Ukiran Bali - Reaching Artistic Height

A cursory look may make one think that Indonesian wood CARVINGS are the same. They are not. Motifs vary from one place to the other and the level of skill is not the same among regions. For deep reliefs, the top carvers are in Bali, Cerebon (West Java) and Madura (East Java).







Witnessing the carvers in is fascinating. If I have to play favorites, I would gravitate towards Balinese ukiran or carving. Whether the piece is partial relief or full figure sculpture, Balinese carving is distinctive, intricate and stylized. Over the years, I have collected numerous panels and reliefs and obviously, I could not get enough.










Witnessing the carvers in motion is fascinating. Like art guilds in the past, these workshops offer a ready lesson of dedicated artisanship to those who are willing to stop and observe.

Historical and Cultural Considerations of Balinese Gambelan

The great variety of ensembles is at least partly due to the history and geography of Bali. As on most Indonesian islands, repeated waves of immigration and movement of populations has led to a rich and varied culture. Bali is a relatively small island (much smaller than its near neighbor Java, the other Indonesian island with a famous gamelan tradition), but until the twentieth century, its remoteness and geography as a small island dominated by volcanoes, thick forests, and deep ravines, allowed its various communities and small kingdoms to develop distinctive local religious and entertainment traditions.

While Java was largely converted to Islam, Bali has retained this diversity of local Hindu religious practices. Religion is an important part of the culture of Bali, and a very important aspect of Balinese gamelan music. There are literally thousands of different ceremonies associated with Balinese Hinduism, and gamelan music is an important element of many of these ceremonies.

Gamelan music was probably imported to Bali from Java. Both traditions began as upper-class court music, and the gamelan practices of the two islands still share many important similarities. But because Islam officially disapproves of music, Javanese gamelan practices are much less likely to be associated with religion. The quieter, more improvisational style of Javanese gamelan reflects a fairly continuous history as a classical music for upper-class courts. On Bali, on the other hand, the royal courts lost their power and influence during the period of Dutch control in the early twentieth century, at which time community cooperatives took over much of the performing arts traditions. The louder and more intensely cooperative Balinese music has been strongly influenced by village traditions using gamelan for the people's ceremonies and celebrations. The difference between the two islands' music is easily audible even to the average Westerner.
Note:
Because of the religious associations, the playing area and the instruments themselves are treated with great respect. To avoid giving offense, Westerners who do not know the proper way to do this should keep a respectful distance from the ensemble.

Many of the instruments are very carefully crafted, not only to give beautiful and very-carefully-tuned sounds, but also to be visually pleasing works of art. The wooden frames that hold the instruments are often intricately carved and brightly painted, usually with instruments in a particular gamelan carved and painted to look like, as well as sound like, a matching set.

There are dozens of different types of gamelan. Some types are found in almost every community, others in only a few isolated villages. Each type of gamelan has its own established tradition that includes a standard repertoire of music, in forms specific to that ensemble, to be played in a particular context. As already noted, some of these contexts are religious; one type of ensemble may be found in funeral processions, for example, or at particular temple celebrations.

Other gamelan may provide music for a specific kind of dance or theater performance. For example, wayang kulit, the famous shadow-puppet theater, is traditionally accompanied by a gender wayang ensemble, while dance-dramas may be accompanied by gamelan gambuh.

Specific kinds of dance may also call for specific kinds of ensembles. The conception of dance is also somewhat different from Western ideas; when a performance includes dance, the dance and music are considered to be intensely interdependent, two aspects of a single artistic expression, rather than separable "accompaniments" to each other. Traditionally, women are more likely to be dancers and men are more likely play instruments, but some traditional dances are for men, and it is more common now for women to also play in the gamelan.

Bali Calendar of Festivals and Events 2011 / 2012

Bali has much to celebrate and most months of the year have something of interest happening, with various seasonal things to do and tourist-friendly events taking place, often within the countless temples. March is one of the most important festival months on Bali, with the exciting Melasti and Nyepi religious festivals taking place and always being the cause for much celebration.

Other popular events include the Bali Arts Festival, which kicks off in June for a month and showcases the island's cultural appeal. Independence Day takes place each year on August 17th and its colourful processions are watched by crowds of onlookers.

Bali Events and Festivals in January - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• New Year's Day - January 1st, the celebrations of the previous night continue into the day, although things become more sedate by midday
• Pager Wesi - celebrates Sang Yang (the creator of the universe) with grand ceremonies island-wide

Bali Events and Festivals in February - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Kuningan Ceremony - in early February, spanning ten days and signifying the end of the new year holiday. Yellow rice is offered and temples are beautified to bade farewell to the gods

Bali Events and Festivals in March - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Melasti - precedes Nyepi and is the loud part of the two-day event, where well-dressed villagers offer flowers and fruit and holy men sacrifice pigs
• Nyepi - the quiet day after Melasti welcomes the beginning of the lunar year with a silent vigil to fool the spirits. Bali's airport is closed on Nyepi
• Galungan - the Balinese gods descend to earth during Galungan, a major festival of the Pawukon calendar each March, celebrating the good Dharma over the evil Adharma

Bali Events and Festivals in April - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Kartini Day - mid-April, women don traditional attire to commemorate the birth of the founder of the Balinese women's rights movement, Raden Ajeng Kartini

Bali Events and Festivals in May - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• National Awakening Day - May 20th, 'Hari Kebangkitan Nasional' is a public holiday in Indonesia to mark the principles of Indonesian state philosophy. Government offices and schools host this event

Bali Events and Festivals in June - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Bali Arts Festival - runs between June and July and celebrates the arts and culture of Bali
• Kite Festival - a fun event seeing lots of kite flying throughout the day, and a real boon for tourists who want to get a unique glimpse of another side of Bali

Bali Events and Festivals in July - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Negara Bull Races - bulls are washed and decorated with garlands, coupled to chariots and then raced in an enthralling event. The bull races are staged between July and October

Bali Events and Festivals in August - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Independence Day - August 17th sees Bali adorned with national flags, along with the rest of the country, and feature processions, traditional music and dancing
• Nusa Dua Festival - a week-long event in Bali's popular Nusa Dua resort is a must-see, featuring many Balinese treats including singing, dancing and eating

Bali Events and Festivals in September - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Temple Celebrations - all prominent temples in Bali feature celebrations throughout September, including at Kuta, Sanur, Ubud and Denpasar

Bali Events and Festivals in October - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Ubud Writers and Readers Festival - goes off for five days every year in October and sees dozens of writers from several countries gather, culminating in one of the best events of its type in the country

Bali Events and Festivals in November - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Bali International Jazz Festival - a major event on the island, and in Indonesia as a whole, with performers from all over the world playing out to crowds over a period of three days

Bali Events and Festivals in December - Bali, Indonesia, ID

• Christmas Day - December 25th as with elsewhere in Asia, Christmas is celebrated by Bali's Christian faithful and tourists get particularly jovial at resort bars and restaurants
• New Year's Eve - December 31st sees dinners, dancing, partying, a traditional countdown and lots of fireworks in the bigger resorts