Ubud News

Welcome back to Ubud

2008-05-04T15:15:00.001+08:00

Back in town after so many years: Edward Viljoen of KSRO fame for those listening to Sonoma County radio. And he allows us this time to follow each of his steps by posting directly with his blackberry to his weblog. Despite these changes in his own way of travelling and documentating it he still enjoys, what he sees:
Ubud stays the same
Warm, friendly, authentic, silly, fun, mystical

Ubud is a vibrant village-town in the middle of Bali and is the cultural hot spot of the island. The not so distant history of back packing universe seeking tourist days still lingers among the wifi cafes and designer shops - you can still find a home-stay or an old style room with breakfast next door to a world class boutique hotel.

Sprawling mansions stand on the outskirts in the midst of rice fields, ducks and geese. Tour busses clog the narrow streets and adventure companies create excursions, elephant rides and treks.

But Ubud stays the same to me as it was the first time I met it. Warm, friendly, authentic, silly, fun, mystical.

It is our second base on this tour and it's central location makes it easy to get from Ubud to the temples on our itinerary or if we wanted......mountains, beaches, and major towns.

Tonight Balinese Dancing - porcelain faces, unmoving-unsmiling mouths with all the passion, fun, romance and drama in the eyes only. Darting eyes, just like the fingers and their mesmerising lateral dance movements. Spectacularly slow body movements in postures that look like a back ache trying to happen!

But first, Bebek Tutu - traditional smoked duck lunch.

Ubud one of the best in sustainable tourism

2007-11-08T11:01:00.000+08:00

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan ©Ingo Jezierski

Bali is a mixed bag of tourism projects that represent the absolute worst (Kuta) in sustainable travel and some of the best (Ubud)."

Although consecutively named World’s Best Island for years from major traveller magazines around the world, and loved for its people and the great value it offers Bali has not scored so well in a survey done by the National Geographic Traveler. In behalf of the traveller magazine the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations conducted its fourth annual Destination Scorecard survey, aided by George Washington University.

A panel of 522 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship donated time to review conditions in 111 selected islands and archipelagos. Let's see what these experts have to say about our beloved Bali and our neighboring island of Lombok.

The survey rates the qualities that make a destination unique—"integrity of place." It's not about consumer service, so a poor but unspoiled island like Palawan can rate higher than a Hilton Head, called "the best golf-course-and-gated-community island anywhere."
While Bali is still called in the survey 'one of the world's magical places' it has only come in at rank 27, even Lombok has done slightly better. Hard to believe for those of us living here:) Let's look at the reasons for this:

Bali, Indonesia
Score: 57

"Bali is one of the world's magical places. Even though it has been overrun by tourism development and population growth, somehow it has been able to maintain its unique character, though some parts of the island—Denpasar, Kuta Beach—are now incredibly degraded and depressing for those of us who knew Bali in the good old days."

"Yes, Kuta and Nusa Dua represent the ugly faces of crass commercialism—but if they are developed as specific mass tourism enclaves and generate income, and if development in the rest of the island is more restrained, Bali will still be worth visiting. The flowers are still colorful, the smiles still warm, the rice fields still mesmerizing, and the gamelan music still a calming, soothing backdrop—after 30 years of rampant development."

"Bali is a mixed bag of tourism projects that represent the absolute worst (Kuta) in sustainable travel and some of the best (Ubud)."

"In spite of the recent terrorist events, Bali is still an excellent destination. Magnificent rice terraced landscapes. Gentle, warm people. The culture is strong, vivid, and vibrant. Facilities are varied, catering to many tastes. However, beaches are not good, and the environment is under threat from destruction of reefs and mangroves, linear development, salt water intrusion, etc."

Lombok, Indonesia
Score: 62

"Bali's little sister. Lower numbers of visitors than Bali, so has been slower to develop. It is relaxed, and the local government expresses concern for careful development. There is a lack of interpretive information, although guidebooks generally tell the stories well. Some luxury accommodations."

"Lombok has many scenic natural sites and some lovely, comfortable hotels. It also has several strips of beach that are overdeveloped and disappointing. Some of the cultural tourism in the south is a bit like 'human zoo' tourism, where tourists are accosted by aggressive local people in local dress."

