the role of law-related decision making – the court hearing was happening without the indicted person because it was not a common thing to bring criminals into the palace. Its other functionality was to enable the prince to sit there and look at the girls coming through the crossroad to the market. Occasionally he commanded to his butler and the girl “suddenly disappeared” to reappear as a new wife of the king’s harem.

Even though the motive and some of the panels of the 7 level ceiling are 200 years old, most of it had to be replaced. And the younger the work (the specialists agree) the lower the quality – the rate of life is speeding up and contemporary artists don’t have hours or years to sit at one piece of canvas – if they want to eat. We had the chance to visit a living legend and the most respected artist from Kamasan I Nyoman Mandra. In a small gallery we not only found a few pictures but also a lot of awards and a photo album full of photos capturing exhibitions or presidential visits. The house and the workshop were as humble as the other ones and the artist lied in shabby clothes and socks full of holes (we could rather say he wore holes stitched together rather than socks) and at the stairs and at the front yard he was warming up his ill body. In a bowl he had a fistful of rice and in the mug there was some kind of thick beverage.  Despite the mentioned, he welcomed us in his home with a smile on his face and he was interested in us. He was accompanied by two elderly women, and one gladly showed us the gallery and offered us some water and nuts. This visit made a very strong impression on me and I spend a lot of time thinking about it.

I tried to make a unique drawing on a hand paper according their strict rules of Bethlehem. It was as if I knew the theme and I could speak a foreign language.

Overlapping of cultures of different religions is very unique but very popular in Bali. Especially when it is preceded by understanding the original culture and religion, of which is the technique borrowed.

 It is unbelievable how much can we learn from the Balinese people and their strong and active perception of their Hindu believes. They are incredibly tolerant towards other religions along with keeping a strict loyalty to their own traditions – for example you can enter a temple only if dressed in their national clothes, but they will never look at you lofty. The religion is visible in all their lives, but more than in a prayer they live it through the art – music, dance, theatre, costumes, pictures, and even each ornament decorating their houses, that all reflects their lively religious believes to which they dedicate a lot of time every day. All their ceremonies and festivities are connected with various forms of arts, on which participate all the local inhabitants. It is this creative art that for the Balinese people represents the way to real understanding and perception of connection between their religion and everyday life.  

The young artists in Bali admire our modern art and for us are their traditional techniques and forms of expressing things very special. They often honestly don’t understand our effort to “preserve history”. For Balinese people is everything a part of a never ending circle of live and dead. That is why they don’t try to preserve their traditions and they try to keep everything in its lively active form.

B with M

P.S.: Attached you can find picture “Bethlehem” in wayang kamasan, published in bulletin volume 38 th of  World Gallery of art on paper drawings 2010, Skopje

2. P.S.: Thanks for the translation of the text : Dana Mudráková, www.damu.sk, J

Click here to download:

betlehem vo wayangu.pdf (7.46 MB)

Cítime za to akúsi veľkú zodpovednosť, aby sme sa s vami podelili o svoje veľmi bohaté kultúrne dojmy, ktorú sme načerpali počas štúdia na tomto Ostrove bohov, ako sa Bali nazýva. V našich západných knihách o umení nájdeme len ťažko niečo o bohatej výtvarnej kultúre východu. Dúfam, že s postupom času sa podarí odstrániť medzeru v poznaní kultúr Východnej Ázie pre obohatenie nás všetkých.

(Tento príspevok je z kurátoského textu môjho kamaráta Miťa, ktorým sprevádza moje výstavy.)

 Wayang Kamasan

 Prví balijskí maliari čerpali inšpirácie z tieňového divadla wayang kulit a na svojich plátnach reprodukovali plošné figúrky alebo ilustrovali epizódy z náboženských a historických eposov. Tento štýl sa volá wayang klasik alebo wayang kamasan (podľa dediny, v ktorej sa sústreďujú umelci, ktorí dbajú o udržiavanie historického dedičstva i o prirodzený rozvoj tohto štýlu). Wayang kamasan je dodnes medzi miestnymi ľuďmi i medzi turistami veľmi obľúbený a prakticky predpísaný pre všetky náboženské účely.

