Printmaker Muhlis Lugis’s large-scale woodcuts explore his cultural heritage by reflecting and recontextualising aspects of Bugis customs, philosophy and mythology. Grounded in the teachings and culture of the Bugis community of South Sulawesi, his meticulous compositions reaffirm the significance of cultural practice and identity amid the ever-changing landscape of Indonesian society.

For the Asia Pacific Triennial, Lugis presents a series of traditional ancestral stories from a contemporary Bugis perspective. In To balo 2019, the artist reimagines traditional narratives of the To balo (‘striped people’), a small community inhabiting a remote area in Barru Regency, South Sulawesi. Beliefs in the region ascribe the To balo people’s genetic depigmentation – also called piebaldism – to ancient curses. In this work, Muhlis assigns the To balo people a new history that elevates their status as warriors who came to the aide of the local kingdom. Throughout his Sangiang Serri (Goddess of Rice) series of works, Lugis illustrates significant events and rituals dedicated to the rice goddess detailed in the influential epic Bugis narrative La Galigo.