"The strong Islamic culture to a certain extent ensures its cultural survival from the tourist onslaught. A lot of tourist development, some of it illegal, threatens the integrity of its seashores. Huge gap between the tourism resort culture and local incomes and traditions."

National Geographic has more details about the survey on their own website.

UN Climate Change Conference in Bali

2007-11-08T04:21:00.000+08:00

From the 3-14 December 2007, Bali, will be the host for this most important conference of the year with more than 15,000 delegates from 168 countries attending the event - and officially more than 7,000 Indonesian armed troops and uncounted numbers of undercover agents from other parts of the world - and also many other visitors interested in environmental issues. While Ubud will not be the centre of attraction it will see its fair share of events before, during and after the conference ranging from special art exhibitions (Tony Raka gallery) to demonstrations of environmental projects in the area (Rotary Ubud waste management project). See also the constantly updated Ubud calendar of events on this page for more information about the different events.

Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the conference, writes in his official invitation to the world: Bali, the “island of the Gods” is a prime example of the beauty of our natural environment. At the same time, Indonesia has first-hand experience of the extreme weather events caused by climate change. Bali is therefore a poignant setting for the forthcoming crucial international negotiations on the way forward to save our planet from the devastating effects of global warming.

The Bali conference will be the culmination of a momentous twelve months in the climate debate and needs a breakthrough in the form of a roadmap for a future climate change deal. Early in the year, scientific evidence of global warming, as set out in the fourth assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), put the reality of human-induced global warming beyond any doubt. What we are facing is not only an environmental problem, but has much wider implications: For economic growth, water and food security, and for people's survival - especially those living in the poorest communities in developing countries. The recent joint award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC for its work in disseminating knowledge on climate change further underlines the implications for overall peace and security."

The spirit of Bali lies in the appreciation of its people for “Ibu Pertiwi” (mother earth) and also in the principle of collectivity. In this spirit, we must take a collective step forward in establishing a roadmap for a post-2012 agreement."

Read more

"VENUS RISING" - Wolfgang Widmoser in Jakarta

2007-11-08T03:58:00.000+08:00

Wolfgang Widmoser, considered by many already as the best living artists in Ubud now stretches his wings further. His exhibition "VENUS RISING" is opening on November 21 at the Bentara Budaya in Jakarta. Diana Darling one of Ubud's best known authors interviewed him on this occasion for the Yak Magazine. The slogan of the Yak, 'The lighter and darker sides of Bali, Asia's fashionable playground' could be easily coined on Wolfgang Widmoser as well. Over to Diana:

WOLFGANG Widmoser – an Austrian painter living in Ubud – is an artist who may, or may, not want to frighten you. If you ask him, he will deflect discussion about fear, and talk instead about colour theory and projective geometry and the instability of the horizon as a measure of the infinite – and as he does so, you wonder if there is anything he is afraid of .

The work is figurative virtuosity manipulated to extremes. The forms of familiar objects – especially faces, but also martini glasses and natural objects – are stretched and twisted far beyond the normal view of the eye, and then rendered with tremendous painterly exactitude, as if asking the viewer to think again about the reality of what he sees.

Wolfgang refers to this approach as ‘fantastic realism'. He studied with Salvador Dali, the planet's most famous manipulator of reality in paint. But Wolfgang says that Dali didn't really understand the full power of glazes.

Diana: So what's this thing about glazes?

Widmoser: It's an old European technique for layering coloured transparencies that will allow the original colour to appear to the human eye as it would be in nature, not from pigment but from natural light.

Do you really believe that?

Widmoser: Of course. European painters have known this for hundreds of years – especially Dutch and Italian artists. Goethe made the best attempt to explain it in his colour theory. This knowledge is hard to find in art academies today. I was lucky to study with Prof. Ernst Fuchs in Vienna who redeveloped the ancient technique of egg-tempera highlighting and oil glazes that give paintings this rich and shining quality.

Some would say that the colours are pushed – although not perhaps as much as their forms are.

