Different Cultures

70 x 70 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2017

A women who closes her eyes as if in pain, is what we see first when we look at this painting. On her forehead a small detail of her headdress peaks out. Around her cheeks green and brown leaves and the branches of trees sprout. With great power in the left part of the painting a volcano erupts. It spies fire and all colours from underneath converge under the top of the volcano’s cone as if sucked in there with great energy. In the background we see red and blue colour.

But why is the women wearing a headdress? In fact, we could ask if this is a human face or if it’s a tree. We would then notice that there is no line between them. Trees and face are blurring. Her head extends into the other scenery of nature: The erupting volcano that is causing smoke which is ascending into the hot, red sky. By using the same colour of brown for the trees and the volcano it is suggested that the women, the tree and the volcano are one unit and inseparable. But why is that?

To better understand the artist’s thinking and idea, let’s have a look at another painting:

70 x 70 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2017

A large tree with roots hanging down from the top, which marks it as the one and only Banyan tree, stands in the foreground. The actual surprising thing for a non-Balinese person is, that its trunk is wrapped up in black and white checked cloth, the “saput poleng”. The dark coloured roots together with the trunk form a tunnel through which a female face in front of blue colour shimmers through. Her eyes are closed. Also we can see Balinese Sanskrit letters scratched into the brown colour. The composition of the painting with half tree and half face is very balanced.

To understand Hendrawans’ works, we need to immerse deeper into Balinese Hindu thinking. A Banyan tree to a Balinese Hindu is not just a tree. It is a sacred place in which deceased ancestors use to live and hang out. It emits a large amount of energy. A tree marked with the “saput poleng“ means that there resides a spirit within. Balinese people show great respect to the tree, not because it is a tree but because it is a sacred place. The “saput poleng“ (means “two toned blanket”) not only guards the energy within the tree but also keeps the sanctity of the tree intact.

On a meta-level the “saput poleng“ with its black and white checked surface perfectly represents the Balinese principle of “Rwa Bhineda” which is the base of Balinese Hindu mindset. Other than people from Western cultures Balinese people do not think in opposites. Of course there are black and white, sacred and profane, good and bad. But there is a third scheme that includes a third position, the “center” which balances the opposites. These opposites cannot exist without each other. In Balinese thinking the world can be described BETWEEN good and evil. It is a co-existence between good and bad. The goal of each Hindu is to maintain the balance. Equilibrium can be reached by religious actions such as sacrifices. All demons representing the evil must be placated by offerings. This series of rites is called “Bhuta Yadnya” and it purifies the world from the evil spirits. The goal is not to erase the evil but to appease them to keep the balance. The “Dewa Yadnya” is the daily ceremony to appease the good spirits and the gods. Between the universe and the individual balance must always be obtained.[1]

Apel picks up this principle by balancing his composition into two halfs. Apart from being an artist Apel is a priest. His paintings can be seen as his way back to life, for he started painting after a long dark period in his life as a drug addict. Painting was his way out, the method that brought him back to life again. He regained his balance by practising for becoming a priest.

Not only is the Banyan tree sacred to Balinese Hindu people but it also contains a national reference, since it is part of the Indonesian Coat of Arms. Within this setting it corresponds to the state principle (called the Pancasila) which stands for the unity of the nation gathering many different cultures under one “roof”. Having expansive above-ground roots and branches the Banyan tree symbol perfectly reflects that Indonesia is one country out of many cultural roots.[2]

In Hendrawans’ these two works by Hendrawan the viewer observes a close connection between the women or the female face that is suggesting that it belongs to a women and the nature that she is surrounded by. Woman and nature are inseparable connected. But why is that?

An explanation can be found in the national cultural concept of “Ibu Pertewi”. “Ibu Pertiwi” is similar to the Western understanding of “Mother Nature”. But it is not the same. Ibu Pertiwi is an Indonesian theme which refers to nature AND Indonesia as a nation, as the motherland. It is a cultural concept, an allegory of land and water that understands Mother Nature as a nurturing and caring but at the same time also as a destroying force. “Ibu Pertewi” is the impersonation of the mother land of the country Indonesia. Her adjunctions are the woods and the ocean. Hendrawans’ works are full of them.

The patriotic aspect of the theme can be found in folk songs such as “Ibu Pertewi”. This song is very popular in Indonesia and sung by children and on Independence Day Celebrations. It addresses to Ibu Pertewi as the grieving Motherland, her eyes are crying and she is in sorrow in the first verse. The second verse then is a promise to make Ibu Pertewi happy again for the sake of their homeland, their nation.

“Kulihat ibu pertiwi (I see Ibu Pertewi)

Sedang bersusah hati (She is grieving)

Air matamu berlinang (Tears are running down her cheeks)

Mas intanmu terkenang (Remembering your lost golds and diamonds)

Hutan gunung sawah lautan (Forest, mountains, rice fields and the sea)

Simpanan kekayaan (Home of the treasures)

Kini ibu sedang susah (Now Mother is grieving)

Merintih dan berdoa (Sighing sadly and praying)

 

Kulihat ibu pertiwi (I see Ibu Pertewi)

Kami datang berbakti (We come to serve you)

Lihatlah putra-putrimu (Behold your sons and daughters)

Menggembirakan ibu (They will make Mother happy)

Ibu kami tetap cinta (Mother, we still love you)

Putramu yang setia (Your faithful sons)

Menjaga harta pusaka (Gurading the heirloom)

Untuk nusa dan bangsa (For our homeland and nation)”

 

So there lies an indirect promise in the anthem: By suggesting “Ibu Pertewi” is in sorrow, there is a reason to make her happy which can be achieved by serving her. And by serving her, you serve the Indonesian nation.

The allegory of “Ibu Pertewi” evokes the question of how people react towards the environment they are living in. The environmental issues are all present in our daily life. When you consider the environmental developments in Indonesia in general and in Bali more and more rice fields were turned into building sites for hotel projects or private villas. Bali attracts more and more people from other parts of Indonesia and from all parts of the world. This has its effects on the environment: The pollution of water and air and the disappearance of rice fields and forests causes irreversible damage to the land. Since 2016 there are plans to build an artificial island in Benoa Bay by an investor in the South of Bali. The tricky thing about this area is that it enjoyed conservation status since 2014 and thus is very worth keeping free of any construction plans.[4] The Benoa project has caused a protest movement of which Hendrawan was and is part of. By referring to “Ibu Pertewi” Hendrawan points out that she is not very happy of what happens to her country and reminds people of fulfilling the second verse of the national anthem to act responsibly towards nature and environment and to live in harmony with it.

Hendrawan showed his works at the Pasar Indonesia in 2017 where I met him in person and was grateful to study the original paintings and to immerse deeply into his biography and art works when translating the catalogue for his exhibition” Resurrection. Nature – Spiritual – Universe” to German language.

Source of images: Exhibition Catalogue: Hendrawan, Wayan Apel, Resurrection. Nature – Spiritual – Universe, 2017.

[1] Vgl. Eiseman, Fred B., Bali. Sekala and Niskala, Jakarta 1990, S. 226-229f.

[2] http://indahnesia.com/indonesia/INDCOA/coat_of_arms.php.

[3] The Guardian, Mounting opposition to Bali mass tourism project, 2016.