Stone Jumping Mural

Why I painted this.

The Nias stone-jumping tradition has always fascinated me. It’s more than athletic courage; it’s a quiet testimony of how a community teaches its children to stand tall in the face of life. When I watched old footage of the ritual, I could almost feel the collective breath held by everyone around—the moment before the jump, the release after the landing. That tension stayed with me.

I wanted the mural to capture that single heartbeat: the instant when determination meets gravity, when tradition meets the future. Painting it felt like honoring a heritage that teaches bravery without shouting. It’s a story I hope people can feel even if they’ve never stepped foot on the island.