Gianyar, Regency

I Made Sija : “Master of Arts”

Learning is an unstoppable process even at an in old age. That is the possibility dedicated to I Made Sija, as one of the well-known artisan from Gianyar regency, who was born in 1933 on Bona Kelod sub village, Belege Village, Blahbatuh sub district. On the Japanese colonialism, Sija went to elementary school. Unsatisfied with the school program because the activity was only catching mice and planting jarak tree, he quit.

Sija is a figure of an active artisan who never stops in creation. After school, he learned how to read and write the Balinese letter through Geguritan, Macepat and Sekar Madya. With this basic, this artist who has ten of children started to learn arts, even though not bequeathed an art blood from his parent. “My father was a cock-fighter, and he realized it was a wrong profession, and then forced me to learn arts,” said Sija.
His parent’s motivation made Sija get motivated. Then, he made wayang (puppet) from tapis (coconut branch wrapper) and carton paper. At that time, his arts result in the form of puppet show was performed art Jero (dwelling house of duke caste). Then he met Gusti Lanang Oka who had a set of Wayang Kulit (leather puppet) equipment. For Sija’s great longing in occupying for puppet art, then Lanang Oka gave him a set of leather puppet equipment with its gender (special music instrument for wayang kulit show). Until now, those gender and wayang was store safely in his house.
Not only skilled as puppeteer, this 70 years old artisan is also capable in mask making and Barong. For taking care ten of his children, he has never stopped learning, eventually he intensified for his knowledge about life and religion, mekekawin (Balinese traditional song), painting, making mask (tapel), making ceremonial offering, sate tegeh (satay arrangement for ceremonial), and bade (Balinese coffin box).
In 1974, Sija attended the mask festival of Bali. In 1976, participated in Arja (a dance-drama) puppet festival of Bali. In 1978, he followed the Jakarta Art Festival. In 1979, he also as the puppeteer founder of entire Bali. In 1982, he participated in traditional public performance of entire Bali. As the art ambassador of Bali, he was often staged in Jakarta, Surabaya, and Lombok. Beside that, he ever calls at several countries to promote the Balinese arts.
In 1982, with the Living Environmental Minister at that time, he went to Sweden. In 1983, he was the representative of Indonesia for a Puppet Weekend at Seoul. In 1992, Sija received for an accreditation award of Wijaya Kusuma and Dharma Kusuma Madya. At the same year, he also learned for making bronze statue in Australia (Melbourne) and puppet and mask making in Japan.
Sija joined with Ubud artisans to perform a mask dance and take it to Germany, Swiss, Denmark and Finland. On 1 April 1990, he founded Paripurna Studio to absorb the derelict children and unable to continue for their school, so they can learn arts. “Rather than the children don’t have any goal, I absorbed them here to learn arts,” he said to Bali Travel News.
Sija prepared the books, lontar (manuscript), chisel, axe, mutik (small knife), pule wood (wood for making a mask), set of gong equipment, gender wayang, cow leather, dancer costume, angklung (traditional music instrument made from bamboo), and batel music. All of these equipments can be use orderly in his studio. (BTN/033)