The Topeng Mask or the Mediator of Lost Unity

But what is this grin? With all teeth bared, forehead and eyes wrinkled, hairy, shaggy, is the creature belching, is it possessed by a mad and, one hopes, liberating laugh? The mask is that of Sida Karya, literally "the one who finishes the work," in topeng, one of the forms of Balinese dance theater, the one that connects ritual and daily life to the highest degree. It is at the heart of the entire Balinese system of representations, and exemplifies the role that masks still play today, where topeng is still a living art.

It dates back to the ^17th century, this masked musical and danced theater, which alternates sacred dance and secular play, goes from the most subtle refinement to caricatures of daily life pushed to the point of absurdity, and consequently offers masks of a fabulous variety. "The mask is an indispensable tool in this theater because of its ritual origins ," explains Kati Basset, ethnomusicologist and specialist in Balinese theater. When it is not pure entertainment, the topeng must be performed by actor-dancers who have been initiated, because the last masked character, the one who closes the ceremony, the Sida Karya, is an officiant. And since the initiates are not necessarily very numerous, and the topeng is only performed by men, the mask allows one to move from one character, or rather one archetype, to another."

The masks are therefore very diverse and codified according to the ancestral archetypes depicted by the topeng, in this case the feudal hierarchy. King's mask, Dalem, smooth, white and closed. Masks of refined or mad prince, of tearful or coquettish and jealous princess, of witch queen, of severe or wise minister... also closed, but already less idealized than that of the king. Masks of servants, covering only half of the face, to allow speech, essential to these intercessor characters, and which are not without evoking those of the commedia dell'arte. And masks of Bondres, the common people, which allow all freedoms and fantasies. "They all represent a defect, a flaw or a handicap. There is the hypochondriac, the crazy coquette, the lazy person, the stutterer... You can imagine as many as you want, and the Balinese have even invented the tourist, with a big white nose," laughs Kati Basset.

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