Ambuka Gegana Ngumbara Bekti

Ambuka Gegana Ngumbara Bekti

At the end of 2007, was the first time I dreamt about being able to fly.
Within two weeks time, I had three chapters, the first one.. I felt like I was floating. I was around three feet from the ground and then finally? I was able to jump and fly away! That felt really awesome!

In my Javanese “local wisdom” from the Primbon book, it says that some dreams have a meaning. And to dream of being able to fly is actually a sign! ..and this sign means that you will go to a journey far far away from home, because of a purpose/because you are destine to do something.

Now it has been 1 year, since I have been living in the heart of Indochina, The Kingdom of Cambodia, not quite far and yet not quite close either.

My dreams have come true; I fly away, opened the sky and see the world!
Here, I learned not only about the local culture, history and not just about The Great Khmer Empire either, but I have also connected with many cultures around the world (as Phnom Penh is just like a city of the United Nations).

About the Khmer Empire, it is actually really unique, because Indonesia (Sriwijaya 683 AD. - Old Mataram, 732 AD. - Majapahit, 1293) and Cambodia (Angkor/Campa 802 A.D) are actually connected, especially from the architectural side, I can feel the same spirit of Borobudur (760 AD.), when I am standing inside the ruins of the Great Khmer Empire City, build in 802 AD. And then there is the beautiful Angkor Wat (1112 AD.), breath taking…

And here we are now, in the 20th century.. where I feel so sad and at the same time upset when I read and think back on the Khmer Rouge era, on how their genocide killed almost 40% of the Cambodian population.
Just made all the great Khmer legacy of art, culture and technology back to the dark age.

When I think back about the journey and also about the purpose, I find this more like a Magical Mystery Tour!
For real! As so many magical and spiritual experiences during my stay in Indochina have occurred and also great opportunities to share something positive with the rest of the world.

An extraordinary path within my 35 years of journey..

As a nomad vector geek, who really misses his country and is loving this journey…

So, here's my small birthday present for you all.. …

"Ambuka Gegana Ngumbara Bekti"

That is a Sangkalan Memet, An ancient (or traditional heritage) Javanese coding symbol method.
Messages conveyed through visuals, and then visuals are read as a sentence regarding a certain event. Each word is being read backwards, also marks the year of the event.

Already used from over 1200 years ago (700 Caka Year).
Sengkalan formed from : Caka - Kala, Caka from Caka year, and Kala means time.
In this artwork, I use Surya Sangkala type (surya sengkala based on solar calendar, if used lunar called Chandra Sengkala).

Cracking the code:
Ambuka Gegana Ngumbara Bekti

Ambuka :: Opening » characterized as 9
Gegana :: Sky » characterized as 0
Ngumbara :: Journey, traveling » characterized as 0
Bekti :: Loyalty, serving, devotion » characterized as 2

So, Ambuka Gegana Ngumbara Bekti means ::
Open the Sky to the journey to Serve the world, also have numbers from the year of 2009.

vectoreconstruction // content »»

• Red + goldish tone color, represent 'Gula Kelapa' colors, mean Coconut sugar, literally have red color, and white for coconut itself, as The Red & White Stripes of Nusantara Flag (Majapahit - Indonesia).

• Garuda, raptor with 17 wings feather, 8 neck furs, 45 neck feathers, and 5 thunderbolts, this artwork inspired from Coat of Arms of the Republic of Indonesia.

• The Sun seal, surrounded by ei8ht nautical star is a symbol of the return home and the luck that is sometimes needed to reach it, mixed with 'kbach' a traditional Khmer ornament, (inspired from Surya Majapahit, The Great Seals of the Majapahit Kingdom, The sun disk is stylized with carved ray of light; surrounded by eight Lokapala gods, the eight Hindu gods that guarded eight cardinal points of the universe)

• Kala: Literally, "Time;" a gargoyle face that represents the threshold between time and eternity, also symbol energy from above (the power of the sun).

• Gringsing Lobheng Lewih Laka, red grin sing, in the past Majapahit era, this batik motifs used for cihna nagara or nation symbol, with wings shape formed from guilloche pattern at the background.

• Clouds: Mega Mendung motifs, traditional batik motifs from Cirebon, central of Java.

• “Sembah” in Java or 'jom reap sour' in Khmer language: 'jom reap sour' hands position for greeting (like a praying) represent respect, serving, loyalty.

• 35 in Javanese [link] and Rome alphabet, from Thirty+Fifth became solid ei8ht infinity shape! Which is my birth numerology! .

If that’s too complicated? Never mind, just enjoy the artwork.

Terima Kasih.

Special thanks for the inspirational chronicles: [link]