Subali-Sugriwa: Battle of the Monkey Kings: Guest Artists

Mr. Wirtawan has trained extensively in wayang kulit and gambuh, one of Bali’s most difficult and complicated dance-drama forms. Ketut Wirtawan is not only a powerful dancer, but is also an accomplished musician, vocalist, shadow puppeteer, painter, and director. He has taken over the spiritual and artistic responsibilities of his late father, the revered Ketut Kantor and his legendary grandfather Nyoman Kakul, carrying on the tradition of one of Bali’s most important artistic lines.

Wirtawan is a sought-after dalang (puppeteer) for both traditional and modern wayang kulit performances, and one of Bali’s most dedicated and respected artists. He has toured to Austria, Germany, France, Switzerland, India, Japan Taiwan, and Singapore.

I Madé Moja comes from Batuan on the island of Bali, the leading center for fine arts and traditional watercolor MadeMojapainting in Indonesia. The son of a renowned artist, I Madé Budi, he has been painting for most of his life. In addition to his intensive training under his father, he studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Denpasar, Bali, where he was trained in Western traditions and modern art forms such as graphic arts in addition to traditional Balinese painting styles.

Since the mid-1980s Moja‘s work has been featured in various major exhibitions, including at Jakarta, Ancol, one of Southeast Asia’s best known art centers, at the Lesung Gallery in Yogyakarta, Central Java, at Pesta Kesenian Daerah Bali, and he was featured at the Biennial exhibition at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Jakarta with a select group of Indonesia’s most respected artists. Outside of Indonesia his work was featured at the Southeast Asian Youth Artists’ Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the Billa Bernau Gallery in Bern, Switzerland, at the arts gallery at the University of Iowa, and at IndoArts at Fort Mason Center, Iowa. In 1986 he was commissioned to create a painting for France’s then president, François Mitterrand.

Mr. Widana holds a Bachelor of Arts in Balinese Traditional Music from the Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar, Bali. He is a professional musician, dancer, and composer. When in Bali, Widana teaches traditional gamelan music in villages throughout the island and at several reputable music and dance studios. As a founding member and musician in the Bali-based world-renowned performing arts ensemble, Çudamani, Widana has participated in tours across the U.S., Japan, and in Europe. He has previously been in residence at the University of Hawai‘i between 2009 and 2013, during which time he taught the UH Balinese Gamelan Ensemble. He has also participated in numerous community outreach programs in the Hawai‘ian islands under the sponsorship of the East-West Center Arts Program, the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts, and the UH-Mānoa Outreach Statewide Cultural Extension Program.

Annie Reynolds has studied traditional performing arts at the Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar, Bali in Picture62004–05, and has since taken regular trips to Bali to undertake intensive study of Balinese music and dance. While in Bali, her primary focus was studying gender wayang and the music of the traditional shadow theatre; she was an active musician performing accompaniment for various dalang (puppeteers), as part of many local ceremonial performances, and in new collaborative projects with Balinese artists In 2009, she assisted in reestablishing the UHM Balinese Gamelan Ensemble, and she is its Assistant Director. As an Asian Theatre PhD student with a focus on Balinese performing arts, she spent 2013-14 in Bali conducting dissertation research and fieldwork on Balinese legong dance.