Pan Kaler, Balinese Healer
There are in Bali several kinds of traditional healers. The closest to the Western idea of a doctor is the balian usada: his knowledge rests on the control and knowledge of sacred lontar books and on the availability of medicinal herbs he alone knows where to collect and how to concoct. Although the potency of
liina klauss’ 5000 Lost Soles: Turning Ocean Rubbish into Art
Artist liina klauss, together with Potato Head Beach Club Bali, created a visually stunning installation name ‘5000 soles’ from rubbish that washed up on Seminyak Beach. Their goal, raise awareness of ocean plastic pollution through art. One hot, global topic at the moment is ocean plastic pollution; from local organisations right up to the United
The Titian Prize: Recogising Extraordinary Balinese Artistic Talent
The Bali art infrastructure is undergoing important transformation. This renewal is a timely, yet a long and unique process, the intended outcome, however, will be a sustainable art eco system on the island. The benefactors will be new buyers, seasoned collectors, art lovers, the curious, and of course the artists themselves. The Bali art infrastructure
The Janger Dance: From the Rice Field to the Sea
In the creation of art performances, the Balinese have been inspired by everything in their surroundings, including nature, myths and legend. In fact, some daily activities have been brought to the stage in the form of eye catching dance performances. Before the massive growth of tourism in Bali, the Balinese people used to live on
The Melasti of the Full Moon
It looked almost like an Indian Kumbh Mela with the whole of Bali’s southeast coast covered with people dressed in white. Right to the misty distance, penjors and processions could be seen proceeding along the wave drenched coastline. Dressed in their ceremonial best, the Balinese came from villages near and far to pray and be
The Fate of a Piece of Land in Bali
Gung Lingsir, the old prince of Abian Gombal, was now back outside, sitting cross – legged on the verandah of his old pesaren pavilion. He was lost in thoughts. He had had a near call with death, but now, with the fever gone and having lost a few pounds, he could once again run the
Spirits and Gods of the Mountain
One of the main problems when talking about Balinese “religion” is related to the very fact of “defining” it, and beyond, to the fact that by defining it, we frame it in a conceptual framework, we associate to its boundaries that do not exist in the mind of the people involved. The misunderstandings that ensue
Nawanatya Cultural Carnival Begins
On the 3rd of March 2018, situated at the heart of Denpasar, right in front of the governor’s official residence, a cultural art carnival was held as part of a series of activities to mark the opening of Bali MandaraNawanatya 2018, an annual event held in Bali Art Centre in Denpasar on the weekend starting
Coming Clean: The Melukat Cleanse
It’s six thirty am and we are meeting at the carpark of Tirtha Empul, Bali’s most well known holy spring. This Hindu Balinese water temple in the cool highlands founded in 942 AD sees hundreds of visitors a day, coming to do a melukat or ritual cleanse. Surrounded by bathing pools and old growth trees
In Need of Refuge: The Other Side of the Volcano
While visitors in the south brave Bali’s holiest mountain, the volcanic, Gunung Agung continues to engage, fascinate and terrify visitors and Balinese alike. But in fact for visitors, their lives are little affected by the volcano’s activity as there is not much effect except a possible rare delayed flight and even that is not
Cult of the Mountain and Ancestors
Text Jean Couteau with Wayan Westa, Photos by Georges Breguet It all started very simply, the shrills of insect, followed by the frightened shriek of crows and other birds. Then all over the slopes, it was the rumbling down of screaming monkeys. By then, the trembling of the ground had become first a tremor,
Dipping in the Kool Aid: Bali Prison Inmates Show Artistic Talents
What is the value of human life? How does our society appraise personal endeavour, imagination and creativity when the priority of doctors and medical staff in hospitals is the preservation of life? Governments and penal systems assess prisoners as having little to contribute to community, some electing to terminate the lives of ‘serious offenders’ through
The Unfortunate Charm of the Legong Dancer
Like everything, wise Balinese men will tell you, even their island too is subjected to the law of the Rwabhinneda, the complementary opposites. Light and Darkness; male and female; good and bad; serious and funny, and so forth. I spend much of my writing time talking about the positive, or funny sides of Balinese culture,
