The painter-tailor

Directed by

Sriwhana Spong

Filmed in Sanur, Bali, The painter-tailor is a family portrait. Drawing together multiple perspectives through the use of 16mm film and HD video that were made by the artist with her relatives and a family dog, the story revolves around the last painting created by Sriwhana Spong’s grandfather, the artist and tailor I Gusti Made Rundu (1918–1993). It is the only work that the family still owns and evokes memories of his life and role as an artist. Setting the work in the surrounds of the family home and alongside photographic albums, the film reveals the social, economic and political contexts that influence art-making. Sriwhana prompts us to think not only about the ways that we make art and images, but also their distribution and the act of looking. Through this lens we can see the effects of colonization in Indonesia and the subsequent impact on traditions of art and image-making.