Seminar | The Performing Arts & Spiritual Realm of Bali, Island of Gods（Full）

Introduction

The island of Bali in Indonesia has been the home and hotbed to deep spirituality and a wide array of art. This seminar, led by two art and religion researchers as well as Mr. Suwentra, artistic director of Suar Agung, will bring participants closer to understanding the depths of the field through discussion, video and audio recordings. How many different kinds of arts are there in Bali? How do Balinese musical instruments and musical scales work? What role does landscape play in Balinese art? How do Balinese think about death? These and many other topics will be explored in depth.

About Bali

The island of Bali lies just east of Jawa Island in Indonesia. It is a small island, about the size of Aichi prefecture, with a population of less than 400,000. Since ancient times followers of Hinduism have made this their home, and Bali Hinduism developed as an independent school of religion which gave rise to the unique practice of adat, or observation of personal law and customary practices. The foundation of people’s daily lives are contained in villages（desa adat）where the Hindu gods, ancestral spirits, and deities of the land and other demigods are worshipped. This deep faith in the spirits of the natural world has been preserved over time despite the influx of tourism and modernization, which is why Bali is called “The Island of the Gods” to this day. On of Bali’s unique traits include the many different art forms that were developed from its spiritual foundation. Among them are the various schools of instrumental music like the orchestral music of bronze gamelan and jegog bamboo flute ensembles, kecak dance that fuses male chanting with dance and drama, divine rituals, and innumerable beautiful dance forms. A world of rich artistic practices has traversed generations in Bali.