Widmoser: Pushing the colour or the forms is a prerogative of painting.

Is this about the difference between painting and photography?

Widmoser: It could be. Before photography, painting had the job of reporting reality, and it was usually an official view of reality, commissioned by the church or the state. But even before photography, painters – starting with Giotto – began to be concerned with not just reality but their view of reality, the famous Rembrandt painting <em>Night Watch</em> is first a Rembrandt and second a picture of its patrons. Caravaggio painted the Madonna with the face of his maid, to give her the expressiveness of an individual. With Impressionism, the painter's vision became the subject itself.

So why do you distort faces or objects?

Widmoser: I'm intensifying the image. I'm trying to make the viewer see differently in order to discover the beauty of the image.

The painting of your wife "Diana Widmoser", looks more like Diana than her photograph.

Widmoser: Exactly. Distortion is also about showing changes in time. That was the concern of the Mannerists.

Is that the joke behind Dali's melting watches?

Widmoser: I think so. Painting is also about action. It's what you see in brushstrokes or other actions of applying paint. Velasquez painted hair with just a brushstroke.

It's clear from your paintings that you draw wonderfully. Picasso is supposed to have said that it takes a year to learn to paint and 20 years to learn to draw. How important do you think is drawing to painting? How important is drawing for art students, even if they don't want to use figurative representation in their art?

Widmoser: Of course a realist painter has to develop his drawing skills and in that sense painting and drawing are the same. But drawing can also be an art form in itself where you develop a certain style, for example with smooth or edgy charcoal lines, and it's interesting to notice that these black lines on white paper may look exactly like a face we recognise. For an abstract painter though, and likewise for a child, it might be an obstacle because their art lives from a more spontaneous source, and the hand follows an invisible pattern, creating a reality instead of representing one.

You refer to the images of Papuan faces as 'gods'. Why?

Widmoser: Manipulating these faces gives them this archetypal character; so looking for appropriate titles I came upon Greek mythology and there it was: the God of Fire, the Goddess of Beauty – the cosmos was ordered.

Is art a way of finding (or proposing) order in the cosmos? And if so, how does art differ in this from religion?

Widmoser: I think that's the reason why man develops art. Since the early cave paintings it's an attempt to make the world conscious and find out how everything works. Magic, Art, Technology and Religion were the same once, and relatively late in history they split up into different categories. Art is an open system and we might find new views and a new perspective around every corner. Religion, at least in its established forms, seems to have found the answers already and therefore tends to be in conflict with other answers. The truth of art lies within its quality and that means freedom. It is always a proposal – convincing only through its quality, an invitation to see things in a new way.

Can art be atheistic?

Widmoser: I don't know. If there's no God, I am sure an artist will invent one.

What is the cycle called 'Abstract Realism' about?

Widmoser: To me all painting is abstract, an order of coloured shapes on canvas. Looking closely at my palette one day, I discovered strange landscapes – cracks like the brushstrokes of a Zen master, pink rivers and green shady valleys, dragon lakes in the desert. The thick blobs of colour are painted flat, with shadows and glancing light. I like to create illusions.

What is your fascination with water lilies?

Widmoser: In a lily pond, the whole world is present. Life comes from water, there's growth and decay, the sky. Even remote galaxies are reflected on its surface, and the sun is housed by every dewdrop on a shiny blossom.

What is the most difficult thing to paint?

Widmoser: Nothing is difficult. You just have to take time and look at things. It's all there. It's all obvious – light, shadow, structure. But I cannot paint something I don't see.

Tell us about your interest in bamboo architecture.

Widmoser: Architecture would be a tremendous chance to enhance the environment. I'm always dreaming about cities for human beings with free flowing shapes, rooflines like flowers – a city that is lightweight and elegant and transparent, like glazes. Bamboo as a structural material has all these qualities – and in combination with tensile roofs, my dream could materialise.

Are you religious?

Widmoser: Yes. I believe there's more to the world than meets the eye, and I enjoy reaching higher grounds. Connecting with the spiritual world seems to be a must in our turbulent times.

What makes a person sexy?

