I LA GALIGO is inspired by Sureg Galigo (the Galigo Manuscripts), an epic poem of the Bugis people of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Written entirely in Old Bugis, a language few people today can read or understand, the manuscripts have never been formally edited, translated or published in their entirety in any modern language.

Longer than the Mahabharata and comparable to the adventures of Ulysses in Homer’s Odyssey, the epic tells the story of the creation of the Middle World and the first six generations of the descendants of the gods. The wild adventures of the main characters illuminate the cosmology of the ancients Bugis world, much of which is still alive in the music, dance, costume, architecture and ritual of the Bugis people today.

The Galigo epic was brought to Robert Wilson’s attention for the first time in 2000 by Rhoda Grauer and Restu Kusumaningrum and was produced by Change Performing Arts in partnership with Bali Purnati Center for the Arts.

The goals of the Galigo project are to create a work of theatre that merges the traditions and folklore of the Bugis people with Wilson’s contemporary theatrical language; create an platform for the many talents of Indonesian dancers, musicians, composers, designers and craftsmen; and introduce Sureq Galigo to an international public and encourage future exploration, study and translation of this little known work of world-class literature.