When the gong kebyar composition first appeared in Northern Bali with the avant-garde villages such as Bungkulan, Jagaraga and villages at its vicinity in 1915, No one ever dreamed that this genre of Balinese gamelan become the most favorite kind gamelan to be played by women. As a matter of fact at that time no one would ever dreamed that Balinese women have any chance to play gamelan.

In the past, gamelan is a privilege for men and the involvement of women in the realm of art was restricted in dance and drama performance area. However, in the last three decades, it is important to note that there has been a significant democratization process within the Balinese art world. Women begun to be given wider chance to participate in every genre of Balinese traditional art; and nowadays the once male-dominated art world has been transformed into free for all art domain.

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Before we proceed to the fate of kulkul, in present days, it is better to shed some light on what the kulkul is. Kulkul is Balinese wooden slit gong. It is made of long, hollowed-out wooden block whose upper end are sometimes carved into anthropomorphic heads. A hard and long lasting wood, such as teak, is usually used as kulkul material. The size of the kulkul is determined by the size of the kulkul tower, bigger tower needs bigger kulkul.

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Annual Usaba Sambah Festival (a grand festival which is held in the fifth month of Tenganan’s traditional calendar) in Tenganan Pangrisingan village is not just offers the well-known adrenaline-rising ritual such as makare-karean (a duel using thorny pandanus leaves as weapons) but also a joyful ritual such as the “maayunan or ayunan” (swinging on ferris wheel) ritual.

The meayunan ritual is usually held annually as one of main rituals during the Usaba Sambah Festival. The Maayunan ritual is usually held on the 21st day of Usaba Sambah Festival that is usually last for 30 days. The ferris wheels that are used in this ritual are made completely of wood; these gigantic ferris wheels only erected during the Usaba Sambah Festival and after the festival is over they are dismantled and kept in the meeting hall.

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Tomorrow, Saturday (6/14/08) Bali Art Festival, a month-long festival participated by all regencies in the province of Bali and from other provinces in Indonesia and several foreign participants, like USA, Korea, Japan, Australia, will be opened with a grand opening ceremony that involve 3000 artist from all over the paradise island of Bali. This opening ceremony will be held in front of the Monumen Perjuangan Rakyat Bali (Bali People Struggle Monument, at Renon Square Denpasar. The main attractions of this opening ceremony is the parade various art performances and cultural treasures from each participants of Bali Art Festival that usually involve thousands of artists.

The Bali Art Festival 2008 will be held from June 14 until July 12 in Bali Art Center Werdhi Budaya at Jalan Nusa Indah Denpasar. The theme of Bali Art Festival 2008 as the cultural event overall is “Citta Wretti Nirodha—Self Restrain toward Balance and Harmony”.

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“Balinese art is an indispensable part of Balinese religion, culture and life.”

“Art is identical with religion, art creativity is a performance of the religious teaching” this quotation indicates the unity of art and religion in Bali. It is hard to differentiate between art and religion without deep understanding on art and religion of Bali. Since every ceremony contains art performance in it and every art performance is loaded with the values and teachings of religion. The unity of art and religion ensures that the art be constantly practiced and become part of Balinese life.

Balinese life is surrounded by art from earliest childhood, ever-present everywhere and every time. Everyone down to the simplest peasant can be both an artist and an aesthetically conscious art critic. A field-laborer might chide a clumsy instrument maker for a job poorly done, and even a young food stall seller from a humble family is skilled practitioner of Bali classical dance.

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