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Culmination of Words. Literary Works featured in Visual Art Exhibition 2024 Bali
Path of Culmination is a Curation of Literary Works by Dr. Mas Ruscitadewi. Literary offerings in the Culmination. Calm In Nation Visual Art Exhibition by Sawidji in collaboration with Santrian Art Gallery, Bali. May-June 2024. Edited by Dian Dewi Reich
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Note From the Editor. Culmination Visual Art Exhibition is fortunate to have the contributions of many writers imbue our gathering with their profound poetry, stories and reflections. Culmination invited artists to offer works with a message for the wider community, one that inspires peace, tolerance and a kind social consciousness. Our writers shared their stories in the same spirit. Everyone offering their highest ‘peak’ which in turn reveals their deepest message. Cherished and reflected upon by all of us throughout Culmination. Through a beautiful film production directed by Dibal Ranuh of Kitapoleng and the transcribing of these works into Balinese Aksara on Lontar leaves by Darma Putra and Ari Pebriyani. For the complete film with the Curators’ introduction, click here.
Path of Culmination
The culmination of words. Is it the peak, is there a trail? On a hill or mountain, humans recognise a peak, a name for what is considered the highest. But every time there is something high there will always be something higher and higher. So for writers who are involved in Culmination, this is the highest point of ‘peak’. It is a peak that has no trace. The culmination is an infinitely vast love, a lasting gift leaving no form nor taste.
Death of Reckoning
Brandon Spars marks the ‘peak’ as his understanding of his own position as an American with his father-in-law as a Balinese, Indonesian. As reflected in the story excerpt entitled Death of Reckoning:
An American Storyteller Comes to Terms with his Balinese Father-in-law’s Passing. A profound realisation, unexpected and brutally honest.
‘After more than fifteen years of marriage to his daughter, I never really felt comfortable around my father-in-law. When I visited Bali with my wife, I would pay my respects by sitting with him for about half an hour every day, watching television, trying to understand and answer the questions he occasionally throws at me‘ ~Brandon Spars.
The Spring Has Come
For Shio Senda, ‘culmination’ is the happy dance of life. The natural rhythm in all its wisdom and hope. The simplicity of its joy inspiring fellow writer Eric Buvelot.
‘Water is in the air, in the soil, and in ourselves
Life continues to dance everywhere
Spring has come.’
Made Adnyana Ole interprets this “peak” as a feeling of contentment and happiness in life’s many flavours, gathered and tasted daily. The bittersweet beauty caught in his poem entitled Indoor Gardening was recited by artist Wayan Suastama.
Indoor Gardening
‘I planted a fire tree in the cold
You pick it and it tastes salty
From the fruit that appears
just like that on the edge of the forehead
“I’m harvesting!” you said.
I also kissed your forehead
and tasted saltiness
which will soon be gone
from old age.’
IGA Darma Putra interprets the peak of all ‘peaks’ when everything is no different. Instead, the world is steady and holds the same mysteries in the face of love. The constancy of the Universe is the backdrop for the depth of love. In his poem entitled I love you recited by Dibal Ranuh.
I Love You
‘Just because I love you
I didn’t find
the difference between the moon and the sun
Or the stars
Throughout the universe
With fireflies
Or even the look in your eyes‘ ~ Darma Putra
Finished
Kadek Sonia Piscayanti defines “culmination” as the feeling of being anything and everywhere, as in an excerpt from a poem entitled Finished, recited by artist Sava Larry.
‘So where are we?
In a leaf, or in a root, or in a lake, or in a vacuum
We are there but not‘~ Sonia Piscayanti
Transcendence
Arya Ngurah Dimas interprets the peak as something transcendent, a relationship with the Creator. The spiritual trials and triumphs we journey poetically captured in Transcendence recited by artist Agus Kama Loedin.
‘I entered the interception of murky thoughts
has primary consciousness
But in the dark side of humans
Sadness with increased perception.’
A. A. Gede Putra interprets the peak as one’s success in filling space with a helping hand of kinship and togetherness, expressed in his poem.
Your First Steps! Final Goal!
Think about it! This is the time that harvests gold over silence. When crisp hate burns diversity into broken chards of coal. Move! in dance, in song, in poetry, in colours To soothe and soften life and recover humanity. It is not just a celebration of joy, but a gathering of creative expressions surpassing the space-time dimension. Freeing limits. Limiting freedoms. Choosing seeds, sorting steps Lay out the path. It's time to tick off space Charming friend against the burden, of boxed fences. The party is finally here Eternal kinship. The ultimate goal of our democracy Right at the beginning of your steps.
And, the peak for the writer Dr. Mas Ruscitadewi is when the body dies. Recited by Dr. Sujana Suklu a poem titled Me, You, and Us.
Me, You and Us by Mas Ruscitadewi
‘Just look at the eyes
Saying only words
Traveling soul
No body’~ Mas Ruscitadewi
Beyond Matter
Nandini Krisnha interprets the culmination of everything as something beyond the material, which is contained in the narrative of her dance work entitled, Beyond Matter.
‘God is my belovedā¦I miss himā¦he is Godā¦invisibleā¦yet I should know himā¦through countless stories, descriptions written over the centuries‘~Nandini Krishna
Labyrinth
Others offer the wise footprints left in life’s labyrinth. The maze that snares us and traps us in ourselves as we resist what we face. Eda Ocak’s Labyrinth represents the peak of awakening, of achievement when one accepts life without resistance. Recited by ManButur Suantara.
‘There’s no resistance, we’re here.ā
“We are always here.
There is no way out.
Don’t fight!
That’s the whole secret.’~Eda Ocak
Marine Obituary
Recited by Dian Dewi, Wini Arthini makes a testament of culmination as hope’s victory in an ocean vast and deep with longing and grief.
‘Hope awaits us to be awakened
Lighting the embers of a fire almost extinguished. Thus we become one heartbeat
Exploring the tunnel of light together‘ ~Wini Arthini
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The depth of narration and the massive scale of multi medium artists culminating in this exhibition together is beyond. it’s an honor to be a part of this historical event. Culmination I Calm In Nation 10th May – 29th of June 2024 at Santrian Art Gallery Sanur, Bali. See you on 1st of June 2024 for an Interactive Artist’s Talk. Matur Suksmašš¼š¾
Ide-ide yang sangat keren lahir di tempat ini. Saya sempat ikut menyalin, tentu dalam aksara Bali, puisi-puisi berbahasa Inggris dan bahasa Indonesia. Saat menyalinnya, saya benar-benar merasa bahwa tiap-tiap bahasa selalu punya sisi menariknya tersendiri. Salam hangat.