Pangerebongan is a ritual that is full of mystery and carries a spiritual power that is sometimes beyond the rational thought patterns of ordinary people. The ceremony of Pangerebongan is held every 210 days in accordance to the ancient Balinese lunar calendar, exactly eight days after the Kuningan religious holiday.

The participants of this ceremony are the members of the local community whose homes surround the royal residence of Puri Kesiman in east Denpasar and they walk in procession to the Petilan Temple. Old heirlooms, sacred artifacts and the barong and rangda masks, which are symbols of black and white magic, are taken out of safekeeping and carried in the procession.

(more…)

‘Siat sampian’ or sampian war is one of the oldest Balinese Hindus’ sacred tradition that is performed annually at Samuan Tiga temple in Gianyar. In this war, dozens of premas - or women - worshippers to the temple’s Gods, attack each other using young-coconut leaf arrangements (sampian) in an almost unconscious state of mind. After them, the same sampian war is also performed by no less than three hundred of the parekan - or men - devotees. The war and its related ritual begins at 9 am. This more than eleven centuries old tradition is very unique and cannot be found in other parts of Bali. This amazing event for this year was held on Sunday, May 14^th.

(more…)

Codarts Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Rotterdam

Bali SummerSchool Rotterdam 7-14 July 2006 Deadline Extended until June 1. After that date, a 20% late-registration fee will be added! In the intimate surroundings of the brand new World Music and Dance Centre (close to the old harbour and the Euromast) we will welcome dancers and musicians from all over the world: Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, and of course the Netherlands! Don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet them, and immerse yourself in Balinese music and dance, in the world-famous harbour city of Rotterdam.

The Teachers:
• I Wayan Dibia: male dance, masked dances and drama, Jauk Keras, Kecak.
• Ni Ketut Arini Alit: classical and modern Legong, Sisya and Telek.
• I Made Arnawa: gong kebyar, semar pagulingan.
• Ni Ketut Suryatini: gender wayang, angklung.
• Wayne Vitale: modern gong kebyar, composition and gamelan tuning.

Overview of the Program
• Music repertoire: modern gong kebyar composition by Arnawa and Vitale; modern and traditional angklung, Calon-arang repertoire (Telek, Sisya, Jauk) on semar pagulingan.
• Music study:drum workshops by Arnawa, gender wayang by Suryatini, vocal study, suling, ugal, gangsa, reyong technique.
• Dance repertoire: masked dances (topeng pajegan) by Dibia, legong Supraba Duta, a modern legong variant by Arini, Calon-arang repertoire: Telek, Sisya, Jauk.
• Dance study: male and female technique based on traditional repertoire, as a daily warm up.

(more…)

The main temple of Trunyan, Pura Pancering Jagat, is known locally as the ‘temple of the navel of the world’ and stands by an ancient banyan tree that is said to be over 1000 years old. The name of this temple is derived from the megalithic statue known as Arca Da Tonta or Ratu Gede Pusering Jagat. A major temple ceremony (odalan) takes place here annually around the full moon of October in accordance to the Balinese lunar calendar. A unique dance called the Barong Brutuk is performed on this occasion to commemorate the legendary wedding anniversary between Ratu Sakti Pancering Jagat and the patron guardian of the village Ratu Ayu Dalem Pingit.

(more…)

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia May 27, 2006 (AP)— A powerful earthquake flattened homes and buildings in central Indonesia early Saturday, killing nearly 2,000 people and injuring thousands more in the country’s worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

The magnitude 6.2 quake struck near the ancient city of Yogyakarta 250 miles east of the capital, Jakarta, around dawn as many people slept, causing death and damage in several nearby towns.

TV footage showed damaged hotels and government buildings, and several collapsed buildings. Roads and bridges were destroyed, hindering efforts to get the wounded to hospitals. Some phone lines also were cut.

“It felt really powerful, and the whole building shook,” said Narman, a receptionist at a hotel in Yogyakarta. “Everyone ran from their rooms.”

(more…)

Marc Jurt 1955-2006

Marc was born in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) in 1955. At nineteen he enrolled at the School of Fine Arts in Geneva, specializing in the study of engraving. He quickly became very successful and had more than hundred one-man or group exhibitions all over the world, a continuous success until his too early death two weeks ago.

In 1980, he spent nine months in Bali where he created engravings, drawings and photographs. He became interested in Balinese culture, particularly its temple festivals, music, and ritual dance. Studied the art of engraving on lontar palm leaves, composed small pictures by juxtaposing the leaves and gluing them to wood. During the next 20 years, he was a regular visitor to Bali, especially in 1985 when he stayed six months in a house in Sayan and carried out a lot of new creative productions. The main event linked to his special relationship with Bali was the solo exhibition of 150 paintings, objects, engravings, and monotype prints which was held at ARMA in 1997. In the catalogue of this exhibition entitled Anatomies of the Invisible, Diana Darling writes about his work : For Marc Jurt, the concern is with the inner energies of nature, with what is concealed by appeareance. He contemplates, rather than investigates, what is enclosed by a seed pod or wrapped in an offering. He is inetrested in the ambiguity of meaning behind coincidence. If he dissects, it is not to expose reality – as in the scientific engravings of earlier Europeans – but to expose the mystery of reality.

(more…)