Project / Tokoh-tokoh Seniman Werdha (The Living Treasures of Bali)
Task / Documentation, Photography, Visual Design
Client / Asri Ghafar
Year / 1993–1997; 2003–2004

Photographers (Exhibition) / Chu Li, Takahiro Kohara, O. Don Eric Peris
Photographers (Documentation) / Tara Sosrowardoyo, Eric Peris and William Harald-wong

Photo credit (above): Tara Sosrowardoyo; Collection of Asri Ghafar

In 1994, several of the legendary Balinese dancers and musicians came together for a rare series of performances spread over three nights in Peliatan, Bali. Their ages range from their 60s to their 90s. The elder members of this group were the celebrated prima donnas. They had toured Europe in the early 1900s and enthralled European audiences with the power, beauty, and purity of classical Balinese dance.

Many of these elderly dancers and musicians had not appeared in public for decades, if not generations. Even the Balinese themselves had believed that many of them were no longer living.

It was a celebration of Bali’s most treasured masters of the dance and the gamelan, still energetic and exuding taksu (a unique Balinese concept that bespeaks charisma and spiritual power). They defy the passage of time to enchant us with their consummate skills, incomparable in their generation. 

This remarkable gathering was the result of an exhaustive two-year island-wide search for these ‘missing’ masters, believed to be still alive but living obscurely in a remote village.

William’s role was to document the search (when in Bali), helping with the interviews, and subsequently, photographing the rehearsals and performances. It was a pleasure to work side by side with and to learn, from two of the region’s preeminent photographers, Tara Sosrowardoyo (Indonesia) and Eric Peris (Malaysia).

The documentation honours the elderly artists and aims to preserve their styles and repertoire. The project team later donated the work to various archives and other specialised repositories of performing arts, including Agung Rai Museum of Art (Bali), National Archives (Jakarta), and Galeri Petronas (Kuala Lumpur). 

There was an exchange with the estate of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Henri travelled to Bali in 1949 and had likely photographed these same dancers and musicians in their younger years.

The documentation captured the beauty and dignity, joy, and vulnerability of artists who have honed their art all their lives. Even more impressive was the economy of their movement, clarity of their intentions, and perhaps most of all, the magic of their creative imagination.

‘THE LIVING TREASURES OF BALI’

The seniman tua (elder artists)* who performed at The Living Treasures of Bali, May 1994, at Puri Agung Peliatan, Ubud, Gianyar. 

Ten years later, on 26 December 2004, a gala performance Living Legends of Bali was held during bulan purnama (full moon) at Pura Dalem, Ubud, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first historic gathering.

You can view the 2004 performance here. 

*Not all elderly dancers and musicians were ‘missing’ and had to be found; many were teaching at the STSI Denpasar (originally named Indonesian Dance Academy or ASTI) or coaching the next generation of dancers in their home village or association.

VISUAL DESIGN—BALI

The Living Treasures of Bali—Dance Performance & Exhibition of Photographs
May 1994

Besides helping with the documentation, William designed the programme book for the exhibition of photographs by Chu Li, Takahiro Kohara, and Eric Peris at the Agung Rai Museum of Art.

Preparing for the exhibition (from William’s notes)

I was working for a day or two in a Balinese design studio owned by Eko Prabowo and his partner, Keith LeShana. It was a beautiful space, as one would expect of creative spaces in Bali, with views of coconut palm fronds swaying in the wind. 

In 1994, there were no exhibition panels or exhibition lighting systems available in Bali—they had to be brought in from Singapore. Importing exhibition panels was too expensive, and was likely to be stuck in an Indonesian customs warehouse for a long time. 

The solution to this quandary, to Eko at least, was straightforward: “No problem, we can just chop down a couple of coconut trees, and in a week, the exhibition panels will be ready!”

The exhibition lighting fixtures were hand-carried into Bali, and the last light bulb was fixed in place and turned on just as the VIP guests entered the exhibition hall (aided by the emcee who prolonged his speech to buy us time). 

VISUAL DESIGN—KUALA LUMPUR

The Living Treasures of Bali—Exhibition of Photographs
April 1995

The photography exhibition The Living Treasures of Bali opened in Kuala Lumpur at Galeri Petronas, Dayabumi Complex, on 12 April 1995, with a dance performance from Bali.

VISUAL DESIGN—BALI

The Living Treasures of Bali—Exhibition of Documentary Photographs
November 1997

Photographs taken during the documentation process by Tara Sosrowardoyo, Eric Peris, and William Harald-Wong were exhibited at the Agung Rai Museum of Art, Bali, in November 1997.

THE STORIES

The search for the legendary dancer, Ni Made Anis, born 1925. 

Personal anecdotes of this fascinating project and my observations of Bali and Ubud in the mid-90s will be added in the future.