Widmoser: For me everything is sexy, a shell, a glass ball, bananas, a glass of champagne, a lake in the early morning sun. I've always been fascinated by women, so I choose this as the subject of my next exhibition: Venus Rising, at the Bentara Budaya in Jakarta, opening on 21 November 2007.

For more about Wolfgang Widmoser see
www.ubud.com/wolfgangwidmoser
Widmoser; Girl with glassplanets
All paintings used for this article have been created by Wolfgang Widmoser in 2007 and will be on display in his upcoming Exhibition "VENUS RISING", November 21-30 2007, Bentara Budaya, Jakarta

Reflections on the 2007 Writers Festival

2007-11-04T12:05:00.000+08:00

The writers from Australia and other countries are gone, live goes on in Ubud. But we like to recall the memories of the 'Event of the year in Ubud'. Let's start with what some of the writers have to say about the 2007 festival:

Miles Merrill summed up his experience with "it was the perfect place for those who tell stories. My dreams were full of spirits and ghosts".

Richard Flanagan claimed our event "was the best I have been to anywhere in the world. It was at its best, an extraordinary bridge between east and west, Muslim and Western, in the most exotic setting, and huge fun to boot. There could be no better answer by the Balinese to the horror of the bombings. Nothing was everyday, everything was joyful, and nobody remained unmoved".

Rana Dasgupta wrote, "Have just arrived back in Delhi and wanted immediately to thank you for a fantastic week in Ubud. The place is of course enchanting, but you also created a wonderful environment for conversation and thought".

Somaya Ramadan added, "It is an experience I shall always remember. The magic of Bali lingers on in my soul and I think I shall find my way back in the near future".

Nury Vittachi sent his good wishes, saying "Like everyone at the festival, I think we were all really thrilled at what a fabulous event it was. It was fabulous. Not just the best Ubud fest, but one of the best lit fests I have ever been to anywhere".

All quotes from the 'Reflections on the 2007 Festival' by festival director Janet de Neefe - read on for the whole article.

There is a funny mix of elation and sadness that comes with the end of each Festival. Elation over the success of the event and sadness at saying farewell to new friends. Somehow this year's line-up of writers was more special than ever - a truly marvellous group of people who came together with a generosity of spirit and extraordinary warmth. If Jeni Caffin, director of Byron Bay Writers Festival, fell in love six times a day, I must have fallen in love twenty times a day - with both the writers and the events.

There were so many wonderful and dynamic writers this year that I can hardly begin to list my favourites. But I would have to say that apart from the charismatic and eloquent Shashi Tharoor (those eyes!), Kiran Desai, Patrick Gale and Richard Flanagan were probably the writers who stole most people's hearts. Richard's carefully prepared papers on asylum-seekers, indigenous people and environmental concerns were so deeply moving that they left me speechless. As Deepika Shetty, Producer of Prime Time Morning on Channel News Asia later said, "Richard was amazing, amazing, amazing. I have yet to meet a man of his intellect who is so supremely grounded". Booker-prize winner, Kiran Desai was a breath of fresh air and her warm, down-to-earth manner was infectious and inspiring while UK writer, Patrick Gale, lived up to his charming reputation of being one of the jolliest writers in literary land.

But it was the Egyptian women, Somaya Ramadan and Iman Mersal, who I loved most of all. Saying farewell to Somaya Ramadan had me close to tears - it was one of the moments where you have to change the topic for fear of crying. And Iman Mersal became my 'Egyptian sister'. We spent most of our nights together, along with the ebb and flow of other writers, sipping wine while she smoked cigarettes in a sultry Lauren Bacall fashion. Her magnetic charm and wit had us laughing for hours. The night she sang Egyptian love songs at the Casa Luna Festival Club was sheer magic and one I will never forget.

Other writers I particularly enjoyed included Indonesian poet, Wiratmadinata, who added great gusto to our wine tasting event; Catherine Lim with her haunting stories of life in Singapore; Miles Merrilll with his theatrical wow-words preached to a packed poetry slam; Cok Sawitri who entered the realms of the seen and the unseen with her cosmic wisdom; and Angelo Suarez who belted out his angst at the Jazz Café. Nury Vittachi used shock tactics to make his mark in the last session of the Festival with an overt display of simulated passion with Indonesian man-killer, Julia Suryakusuma that left the audience both stunned and in stitches.