 Najlepšie možno wayang klasik prirovnať k ikonám a ikonopisectvu, ktoré poznáme z východných cirkví. Obrázok vždy vyjadruje príbeh – výjav z eposu Rámajány, alebo ešte častejšie omnoho rozsiahlejšieho diela Mahábharáty (obe patria k základným textom hinduistického učenia). Tiež tu platia presne definované pravidlá – tvar, umiestnenie postáv, oblečenie, šperky, dokonca i tvar úst a očí – to všetko má nie len predpísanú formu, ale súčasne nesie mnoho významov. Tak napríklad o povahe postavy vypovedá aj veľkosť brucha – žiadne, mierne, prevísajúce, gigantické. Nejde o vyjadrenie miery obezity, ale napríklad postava s veľkým bruchom môže znamenať, že človek má komickú povahu a silný zmysel pre (zavše uštipačný) humor. Nejde teda len o delenie na dobrých a zlých – to sa v základnej forme deje tým, či je postava vľavo a díva sa doprava alebo naopak. Sú tu aj dobrí, ktorí sa ale nechajú zviesť a občas paktujú so zlými či zlí, ktorí by zúfalo chceli byť dobrí, ale vždy pri tej snahe niečo spackajú. V zásade dobrá postava môže byť náladová, obhrublá či niekedy až príliš ľahostajná a zasnívaná – oči, ústa, fúzy, brucho, hruď, zuby (zuby sú asi najdôležitejší rozlišovací znak) a samozrejme postoj tela dokážu vyjadriť aj tie najjemnejšie odtienky ľudskej povahy či momentálnej nálady. Umelec tak dostáva do rúk nie sadu prísnych pravidiel, ale rozsiahle množstvo vyjadrovacích prostriedkov, z ktorých môže vyskladať postavy a situácie presne podľa svojich predstáv.

Samozrejme, že na pochopenie wayangových obrazov treba tieto pravidlá aspoň približne poznať. A možno by ste boli prekvapení, že aj mnoho samotných Balijčanov sa v nich často stráca – príslušnosť ku kaste síce dnes už možno nie je v priamej súvislosti s bohatstvom a spoločenským postavením, ale rozhodne ju možno veľmi jasne vidieť v miere náboženského vzdelania. Brahman (člen najvyššej kasty) vám wayangový obrázok popíše dokonale, ostatní však môžu mať problém aj s identifikáciou základných postáv – nieto ešte s „čítaním“ ich vlastností či aktuálnych zámerov vo vzťahu k zobrazenému deju.

Wayangové obrazy sú plné postáv a deja – nepoužíva sa žiadna farba na zamaľovanie pozadia. Jednoduché pravidlo hovorí, že čím viac postáv a akcie, tým lepší wayang. Všetko treba „zaplniť“. Osoby sú zachytené v trojštvrťovom profile (takže je vždy vidno minimálne dve oči) v strnulom postoji určeného pravidlami a hierarchiou. V mnohom pripomínajú oveľa staršie egyptské reliéfne maľby. Balijčania však na rozdiel od nich nepoužili kameň a keďže vlhké tropické podnebie sa s tradičnými materiálmi vôbec nemazná, najstaršie dochované wayangové maľby nemajú ani 200 rokov. Pôvodne sa používali výlučne prírodné farby (okrová žltá, červená, čierna a biela). Tajomstvo ich výroby sa síce zachovalo, no napríklad rastlinu, z ktorej sa vyrábala kvalitná žltá už na Bali nájdete len veľmi ťažko. Holanďania priniesli do wayangu nové farby – zelenú a modrú. Či už prírodné alebo akrylové, farby sa miešajú vždy do svetlých tlmených odtieňov, aby obraz získal historický nádych.

Konzervácia či reštaurovanie je na Bali takmer neznámy pojem – oveľa bežnejší postup spočíva v tom, že sa veci nechajú rozpadnúť a potom postavia či vyrobia nanovo. Pre miestnych ľudí to predstavuje prirodzený kolobeh – tradície sa snažia uchovávať v ich živej, nie konzervovanej podobe. To sa týka aj wayangových obrazov (ďalším príkladom je napríklad neustále prepisovanie zvitkov písaných na listoch lontarovej palmy, ktoré majú životnosť približne 50-70 rokov). Najstaršie z nich sa začali objavovať pri výzdobách chrámov a chrámových budov od 17. storočia. Za najstaršiu dochovanú a zároveň najvýznamnejšiu pamiatku sa považuje výzdoba stropu v otvorenom balé – pódiu kráľovského paláca Kerta Gosa v Klungkungu. Okrem toho, že do nej muselo zatekať, stojí ničím nechránená na rohu najfrekventovanejšej križovatky v meste. V minulosti miesto slúžilo na najdôležitejšie rozhodnutia v oblasti práva – súd sa však odohrával bez prítomnosti obvineného, vodiť zločincov do kráľovského paláca nebolo vo zvyku. Druhou funkciou bolo to, že v ňom princ sedával a díval sa cez križovatku na dievčatá prichádzajúce na trh. Zavše pokynul svojmu pobočníkovi a dievča na niekoľko mesiacov „záhadne zmizlo“, aby sa vzápätí objavilo ako nová manželka a rozšírila kráľovský hárem.

