Paper short abstract:

This short film is a poetic evocation of Ratu Kidul (Queen of the South Sea), an important female figure in Javanese myth and political symbolism. As a transcultural art-anthropology collaboration it demonstrates the productive capacity of long friendships formed during anthropological research.

Paper long abstract:

This short film is a poetic evocation about Ratu Kidul (Queen of the South Sea), a mythological figure in Javanese political symbolism who marries central Javanese rulers, created the famous court Bedhaya dance, and steals young men who enter the sea wearing her special shade of green. It is a transcultural art-anthropology collaboration, inspired by Seruni Bodjawati's film series about art with her mother, the artist Wara Anindyah, motivated by two of their paintings, and animated by anthropological research about Javanese dance. It combines live action, poetry, shadow puppetry, and collage. It appears to be the first collaboration of its kind to have taken place in Indonesia. Wara Anindyah has participated in more than 85 exhibitions in Indonesia and China, and was elected The Most Creative Artist by the Indonesian Press Community in 2000. Her daughter, Seruni Bodjawati is a painter and studying a masters in fine art at the Indonesian Institute of Arts, Yogyakarta. She has held four solo exhibitions, dozens of group exhibitions, and film screenings in Indonesia, Italy, Hong Kong, Slovakia, Liechtenstein, and USA. She was elected The Most Inspiring Woman in Art and Culture by Indonesia's First Lady, Ani Yudhoyono. The anthropologist, Felicia Hughes-Freeland is an independent scholar and filmmaker who has known Wara and her family since 1989; Wara and Seruni both appeared briefly in her film, 'Tayuban' (1996). The new film collaboration stands as an example of the productive capacity of long friendships formed during anthropological research.