There’s a huge pink whale on a beach in Bali
The whale, known as Ragga, is an installation by acclaimed Indonesian street artist Arkiv Vilmansa. Presented by Galeri ZEN1, it forms, along with its smaller counterpart Runna, the basis for a group exhibition at the Locca Sea House beach club in the Jimbaran region of Bali.
Image credit: Arkiv Vilmansa, Widya Segara, Installation view, Locca Beach House, Jimbaran, Bali. Courtesy the artist and Galeri ZEN1n
It’s monsoon season in Bali. Even so, when a heavy storm flooded the venue for a group media interview with artist Arkiv Vilmansa, Galeri ZEN1’s Nicolaus Kuswanto and curator Rizki Zaelani, and sent the 30 metre-long whale flying up and into the beach club, it was a shock. A catastrophe for most, you couldn’t detect a hint of worry on the faces of the team behind the installation, who addressed the spectacle with humour. “They wanted to come and say hello!” Zaelani jokes. “That’s okay,” the three seemed to agree, “Ragga can sleep on top of the pools tonight and go back to the beach in the morning.”
What we did get to see in place, was the exhibition by a selection of local artists responding in two dimensions to Vilmansa’s megalithic marine mammal (it measures 9 meters in height, and 12 meters in width.) For the team behind the exhibition, the response element was an important addition to get the project, and its meaning, in front of the eyes of as many as possible – by reaching each artists’ individual audience as well as a collective one. For Vilmansa, maritime awareness and a call to action to care for the ocean is personal, but also universal: “the ocean is where Indonesians come from, we are a maritime society.” Beyond that, the ocean is where all life comes from, and is intrinsically linked to the survival of all species.
The artist grew up wanting to be a cartoonist, a longtime devotee to the poppy animation of the likes of Disney and Looney Tunes. This is evident in both his 2- and 3-dimensional works. While not the first time Vilmansa had translated his ‘characters’ into 3-dimensions, the whales represented a new way of working – and many new challenges (including, but not limited to, working out how to anchor the installations to limit the whales… wandering.) It took a month for manufacturers to make Ragga, a large balloon, and half as long for the smaller counterpart, Runna. The creatures are pink for a few reasons. Firstly, “I like pink,” smiles Vilmansa, “but pink also has a positive meaning in Balinese culture.” It rings true for Ragga – positivity and hope are more effective attitudes to approach ocean conservation, than being dragged down!
The exhibition remains at Locca Sea House from December 14, 2024, to January 11, 2025, before Ragga heads to the National Gallery in Jakarta.
