GWK, After 28 Years in Waiting

KOMPAS/HERLAMBANG JALUARDI

Workers prepare lighting for a thanksgiving event to be held to mark the completion of the installation of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue in Badung Regency, Bali, Friday (08/03/2018). The event will take place on Saturday. The statue, designed by artist Nyoman Nuarta, is a mixture of copper and brass, standing at 121 meters, including the foundation, with a wingspan of 65 meters in width. The statue that is said to be higher than the Statue of Liberty in the US has been designed and worked on for 28 years.

Before manifesting as a giant statue, Garuda Wisnu Kencana was faced by various challenges. The work of the statue, which is located at 276 meters above sea level, had stopped for tens of years. On Saturday (04/08/2018), this masterpiece was officially completed.

As an expression of gratitude and thanks, artist Nyoman Nuarta as the initiator held a performance entitled "Swadharma Ning Pertiwi, 28 Years of the Nation\'s Children Knitting Dreams" with the famous theater director Wawan Sofwan. This performance was supported by artists, such as kecak dancer Ketut Rina; actress and singer Ayu Laksmi, Dira Sugandi, and Agung Ocha; choreographer Eko Supriyanto; and dancer Keni Soeriatmadja.

The performance stage was decorated by installation artist Rubi Roesli. As a symbol of the application of technology, Nuarta involves video artists from Seeds Motion Bandung, who will make a video mapping of Garuda Wisnu Kencana (GWK).

GWK was initiated by Nuarta together with Director General of Tourism Joop Ave (1982-1988) in 1989, starting with a 5-meter-high statue that will be placed at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali. The idea developed into a desire to make an icon for the Balinese tourism world, which is rooted in tradition. This idea was then welcomed by Bali Governor Ida Bagus Oka (1988-1998) in 1990, who then invited Minister of Mines and Energy Ida Bagus Sudjana. The four of them made a presentation in front of President Soeharto in 1994.

"President Soeharto agreed and we began processing limestone hill land as a land art in 1995," Nuarta said on Thursday (2/8), in the GWK Cultural Park area of Badung, Bali. Two years later a pedestal ground breaking was carried out as a marker for the construction of the GWK. Unfortunately, after that the monetary crisis hit the country so that GWK was nearly "abandoned". Nuarta, who had employed hundreds of employees and artists, both in its studios in Bandung and in Bali, was in limbo in search for sources of funds. "At one time we could barely pay employee salaries. The number was more than 400 people," he said.

In the 1997-2013 period, GWK really experienced a period of turbulence. Various problems plagued from right and left. "From the issues of the pros and cons of its existence to the problems that led to criminal problems," said the artist who was born in Tabanan, Bali. At that time, he once thought of canceling the biggest art project of his career as an artist.

Art, technology, tourism

Amid deep frustration, Nuarta met with property business owner The Ning King. "Pak The believed in investing in the world of sculpture. I thank him," said Nuarta. PT Alam Sutera Realty Tbk then acquired PT Garuda Adimatra Indonesia as the owner of GWK. "Now, I don\'t have shares, zero. However, the goal is that this GWK will be completed,” Nuarta said.

The Ministry of Tourism\'s Deputy for Marketing Development I, I Gde Pitana, welcomed GWK with joy. According to him, GWK in a short time will be identical with Bali and Indonesia. The presence of GWK, he said, shows modern humans are able to realize big ideas that come out of stereotypes about tourism objects.

"So far, our destination is in the form of heritage. We only take care and enjoy the results," Pitana said. GWK proves that the Indonesian nation is able to create a cultural icon and at the same time tourism, which will be a marker in the post-modern century. This work, Pitana added, succeeded in combining modern technology, tradition and tourism.

"It will be a cultural area with a statue as its attraction," he said.

According to Nuarta, he formed the body of GWK with a steel structure in the middle with the outer part made of copper and brass. Copper is chosen because this metal can be easily formed according to the contour of the surface of the statue. The problem is that copper also changes easily at certain temperatures. Therefore, the copper sheets are cut into triangular pieces, then welded with brass.

The entire body of the statue is constructed from 754 modules (large pieces) which form horizontal pieces of the body of the statue. "This makes it easier to enlarge. Now the entire surface of the statue is 25,000 square meters or 2.5 hectares," Nuarta said.

The technology of GWK manufacture has been registered as intellectual property rights in the Ministry of Justice with a patent number 009388 in 1993. The achievement of this sculpture enlargement technology, according to French cultural researcher, Dr. Jean Couteau, shows that a combination of art, science and technology develops well in Indonesia. Couteau praised the existence of artists such as Nyoman Nuarta who work by utilizing technology to the fullest for a masterpiece. "I think this is the biggest copper statue in the world at present and we have to respect its existence," Couteau said.

The thing which is also extraordinary, said Couteau, is that GWK is present as an ppeal of the area that will be developed into a cultural park. Even in the body of the statue, later, people from all over the world can get to know the diversity of the Indonesian culture. The presence of GWK, said Couteau, coincides with the segregation that occurs in all parts of the world. "The world is now divided by religious radicalism, but GWK is here to unite. That is the advantage of Indonesia," he said.

All GWK visitors will be able to enjoy the Balinese landscape from within the body of the statue. The tourists can go up to the 22nd floor which is right on Wisnu\'s chest. "Inside the statue there are many facilities, such as viewing galleries and restaurants," said Director of PT Siluet Nyoman Nuarta Djuki Ridwan, who has been responsible in the field in the construction of the GWK for the past 28 years.

Now, GWK really stands. It is resistant to earthquake shocks to 7.5 magnitude and wind strikes at the speed of 250 kilometers per hour. The durability of the 3,000-ton statue structure has been tested in testing laboratories in Melbourne (Australia) and Toronto (Canada).

As Pitana said, a 28-year waiting period is enough time to make it a new icon of world-class culture and tourism. The more beautiful thing is that GWK is designed and done by the nation\'s people, who have worked hard, then presented it in the month of independence, when Indonesia enters the 73rd year in its age!