A series of images by Bruna Rotunno captures feminine side of an island that expresses a lifestyle made up of integration, gratitude and respect for life
In an incredible photo exhibition at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Center, Italian artist Bruna Rotunno captures women from different walks of life in Bali. The series of photographs are an attempt to make a comparison of the role of women in India and Bali, two nations permeated by the same religious traditions and to start a reflection on the opportunity for women in society.
The exhibition starts with the Balinese mythology, based on the worship of water, the Great Mother, symbol of creation and purification, slowly reveals the feminine side of the island to the visitor. All that is sacred, rites, creativity, art, music and dance are told here through the daily gestures of Balinese women, as emanations of the spiritual power animating the energy of the island. There are images imbued with a feeling of near sacredness, the woman bowing her head in deep respect under a cascade of silver, the subject holding out her hand as crystal clear water gushes over it which put into focus nicely the woman engaged in tending to an inundated rice field, juxtaposing not just the various roles of water but of the women, as well.
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“Bruna Rotunno’s affair with the island of Bali started 30 years ago when she visited the islands for the first time. In a project spanning eight years, she has organised her gaze into a story in pictures where every gesture and every figure meticulously translates the essence of a unique place, characterized by a fluid and harmonious energy,” says art consultant Sabiana Paoli, also the curator of the show.
With this exhibition, one can experience Bruna’s artistic production, of portraits that transcends genres, and her vision is developed in telling stories, a driving element of investigation and research of reality, captured in deeply emotional images.
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“Bali is a living island, a place that has always stirred in me contrasting emotions, stimulated by its fluid and changeable light, by a rituality made up of gestures that render the invisible visible and, above all, by a diffuse beauty that reflects a harmony that is continually reinvented”, says Bruna Rotunno.
The narration of the exhibition flows through a kaleidoscope of women, immersed in their natural environment, in everyday life or portrayed in composite form, an intertwining of existences that gradually expresses female role-play, a cultural pluralism, spiritual intensity and the importance of nature. Women, who enter the portrait with all their awareness and dignity, never as passive subjects but as witnesses of an active and beneficial force, also present in the delicacy and grace of the younger faces. Balinese women and foreign women transplanted to the island as part of a community which expresses the place’s healing capacity. Elaborating about her work, Bruna says, “The exhibition and the book seek to be homage to the island and all the women who live there. Over time, I have met many women, both from Bali and elsewhere, who have launched important artistic, ethical and social projects on the island. Through their portraits I have tried to grasp their essence, describing the force of the female energy symbolised by water, the holy water, a vehicle of ancient memories and an instrument of healing.”
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A psychology graduate, Bruna has worked in advertising and fashion for a number of years. “Women In Bali” reflects the twin worlds of advertising and fashion. The portraits of women pursuing the mundane appear like finely finished stylish fashion pictures and the representation of women with the trope of water have traces of perfectly produced adverts. Yet Bruna moves around. Nature also takes an absolutely leading part in the story, represented as the great active soul brimming over with beauty. It is precisely the importance of nature that brings out in the work the theme of eco-feminism and sustainability. Of a female power that regenerates and mends. The feminine side of an island that expresses a lifestyle made up of integration, gratitude and respect for life.
The soundtrack for the exhibition is by Eraldo Bernocchi, an Italian musician, producer and sound designer.
The exhibition concludes at the India Habitat Center on May 5, 2016.
