Seniwati Sanggar Muda

As of today, Sunday the 6th of December, I have been in Indonesia for three months and one week.  Tonight is our final group dinner in Ubud.  This upcoming week will be spent giving our final independent study presentations, celebrating the holidays of Penampahan and Galungan with our home stay families in Bedulu, and on Thursday we leave for the island of Lembongan to relax and play.   When we get back on Sunday we will have our final party in Bedulu and then everyone leaves on Monday.

I haven’t posted anything in a while because I have been very busy with the book project for the Seniwati Sanggar Muda.  The book is finally complete and the 1,000 copies were delivered to the gallery yesterday.  It has been a wonderful process and I am thrilled with the results.  There were a few errors that are small and when they bother me I try to remind myself that this book was made in three weeks and it is alright that it isn’t perfect; I put every ounce of effort into it that I could.

We had 1,000 copies made at a cost of $1,200.  SIT Study Abroad rewarded a $500 grant toward the publishing costs, Seniwati Gallery loaned $100, the Sanggar Muda school of Seniwati Gallery gave $200, and a family member has donated $200.  That is a total of $1,000 which leaves me with only $200 to come up with.  Searching for money has been the most exhausting part of this endeavor, but I’m so happy with how it is all working out.  Depending on whether the remaining money that is received is a loan or donation, the publishing of this book will bring a total of $9,400- $9,600 into supporting the Sanggar Muda school once each copy has been sold at $10 (Rp. 90,000) per copy.

Trying to figure out a way I could give back to the community I have been a part of for the past 3 months was a huge part of what I set out to do on my independent study.  To know that even after I leave my project will be benefiting these young women is more than I could ever ask for.  The book will bring in enough money to sponsor a little over 300 girls at the school… knowing this puts the biggest grin on my face.  In two weeks I will have a little party for the girls and give them each a copy of the book; I’m excited to see their reactions.

I will be bringing several copies back to the States with me to sell from a blog website I will set up for it, local book stores, and also just from my home to friends and family.  If you would like a book, please let me know and we can arrange how to get it to you once I get back to the States in January.

Much love to everyone and please enjoy this little preview of the book.

And how lovely is it that “Svefn-G-Englar” by Sigur Ros randomly played itself while I was writing and reflecting on my time in Bali and my time making this book.  This song has always been a melody that seems to concretize memories for me.  It is truly a wonderful song.

(First couple pages of text in book.)

About This Book

This book was created with the intention of giving the young female artists of the Seniwati Gallery in Ubud, Bali the opportunity to express their culture through the mediums of visual art and storytelling.  Traditionally, history and culture are expressed through many male voices with rare opportunities to hear the voices of women and children.  These voices provide additional insight to seekers with a desire to learn about various aspects of Balinese life.  This book provides an opportunity for the culture of Bali to be expressed through the creative expressions of sixteen young women in Bali.

Seniwati Gallery & Sanggar Muda

The Seniwati Gallery opened in 1991 with the aim of representing women artists of Indonesia.  It is the only women’s gallery in the country and features approximately seventy-five artists.  Art classes for young women began in 1993 and are available for children between the ages of five and sixteen.  Every 25th of December a contest is conducted and the children chosen are sponsored by someone in the community.  That invaluable gift of Rp. 300.000 enables one child to attend classes for a full year at no cost to the student.  The classes are held every Saturday and Sunday and once a month the children are taken outside of the gallery to paint sites significant to Balinese culture.  The completed artwork is displayed in the gallery and when it is sold the artist earns fifty percent of the profit and the remaining fifty percent is used for purchasing supplies for future art classes.  The hope for these young women is that they deepen their technical knowledge, creative talents, and become the succeeding generation of women Balinese painters.