Roedyat Martadiredja, Melis, Bali, 1969

Oil on canvas
66 x 133 cm (visible), 87.5 x 153 x 3 cm (framed)
Condition: Good, slight paint loss throughout the work, and stains visible on the surrounding matboard.

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Raden Roedyat Martadiredja (Indonesian, 1930-2002) was a painter known for his figurative depictions of everyday life. He studied at the Bandung Institute of Technology (Institut Teknologi Bandung), one of Indonesia's leading art schools, where he began developing his own approach to form and colour. Starting his painting career in 1948, he was active during the post-independence period, a time when many Indonesian artists were defining new national and modern identities in art.

This painting depicts the Balinese Melis purification procession, an important Hindu ritual performed before Nyepi. The composition shows groups of women in ceremonial kebaya and sarongs, carrying offerings and temple ornaments toward the water. The lively yet reverent atmosphere — conveyed through Roedyat’s layered lines and translucent colour fields — captures the collective devotion and spiritual cleansing that define the Melis ceremony.

In the background, Barong figures and temple effigies appear amid rhythmic movement, suggesting the procession’s festive and sacred character. The artist’s mosaic-like batik technique evokes the fusion of ritual, community, and environment central to Balinese spiritual life.

Roedyat’s semi-abstract, mosaic-like batik and watercolour technique mirrors the spiritual and rhythmic atmosphere of Bali — the interwoven lines and colours evoke music, movement, and collective devotion.

(Photographed in October 2025)