‘Rua Bineda’: a painter’s struggle

‘Rua Bineda’: a painter’s struggle - I had reservations when I received the invitation to the book launching for Rua Bineda in Bali: Counterfeit Justice in the Trial of Nyoman Gunarsa.

Different strokes: Another work by Nyoman Gunarsa, 3 Girls (above) and a forged representation. Courtesy Nyoman Gunarsa

I enjoyed the first part of the title, Rua Bineda. It promised the esoteric Hindu-Balinese sentiment I am fond of. But the second part of title puzzled me so much that I almost did not attend the ceremony. What did counterfeit justice have to do with the Rua Bineda? Was the book about the famous case of Nyoman Gunarsa’s counterfeited paintings?

Then I noticed the author’s name, Roy Jenkins, a respected professor of theater at Wesleyan University. I was puzzled by what theater had to do with counterfeiting.

I expected the launch to be boring because the invitation was sent by Bali Corruption Watch. I expected they were going to talk about the well-known state of the law in Indonesia.

I hesitated, but finally decided to attend: Nyoman Gunarsa is, after all, a friend.

I made up my mind to attend the event, doze through the speeches, pretend to hear the arguments; and go back home to rest.

But I was surprised and impressed when I was presented with a beautiful art book, containing fine works by Nyoman Gunarsa, a few examples of counterfeits, and a very interesting “book concept”.

The more I go through the book, the more I am convinced that Jenkins and Gunarsa have produced a fascinating “collaborative” work.

When scholars write about Bali, they usually address their own peers rather than the people they write about. They climb their “ivory tower”, dreaming of a future “professorship” carved in jargon.

In his own defense: Nyoman Gunarsa shows the new book that details his legal struggle against the individuals who counterfeited his paintings. On his right is Bali Corruption Watch chairman Putu Wirata Dwikora. Courtesy Nyoman Wija

No so for Jenkins. It may be because he is a man of theater. Instead of spreading Western perspectives, which are as esoteric to the Balinese as the Rua Bineda is to Westerners, Jenkins decided to share the interpretation of Nyoman Gunarsa’s works with Nyoman himself, puppet master I Wayan Nardanaya, better known in Bali as the dalang ”CenkBlonk”, and high Balinese priest Pedanda Ketut Sidemen.

The writings flowed with theater-like testimonies from Nyoman Gunarsa and his wife describing the famous counterfeiting case in which they have now been enmeshed for almost 10 years.

Even though this case is indeed important to those personally involved — namely Gunarsa and his wife — on the whole the “process of justice” in the eyes of the Balinese is the true topic of the book.

In this we must congratulate Nyoman Gunarsa for having allowed Roy Jenkins and his Balinese writing partners to go beyond the issue of counterfeiting, and focusing the discussion on the notions of process and justice in Balinese society. Thus the subtitle of the book belies its true content.

Art and artless: An authentic work, Oleg, by Nyoman Gunarsa (above), and a fake work done in the renowned Balinese painter’s style. Even a quick glance shows the inferiority of the imitation.

The Gunarsa case provides the backdrop for exploring the concept of justice discussed and evaluated by the Balinese. The main title, Rua Bineda, provides the interpretative framework.

“It is a principle of spiritual dialectics that envisions the co-existence of opposites in a state of dynamic equilibrium. Darkness and light. The true and the false. Good and evil. Gods and demons.

“The Balinese believe that all these contradictory forces exist in opposition to one another and that the continuing tension between them is necessary for the balanced functioning of the world,” Jenkins says.

The book follows the Rua Bhinneda theme. Jenkins’ text, beginning with a presentation of Balinese concepts such as Dharma/Adharma, or Good/Evil, and Sekala/Niskala, Tangible/Intangible worlds, provides explanations on how those concepts operate within the symbolic world of Balinese puppet theater.

As for justice proper, it obeys the logic of Karma Pala, the consequences one has to bear for one’s actions.

As said above, the surprise, however, is not with Jenkins’ text, but with the text of his Balinese partners, dalang CenkBlong and the high priest.

Through the Gunarsa case, they present us with the way narrative symbolization (that of theater and literature) plays its own role of conceptualization in the West and modern societies.

This symbolization is, or should I say was, considering the pace of today’s changes, an extraordinary means of learning and acculturation, that is able to “integrate” people in their culture.

Most interestingly, the book is multilingual. Jenkins and Nyoman Gunarsa are telling us that gone
are the days when knowledge on Indonesia and Bali is the preserve of English speakers. Not only is Indonesian put on a par with English, but also Balinese.

The wayang story, the False Anggada, based on a Ramayana episode, is not only transliterated, which is a rare enough occurrence, but this transliteration is translated both in English and Indonesian.

As for the story of Ida Pedanda Ketut Sidemen, the Heron and the Crab not only is in Balinese language, translated of course, but it is written in Balinese script.

Last but not least, a few words must be said of the illustrations. Forty years ago Nyoman Gunarsa “invented” Balinese modern art.

His works translate in color the swiftness of Balinese dance and theater to the still world of bi-dimensional painting.

Beautiful, interesting, truly multi-cultural, original in its approach, Rua Bineda in Bali: Counterfeit Justice in the Trial of Nyoman Gunarsa is definitely not your ordinary coffee table book. ( thejakartapost.com )