[Texto disponível apenas em inglês] Tirta Wana is an artistic project developed during a residency in Bali, born from the intersection of ecological research, Balinese visual culture, and performative practices. The work takes shape around an original mask inspired by the topeng tradition, but conceived as a new archetype dedicated to the protection of the forest and the balance between humans, plants, and water.
The hieratic and feminine face recalls the figures of Galuh and Dewi Sita, while the mask's structure integrates botanical elements chosen according to a reading inspired by the Balinese principle of Tri Hita Karana, founded on the harmony between the relationship with the sacred (parahyangan), the relationship between humans (pawongan), and the relationship with the natural environment (palemahan). Plants thus become bearers of different forms of relationship: pule, linked to the ritual and spiritual dimension; cloves and other cultivated species, connected to work, subsistence, and the life of local communities; and sandalwood, whose vulnerability directly recalls the need to preserve plant ecosystems. Betel, cinnamon, pandan, vanilla, cocoa, and orchids expand this constellation of relationships between ritual use, economy, material culture, and biodiversity. The plant elements therefore do not function as simple ornaments, but constitute the very body of the mask and make visible the interdependence between the sacred, the human, and nature.
The title combines tirta, sacred water, and wana, the forest. Water is the principle that activates the mask: it nourishes the plants, flows through the landscape from the mountains to the sea, and, in Balinese ritual, concludes and consecrates the prayer.
The mask is developed as a 3D model and an interactive audiovisual presence. Projected into space, it reacts to the movements of the audience: its plant parts sway as if moved by the wind, transforming the human gesture into a delicate relationship with a living organism, which changes depending on the type of movement. Tirta Wana thus proposes a figure of protection and warning: a contemporary archetype that calls for care, reciprocity and responsibility towards the Balinese forest.
