OPENING OF THE "INVISIBLE MAESTRO" EXHIBITION

Attend the opening of the exhibition "The Invisible MAESTRO"
Saturday, February 11, 2023
4:00 pm
Pandeng Gallery, FSMR
Opened by: Prof. Drs. Soeprapto Soedjono, M.F.A., Ph.D.
Exhibition curator: Wahyudin
The exhibition will be enlivened by a discussion and artist talk on photography and documentary films at 19:00.

"THE INVISIBLE MAESTRO
Imagine Batak without ulos?

These were the most disturbing images Dewi Sartika Bukit (b. 1981) had after meeting a woman pengulos in a village around Lake Toba, North Sumatra, in 2018.

With these questions in mind, Dewi Sartika Bukit was called to answer them carefully through ethnographic research in late 2022. The result is hundreds of photographs and a documentary film that convinces us that without ulos and pengulos women, the Batak will lose its "name" and will have a "hole" in the heart of its culture.

That is why ulos is not just a piece of cloth, but an existential marker of the Batak. That is also why ulos women are not mere cloth makers, but creators and guardians of Batak dignity. Without them, you can be sure, ulos will become extinct and something valuable in Batak culture will disappear.

It is understandable, then, that Dewi Sartika Bukit, an alumna of the Department of Photography, Faculty of Recording Media Arts (FSMR), Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta, with photographs and documentary films, endeavors to give appreciation to ulos and women ulos makers who are almost ignored, if not neglected, in a number of villages around Lake Toba.

With that, it is fitting that Dewi Sartika Bukit, who is also an alumnus of ISI Yogyakarta's Photography Creation Graduate Program, recognizes and honors women pengulos in hundreds of photographs and documentaries as "Invisible Maestros".

Hundreds of photos and documentaries can be seen in the exhibition "The Invisible Maestro" at Pandeng Gallery, February 11-15, 2023, with gallery opening hours of 09.00-16.00 WIB. (AS)