Hoci motív a niektoré z panelov 7 stupňového stropu majú 200 rokov, väčšinu už bolo treba vymeniť. A čím mladšia práca, zhodujú sa odborníci, tým nižšia kvalita – tempo života sa zrýchľuje a ani dnešní majstri už nemajú čas mesiace či roky drepieť nad jediným plátnom – ak chcú jesť. Mali sme možnosť navštíviť žijúcu legendu a najuznávanejšieho umelca z Kamasanu I Nyomana Mandru. V malej galérii sme popri hŕstke obrazov našli množstvo medzinárodných ocenení a album plný fotografií z výstav či prezidentských návštev. Dom i dielňa však boli rovnako skromné ako všetky ostatné a samotný umelec ležal v ošumelých šatách a roztrhaných ponožkách (skôr by sa dalo povedať že mal obuté pozošívané diery než ponožky) a na schodíkoch a na priedomí si vyhrieval chorobou zmorené telo. V miske mal hŕstku ryže a v hrnčeku akýsi hustý nápoj. Napriek tomu nás vo svojom dome s úsmevom privítal a živo sa o nás zaujímal. Spoločnosť mu robili dve staršie ženy, z ktorých jedna nás ochotne previedla galériou a ponúkla vodou a orieškami. Táto návšteva vo mne zanechala veľmi silný dojem a dlho som o nej premýšľala.

Vyskúšala som si vytvoriť svojskú kresbu na ručnom papieri podľa ich zobrazenia prísnych pravidiel s názvom Betlehem. Námet, ako by som spoznala a vedela hovoriť cudzí jazyk.

Preklenutie kultúr rôznych náboženstiev je veľmi vzácne a na Bali veľmi populárne. Najmä, ak mu predchádza najprv pochopenie pôvodnej kultúry a náboženstva, z ktorého sa technika prepožičiava.

 Je priam neuveriteľné, koľko veľa sa toho môžeme naučiť od Balijčanov a ich silného a aktívneho prežívania svojej hinduistickej viery. Sú nesmierne tolerantní voči ostatným náboženstvám pri zachovaní prísnej vernosti vlastným tradíciám – napríklad do chrámu vás pustia iba v ich tradičnom oblečení, ale nikdy sa na vás nebudú dívať ako na menejcenných. Náboženstvom je pretkaný celý ich život, no viac než modlitbami ho prežívajú predovšetkým umením – hudba, tanec, divadlo, samotné kostýmy, obrazy i každý ornament zdobiaci ich príbytky, to všetko je odrazom ich živej viery, ktorej každý deň venujú mnoho zo svojho času. Všetky ich obrady a veľkolepé slávnosti sú spojené s rôznymi formami umenia na ktorých sa podieľajú všetci obyvatelia z daného miesta. Práve toto tvorivé umenie je pre Balijčanov cestou k skutočnému pochopeniu a prežívaniu spojenia medzi ich vierou a každodenným životom.

Mladí umelci na Bali veľmi obdivujú naše moderné umenie, pre nás sú zasa vzácne ich tradičné techniky a formy zobrazovania. Našej snahe o akési „konzervovanie histórie“ často úprimne nerozumejú. Pre Balijčanov je všetko súčasťou neustáleho kolobehu života a smrti. A preto sa svoje tradície nesnažia konzervovať, ale naopak všetko uchovávajú v jeho živej, aktívnej podobe.

B. s M.

P.S.: v prílohe je ukážka obrazu Betlehem vo wayangu kamasan, publikovaný v bulletine 38. ročníka World Gallery of art on paper drawings 2010, Skopje

Dear friends,
pleased to report that I got an opportunity for a second time to exhibit graphics presentation calendar 2011 "Gunungan" (Tree of Life) in the Primatial Palace in Bratislava

 OPENING OF EXHIBITION AND PERFORMANCE CALENDAR will be held on Thursday, 20.01.2011 in 18 hours. in the Primatial Palace in Bratislava (Room No. 5 on the ground floor)

 The exhibition is open from 21st to 31st January 2011, on weekdays from 14 to 18 hours and on weekends from 12 to 18hours.

  
I look forward to you and wish you a pleasant day

Click here to download:

kalendar_A3_2011_bali.pdf (7.81 MB)

This article is for non-Slovaks. We would like to know more about it on the. I try and write in English for better understanding. This is the first for me to write such a blog. I hope that you will be no difficulty in understanding. Enjoy your reading of.:-)

Calendar and the exhibition “Gunungan, Tree of life” is mingling of eastern and western

cultures, searching for common elements, traditions, customs and conventions. The author

builds bridge of understanding between two distant, yet very close worlds. Using motifs

of wayang - one of the oldest puppet theaters in the world - in combination with her own

expressive tools, she creates art whose symbolism is comprehensible to people in both

cultures. 

