Foreign Groups Follow the Bali Arts Festival

Four Foreign Arts Teams will participate in the Silver Anniversary of the Bali Arts Festival (PKB) XXV that will take place 14 June-13 July 2003. The schedule of this foreign arts team will be mixed with the local arts performances, so the audience will be evenly spread. ‘It means that we won’t let there be a lack of audiences or, an undisciplined audience,’ said Dr. Wayan Rai S. in his press conference, the PKB committee who arranges the staging process.

The foreign arts teams that will be participating are ‘Sekar Jaya’ of the USA, Yamasiro Gumi of Japan, an Italian Arts Group, and a group from Cheju (Korea).
Dr. Wayan Rai, who is also the Director of STSI Denpasar, expects the foreign groups will get a positive response from the society of Bali. This has often happened in previous PKB events, where the audience was not interested in watching the foreign arts team. However, when the traditional arts performing gong kebyar, the audience burst out; even the open stage of Ardha Candra Cultural Park Denpasar, with a capacity of 15.000 people, couldn’t hold it. By that, the schedule of foreign artists was arranged well, combined with local artists ‘There was a number of foreign artists performing in the PKB arena after collaborating with Balinese artists, so it presented a unique and interesting staging to watch,’ said Rai.
PKB this year takes up the topic ‘Yadnya Cakra’ that is non-stop creativity. President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to open the PKB event that will include five activities, beginning with a parade, staging, competition, small industry exhibition, and sarasehan (cultural dialogue). (BTN/015)

Ngelawang

Ngelawang comes from the word lawang meaning gate, known in Balinese as angkul-angkul. Sanggah Pengapit Lawang means two sanggah, or purified buildings, built on the right and left sides of the angkul-angkul. Ngelawang means a show performed in front of the angkul-angkul and continued from one ang-kul-angkul to the next. The show that is performed is in the Barong Dance. There are Barong Landung where the barong has a human face with a big, tall body, barong macan where the barong is in the shape of a tiger, barong bangkal that takes the shape of a male pig, barong lembu that looks like a lembu (a kind of cow), and many other barongs.
Ngelawang is usually held on Galungan day, which is celebrated every 210 days or 6 months of the Balinese Calendar. For the Balinese, Galungan is the symbol of Dharma’s victory against Adharma, or the revival of the religious doctrine that was suppressed during the reign of King Mayadana-wa of Bedahulu King-dom. When the cruel, arrogant, and harsh King Mayadanawa ruled Bali, the island suffered greatly. Knowing that Bali was in an age of destruction, Hyang Pasupati who lived in Semeru Mountain pleaded to the Gods in Heaven. Finally, Dewa Indra came down to Bali and released it from the cruel Mayadanawa. Dewa Indra killed the arrogant king and his victory is commemorated as the victory of Dharma over Adharma.
At Galungan, Bali is really merry. The holy buildings both inside the house and in the village are decorated by beautiful coloured cloth. The angkul-angkul is decorated by penjor. A Penjor is a bamboo stick that is decorated with produce from the harvest from the garden or rice field. They are a symbol of the happiness of Balinese society.
Ngelawang performances start on Galungan day, which is Wednesday Kliwon Dungulan and end on Kuningan day, ten days after Galungan. Ngelawang usually takes place in the afternoon after prayers, either in the house or sanggah. If you would like to see a ngelawang procession, the Ubud area is a good place to be between Galungan and Kuningan day. You can watch Barong Landung at Padang Tegal Village. Barong Ket can be enjoyed in Pangosekan Village. Barong Bangkal can be seen in Singakerta Village, and if you are interested in Barong Macan, you should go to Nyuh Kuning Village on Galungan day around 4 pm in the afternoon. At this time, all the villagers of Nyuh Kuning will ngiring (following) the Barong Macan, because it is sacred to the Nyuh Kuning villagers. The barong will stop at each angkul-angkul for a while, and the owner of that angkul-angkul will give a special offering. (BTN031)

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