Nyoman Mandra with the women’s gamelan ensemble he sponsors, 2014 (photo Siobhan Campbell)

Along a narrow passageway to the north of the meeting pavilion (bale banjar) in Banjar Sangging is the studio and residence of Kamasan’s most prominent living artist Nyoman Mandra (1946– ). Almost daily, visitors arrive from near and far to seek out the painter, widely recognised as the master of classical Balinese style. Nyoman Mandra is the head of the largest collective studio in the village, relying on a network of extended family members to fulfill painting orders and deliver his wide-ranging teaching program. Casual visitors are usually greeted by a group of women seated in the raised open studio (sanggar) immediately beyond the compound entrance. This space is the hub of painting activity within the compound, at once a reception area for visitors, an art gallery and the site of learning, exchange and art sales. Balinese students are regular visitors, arriving to interview the artist for school or university assignments or undertake painting lessons on a weekly basis. This space embodies a longstanding commitment to, and vision for the promotion of Bali’s traditional art.

 

 

The classical paintings of Kamasan play an important role in embellishing the temple complexes, ancestral shrines and altars found throughout every town and village on the island. The paintings depict stories from the epics of Indian and indigenous origin, relating the creation of the universe, the lives and genealogies of deities and rulers, accounts of the royal courts and dynasties, and even the exploits of commoner families. These narratives serve a didactic and devotional function and the stories acquire many layers of meaning in the context of their display. Paintings are a form of communication and take on meanings related to their physical setting as well as gratifying and entertaining the deities who sit amongst them.

Of all the paintings depicted around the shrines in his home, Nyoman Mandra regards the painting on the shrine which watches over his household (Penunggun Karang) as the most significant. It relates scenes from the Arjunawiwaha, showing Arjuna after he has passed through the three levels (tahap) of testing by the gods, proving that he is worthy of being entrusted with the task of protecting them against the demon Niwatakawaca. The painting begins as Arjuna, dressed as an ascetic, is presented with a powerful arrow (geni astra) by the god Siwa. A small scene in the direct centre of the composition features a rock cave with a peacock (burung merak) sitting atop the cave. Seeing the peacock, which represents the god Siwa, Arjuna remembers his great spiritual mentor and pays homage. Mandra likens this scene to the countless students he has taught throughout his life returning to his home to pay homage to their teacher and place of learning. In his words:

 

Siapa yang tidak ingat kepada guru, apa yang dibuat itu tidak ada taksu [If you don’t remember your teacher, whatever you do will lack vital energy (taksu)].

 

The Balinese sense of taksu is not easy to interpret, but refers to a spiritual energy or inspiration required for artists to perform or create as well as the ability to control or concentrate that energy. Although a once energetic teaching program has diminished due to age and declining health, Nyoman Mandra regards teaching as a crucial part of his artistic work, his mission being to introduce students to a village learning environment and to traditional models of knowledge transfer (nyantrik).

Over the years the studio has hosted many Indonesian government dignitaries and foreign visitors. The countless awards and certificates conferred on the artist by national and regional government authorities are displayed amongst the paintings on the walls of the modest brick pavilion (gedong) set up as his personal gallery space. The precision of Mandra’s work and his attention to detail have set a benchmark in the village against which other contemporary paintings are measured. The style associated with Nyoman Mandra is best understood in terms of the exacting pencil sketch (nyeket or ngreka) he produces on the cloth before painting begins. This sketch is the composition of the picture (ngedum karang).

 

 

Growing up in the compound of his maternal uncle Nyoman Dogol (1875-1963), one of the most acclaimed artists of his generation, Mandra studied painting from a young age. Times were hard for the family, as they were for most Balinese in this period, but after experimenting with modern styles of painting during his adolescent years, by the early 1970s Nyoman Mandra was beginning to establish a name for himself as an artist of note, despite having to support his young family by plying the tourist routes to sell paintings. When he married colourist Ni Nyoman Normi (1949-2014), the couple established a new residential compound on the periphery of Banjar Sangging. After several visits to Jakarta seeking funds for a school project in the village, in 1974 they were able to build the Wasundari studio on a small parcel of land adjacent to their home for the specific purpose of teaching village children to paint. Consequently, the artist’s approach to painting and aesthetic preferences have been transferred to the hundreds of students who have passed through the school. Students came from artist families as well as those with no background in painting, so the school expanded the scope of painting skills beyond certain families.

 

 

Nyoman Mandra and Ni Nyoman Normi applied the same teaching methodology that they grew up with. Painting is broken into different stages of production, roughly as follows. The initial outline is drawn in pencil, and gone over in black ink (mangsi); colour is applied in stages (ngwarna); the cloth is polished (nggerus); and finally, black ink is used to go over the initial drawing and embellish various features (ngawi). Former students recall the monotony of the learning process; they seemed to spend weeks at a time mastering each element. Before they began drawing figures (wayang), they had to draw lines (magoet), rock (karangan) and tree (pepohonan) motifs, time and time again. All the different iconographic components were learnt separately: hand gestures (jenis tetanganan), head-dresses (gelung) and eye-shapes (bentuk mata).

 

 

Students practice drawing with only occasional interventions from Nyoman Mandra as he moves about supervising the other work in progress or receiving visitors. Alongside the students, women are at work on some of the most intensive and time consuming work, including the colouring, ornamentation and polishing Students practice drawing with only occasional interventions from Nyoman Mandra as he moves about supervising the other work in progress or receiving visitors. Alongside the students, women are at work on some of the most intensive and time consuming work, including the colouring, ornamentation and polishing of the paintings. While former students recount the tedium of this learning process, one factor explaining the popularity of the school relates to the perceived viability of the local art trade. Nyoman Mandra has always sold the work of students through his studio and continues to employ former students on the many painting commissions he receives. Formerly under the coordination of Ni Nyoman Normi, since her death, Mandra’s oldest daughter Ni Wayan Sri Wedari (1974-) and her husband I Made Sesangka Puja Laksana (1971-), himself a former student, coordinate much of the studio activity. They continue to pass on Kamasan tradition to younger generations of artists, while overseeing the production of highly sought after paintings, honouring Nyoman Mandra’s convictions and dedication to the village art tradition.

 

 

 

Nyoman Mandra's Students in 2014 (photo Siobhan Campbell)

 

 

 

My translation. Interview with the artist. Kamasan, 14 November 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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