Curator Milan Regec of the show prepared a nice surprise. Intercession. As if he could read from my head , why do I create when I struggling to make words. It is emphatically apposite:

 If we don’t consider two art presentations within two festive receptions at the occasion of celebrating the Independence day of the Republic of Indonesia, today’s exhibition is already the fourth in one year, when Barbora Paulovičová presents her art work. She was inspired by her study stay within the Darmasiswa program. This scholarship of the Indonesian government could slightly comically be defined by motto: “Come to us and make yourself at home.” Rather a unique phenomenon in today’s world, which, however brings also unique fruits.

Two years ago Barbora Paulovičová immersed into completely new and unknown world for her. World full of fascinating colors, ornaments, new motion dynamics in colorful range of dances, and especially the new spirituality, which is, on island of Bali, present in everything and everywhere. First, you admire it. You admire it for how unexpectedly it appears all around you, you eagerly discover it on always new places… until you find out that it actually has no beginning and no end. And then, you start to realize its physical presence all around and you let it spread all over you. After all the new sounds, tastes and fragrances blunt your senses, you will feel that there is much more to this Island of Gods, as Bali is often referred to, than just the fragrance of jasmine mixed with the sea tide. Only then you realize that you are starting all over again. Everything you sensed so far was just a gilded shell, glitters on colorful dresses. It is time to let the deep view of puppet-actor master dalang come all over you and accept dignity and nobility of highly-respected priest, return a smile to simple women at the market who let you taste their sweet mango. Take from master’s hands his carefully carved mask or dancer’s crown and you will feel why, even nearly the same-looking one, will never appear on the market with others and why it is so sacred to him. So sacred that no white tourist, endlessly admiring the art work, could ever touch it.

Barbora has not only walked this path but she also managed to share her pilgrimage with us through her paintings. Those of you who come to her exhibitions regularly will surely recall the pictures of sparkling dancers, breathtaking colors of the undersea world, rich ornamental batik as well as the precise drawings of dances. Unforgettable was also the picture Sitajana in traditional style wayang kamasan, of which the local people first doubted that a white man could be capable of drawing. Nowadays Barbora returns to what she is best at – graphic arts. Not only she develops her master drawing and sense for color but for the first time she lets us fully taste the forbidden fruits, the treasures hidden to a regular visitor of Indonesia. Technically are the pictures defined quite simply – they are gravure-made graphics with figural motifs picturing personas that are reproductions of originals coming from traditional puppet theatre wayang golek, shadow theatre wayang kulit and last but not least it is possible to identify the fine arts style wayang kamasan, precisely following its original elements and rules.

Trichotomy of this combination is transferred also into spiritual form. Just like on the island of Bali, where three various religions – Hinduism, Islam and Christianity live together in harmony, also in the motifs of twelve months are combined pictures from three sacred books – Ramayana, Koran and Bible. Even today we sense and remember the coming of good Rama on a white horse, and just recently we celebrated Annunciation when angel-while monkey Hanuman flew in mile-jumps into the middle of the ocean to annunciate to Sita that soon there will be a release for her sin when she was lured by the beauty of a golden deer.

In Denpasar cathedral of the Holy Spirit is the main decoration a giant altar representing the tree of life – Gunungan. Gunungan is deeply rooted in local traditions and its image belongs among the most sacred. It separates the beginning and the end, it contains the whole universe and all elements – fig tree, symbol of fire and a lotus flower, symbol of water. It is a tree full of spiritual power, as we can see it in a modern representation on a faraway planet Pandora. It is also a tree which ended our past life in Eden but for Christians on the island of Bali is Gunungan also a symbol of Christ, a new beginning and a new life.

Calendar Gunungan is leading us through three worlds and it is showing us that under various clothes and under various ceremonies and traditions is in minds of people with good hearts a spiritual unity and indivisible brotherhood. We all share not only our sins but also our hopes for forgiveness and salvation. We all are a part of one big tree of life which roots are strongly grown into our hearts. I wish you that its life-giving sap of love flows through your hearts throughout the whole next year.

Expression translated Dana Mudráková (www.damu.sk)

Beautiful conclusion. Also, I wish you, before the wishes of thanks:

This project was kindly supported by: Embassy of the Indonesian Republic of Slovakia, Konto

Orange Foundation, Vľúdnosť-Venia, Donors club of the Community Foundation Bratislava,

Spinner - reprographics studio, Visual arts fund, Slovak -indonesian business chamber,

Cosmotron, ldt., Cardio plus, ldt.

I would like to thank my mentors during my internship in Indonesia, prof. Yasana Made and

Made Bendi Yudha, for their help and opportunity to explore in depth the vivid living traditions of

Bali.

I would like to thank my family and friends for their cooperation and support. Without these

people the calendar and the exhibition would never be possible: Wanton Saragih Sidauruk,

Kristína Nevrlová, Matej Kováč, Daniela Danihelová, Donny Harimurti, Ernest Huska, Mária

Jánošíková, Cindy Carroll a Milan Regec.

Graphic design: Martin Česanek, Spinner.

Print K-print KO&KA s. r. o.

Thank you!