Bali Special Events
Bali International Triathlon
Dust off your running shoes, grease-up the bicycle and find your swimming gear. It’s on again – the Bali International Triathlon to be held from June 27 to 29. In its second year, the triathlon looks to attract even more competitors than the previous year. According to sources there are 250 athletes from a variety of countries as well as local runners. This is grueling race as any of you would know if you have ran or swum in a marathon as it tests not only your physical fitness but also your mental concentration. The …
Date: June 12th, 2008 |
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Han Snel’s Retrospective Exhibition: Ubud
Numerous foreign artists have made Bali their home and created their own themes and styles in painting the Balinese and their culture and religion. Bali became an artist enclave for avant-garde artists such as Walter Spies, Rudolf Bonnet, Arie Smit and the most famous being Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur who married Ni Pollock, a renowned legong dancer. The 1920’s saw an artistic flurry on the island and the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias noted that local paintings served primarily religious or ceremonial functions. Han Snel was another of these foreign artists to grace the shores of Bali. Han Snel was born in 1925 in Scheveningen, in the Netherlands. After his arrival in 1946 with the Dutch military forces he was immediately tasked with fighting Japanese troops and the newly born army of the Republic of Indonesia. As most visiting artists do, Snel immediately fell in love with the island. Like Mayeur, he married a local girl and subsequently applied for Indonesian citizenship and embraced Balinese Hinduism. In Ubud there is an exhibition of Han Snel’s paintings that most visitors who have a penchant for art will like to see.
Date: May 29th, 2008 |
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Hari Raya Waisak: Indonesia
Today in Bali and across Indonesia is Waisak Day. This is a Bhuddist holiday to celebrate the anniversary of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Bhuddism. To all my friends that are Bhuddist I wish to express…
SELEMAT HARI RAYA WAISAK
Hari Waisak - Waisak Day
Date: May 20th, 2008 |
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Tumpek Wayang
Today in Bali is Tumpek Wayang, also known as Tumpek Ringgit. It is a Kajeng Kaliwon and is of particular importance. Some areas of Bali use this day to make offerings to musical instruments and dance equipment. This day is also important for the shadow puppets, Wayang Kulit. Many families have inherited puppets from an ancestor who performed them, a dalang. All dalangs have full sets of puppets. The puppets are taken from the box, placed in a position just as if an actual performance were being given and blessed by the owner. A Dalang …
Date: May 16th, 2008 |
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Jason Monet Exhibition: Ubud
Art and orangutans don’t appear to have much in common. However, for internationally recognized artist Jason Monet, conservation of the threatened primate starts with bamboo. According to the Bali-based artist, the more the arts, architecture and just about everything else from food to furniture uses bamboo, the longer orangutans on Sumatra and Kalimantan will have a home. Jason has been working with bamboo for the past two years, using it for his sculptures and to frame his paintings.
Date: May 1st, 2008 |
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Bali Arts Festival
Without a doubt my favourite festival is the Bali Arts Festival and it will be held from June 14 to July 12, and will feature a plethora of local and international performers. This is a wonderful spectacle and a great introduction to Balinese artistic traditions and culture for those who are first-timers to the island. Even for the regulars, it is a festival not to be missed. The events take place throughout each day for an entire month. There will be handicraft exhibitions, cultural performances, music, classical palace dances and also historical exhibitions. What …
Date: June 8th, 2008 |
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Bali Kite Festival
There are several main cultural events in Bali that draw the crowds. For instance, the Bali Arts Festival, the Writer’s Festival to mention a few, but it is the Bali Kite Festival that is appreciated by young and old, whether they be international tourists or domestic tourists. The annual international Kite Festival is held in July at Padang Galak area of Sanur Beach and attracts competitors worldwide. Actually, the event is a seasonal religious festival intended to send a message to the Hindu Gods to create abundant crops and harvests. These giant and colourful kites …
Date: May 27th, 2008 |
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A Lesson from Waisak
Today, Buddhists across the country will celebrate Waisak, to commemorate the birth of the Lord Buddha, his enlightenment and passing more than 2,500 years ago. As in the past the faithful gathering at Borobudur Temple in Magelang and other areas will include those who traveled from other countries, an annual reminder of old creeds that transcend national borders. Today in Indonesia there are barely 2 million followers of Buddhism, or 1 percent of our vast population, though Buddhism is known as Indonesia’s oldest religion, apart from Hinduism. As the state retains its policy of acknowledging only six (from earlier five) religions, those who would otherwise declare themselves Taoists, for instance, are also thought to be included in that 1 percent figure, having officially to be Buddhist on their identity cards as an article in the Opinion explains.
Date: May 20th, 2008 |
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Bali Arts Festival Dates
The one festival and time of the year I enjoy is the Bali Arts Festival. A potpourri of drama, dance and culture combine to make it one of the most enjoyable attractions of the year. Twenty provinces from Indonesia will join the festival this year by presenting their cultural arts and handicrafts as well as twelve arts troupe from eight countries. The international events would include a world `wayang` (puppet shadow) festival and an ASEAN ethnic music festival. The theme this year will be “Citta Wretti Nirodha” or a self-controlling behaviour toward the balance and …
Date: May 1st, 2008 |
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Bird-Flu Handling Exercises in Bali
No, I’m not talking about chickens running the marathon along Ngurah Rai Bypass or down Jalan Legian but rather bird flu handling exercises to be held in Bali on April 25-27th. These exercises will be conducted in three places. They are at Ngurah Rai Airport and at Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar as well as the general hospital in Tabanan. What’s it all about you ask. Simple, the Indonesian government wants to show the world that it is getting a handle on the bird-flu situation in the country. So, they invited 42 representatives of international health agencies and foreign governments …
Date: April 24th, 2008 |
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