Dedicated to Helping the Shackled

KOMPAS/AYU SULISTYOWATI

I Kadek Rodi Artawan

For I Kadek Rodi Artawan, 47, compliments for his photos of people with mental disorders who were shackled and confined in Bali are only a bonus. The process behind the photos is more meaningful. He tries to free those who are locked up. His work knocks the hearts of those who see it.

The man who is familiarly called Rudi Waisnawa from Buleleng, Bali, tries to show the condition naturally. He wants to prove that nak buduh or people with mental disorders (ODGJ), who are shackled, can recover through compassionate interaction with their surroundings, in addition to medical support.

"I realized I only had the power to take pictures. However, I want to make use of [my skill] to help those who are shackled and confined, and it\'s not enough just to take pictures. So, I chose to show empathy by being in the same room with them," said Rudi in Denpasar, Friday (10/10/2019).

Rudi did not expect people to still be shackled and confined at their own homes in this day and age. Just because they are deemed buduh (“crazy” in Balinese), they are deprived of their right to freedom.

It all began with a job offer to help a foreign media company make a documentation about ODGJ in 2011. Rudi said he had never imagined seeing dozens of ODGJ locked up.

"Imagine, Bali is an island many people visit for a good time. However, there are people who live on this island who are shackled. Because of this, I felt that I could not stay quiet, let alone just take photos of them. My heart was moved," he said.

After the project was completed, he visited the shackled people one by one. Then, Rudi went to Luh Ketut Suryani, the supervisor of the Suryani Institute for Mental Health (SIMH), an NGO advocating for an end to the common practice of shackling mentally ill people.

Rudi showed Luh Suryani some photos and videos of the shackled people he visited. "I am serious, Bu, I want to join the fight and exhibit photos for the campaign that Bali must be free from shackling people," said Rudi, adding that he didn’t expect to get paid.

Then he bathed them, gave them better clothes, cleaned their mattress or their room. Once everything is clean, he would communicate with them like an old friend.

Since 2013, he has been visiting the shackled people to interact and communicate with them. Rudi released the chains, handcuffs and wooden shackles. Then he bathed them, gave them better clothes, cleaned their mattress or their room. Once everything is clean, he would communicate with them like an old friend.

He did everything, from carrying them out of their rooms to bathing them, until the person is comfortable for a talk, which are things SIMH team members rarely do.

Rudi does not care what people say, including the families of the shackled people. In fact, he had an

argument with on family, who appeared to be comfortable with the fact that a member of their family was shackled and felt that Rudi was disturbing them. However, Rudi proved that heart-to-heart dialogue and humane treatment can be the most effective medicine to cure people with mental disorders.

Rudi did not mind getting his clothes dirty when helping the ODGJ. For him, the strength of his heart and empathy conquers all. This approach has also inspired other volunteers.

More meaningful

Beyond esthetic purposes, his photos carry meaning and depth, even without narration, provided they are created through closeness and interaction.

He recounted his experience of exhibiting in Hamburg, Germany, where he found a man embracing two children staring at one of his photographs. They fell silent in front of the photo. "They just stood still with sad faces. For a long time, they stood in front of that photo. Then they left," said Rudi.

At that moment, Rudi realized how photos could describe and represent everything. Photos can convey messages to viewers without any words.

Rudi is convinced that photographs are the way to campaign for the freedom of shackled people. "I thought to myself, what can I do when I take pictures of people with mental disorders who are locked up in their own homes? What can I do to help them? This is crazy, Bali, which is said to be a paradise, there are people being shackled," he said.

His work also brought him as a speaker to the Biopsikospirit-Socio-cultural Process, Stigma International Conference 2017 in Copenhagen in September 2017.

One of the campaigns was carried out by holding a photo exhibition titled “Tears in Paradise: Shackled on Paradise Island, International Photo Exhibition at the Bentara Budaya Bali, August 2014, and at the Gallery Hotel, Singapore, September 2014. His work also brought him as a speaker to the Biopsikospirit-Socio-cultural Process, Stigma International Conference 2017 in Copenhagen in September 2017.

Exhibitions are part of his dream to help the shackled people of Bali, to campaign for the freedom of the mentally ill. As long as there are people with mental disorders that are shackled in Bali, Rudi is determined to keep campaigning.

Happiness is felt by Rudi if the patient he has photographed has recovered and truly has a free life as freely as possible. One time, in the middle of photographing a traditional ceremony in Karangasem, one of the regencies suspected of having many people in shackle, there was a woman who called him, "Bli Rudi!"

Spontaneously he was shocked and surprised. This woman was one of the people he had visited with SIMH and had not seen in about two years. "This woman is healthy and consciously calls me. She is clean, wearing a kebaya and riding a bicycle. She did not forget me. I almost shed tears at that time. That happiness is second to none," he said in a low voice.

They needed affection and attention to get well, not to be locked up.

Rudi always talks with the shackled people in a bid to get close to them. From time to time, any mental disorder they may be suffering from would not appear for a whole day. They needed affection and attention to get well, not to be locked up.

"The campaign is not over. It’s still a long journey. At any time, I will still frame their feelings and represent them through photographs. Without words, let the people in the photos speak to anyone who sees them. I am only a bridge to help them express their bitterness," said Rudi.

KOMPAS/AYU SULISTYOWATI

I Kadek Rodi Artawan

I Kadek Rodi Artawan

Born: Tista, Buleleng, Dec. 3, 1972

Education:

- SDN 2 Tista (1979-1985)

- SMP 2 Busungbiu (1986-1988)

- SMAN 1 Singaraja (1989-1991)

Organization:

- Founder Underdog State

- Suryani Institute for Mental Health (2013-present)

- Committee Against Sexual Abuse (CASA) (2013-present)

- Lingkara Photo Community (2010-present)

- Bali Custom and Culture Foundation (2017-present)

- Sekehe Gambuh Sunari Wakya (documentation)

Exhibition:

- Tribute to Maestro Blangsinga, Bentara Budaya Bali (2013)

- Bali Not for Sale, Luden House, Ubud, November (2013)

- Tears in Paradise, International Photo Exhibition, Raffles Hotel Gallery, Singapure (2014)

- Mabesikan Project Photo Exhibition, Amed Café Tulamben (2016)

- Biopsikospirit-Sociocultural Process: Stigma International Conference 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark (2017)

- APPROACH Photo Exhibition, Galerie Die Erste Etage, Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg, Germany (2017)

Photo Book: Pasung (2017)