Tuesday night at the Sofitel Seminyak Bali was the unofficial final night of the Festival featuring the lovely Kiran Desai in a literary dinner with yours truly doing the interviewing. It was a romantic candle-lit affair, with the breezy backdrop of a midnight ocean, silhouetted palm trees and a waning moon. To say it was special is an understatement. Our host and generous sponsor, Dedi Panigoro from Medco Energi, provided a superb dinner with the additional entertainment of a smooth salsa dancing couple and guitar-strumming singing minstrels. No expense was spared. Just another night in paradise!

But let's have a look at what the writer's wrote about Ubud and the Festival.

Miles Merrill summed up his experience with "it was the perfect place for those who tell stories. My dreams were full of spirits and ghosts".

Richard Flanagan claimed our event "was the best I have been to anywhere in the world. It was at its best, an extraordinary bridge between east and west, Muslim and Western, in the most exotic setting, and huge fun to boot. There could be no better answer by the Balinese to the horror of the bombings. Nothing was everyday, everything was joyful, and nobody remained unmoved".

Rana Dasgupta wrote, "Have just arrived back in Delhi and wanted immediately to thank you for a fantastic week in Ubud. The place is of course enchanting, but you also created a wonderful environment for conversation and thought".

Somaya Ramadan added, "It is an experience I shall always remember. The magic of Bali lingers on in my soul and I think I shall find my way back in the near future".

Nury Vittachi sent his good wishes, saying "Like everyone at the festival, I think we were all really thrilled at what a fabulous event it was. It was fabulous. Not just the best Ubud fest, but one of the best lit fests I have ever been to anywhere".

You see what I mean? Wonderful words from a magical mix of people.

Our deepest thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Festival from writers, to audience members to volunteers and sponsors. It was a pleasure to have you all along for the ride and we'll see you in 2008!

Janet De Neefe

Reason to visit the Ubud Writers Festival

2007-10-10T07:07:00.001+08:00

One Reason to Attend the Next Ubud Writers and Readers Festival: "You'll catch one of the festival unique highlights. Such as this.

The above incident occured during the panel titled 'Something to Say', featuring four columnists: Made Wijaya, Shashi Tharoor, Nury Vittachi and Julia Suryakusuma. Deepika Shetty moderated the discussion. The audience could also enjoy a glass of complimentary arak. Enough to fire you up but far from enough to loosen up. So all happened without any chemical influences whatsoever.

In short, Made Wijaya was boring the audience with his long-winded speech and reading. Since Made wouldn't even stop after a couple of hints (Nury pretended to snore, for one), Nury went for more drastic measures with Julia.

And even after all that, Made kept reading.

For the full story, you can read the South China Post article in Nury's blog, or Deepika's post.

Nury's take on the discussion may be the ultimate conclusion of the topic, '[A column]'s not about you. It's about your readers.' About the courage to represent readers, Nury himself claimed that he had been sacked six times and sued nine times. Shashi interjected, 'And the tenth would be from Julia's husband.'

Nury related a story in early 1997, when the Chinese people were concerned about the health of Deng Xiaoping, at the time the leader of Communist Party of China. The government issued an official statement, 'Deng Xiaoping's condition is normal for a man of his age.' In reaction, Nury wrote in his column, 'The normal condition for a 92-year-old man is DEATH.' And fate showed that it has a sense of irony. Not long after that, Deng Xiaoping passed away. And so Nury got himself into some troubles.

He finished on this note, 'A column isn't just a privilege. It's something that you must use, to get sacked or sued for.'

(Source The Fool Has Landed.)

2008 Ubud literary fest October 14 - 19

2007-10-03T17:48:00.000+08:00

After nearly hundred literary events the Ubud Writers and Readers festival 2007 has come to a succesful end. Trisha Setori, contributor to the Jakarta Post has the story:

The 2007 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival closed late last week with a promise of an even bigger festival next year. The gala closing event was held at the Blanco Renaissance Museum during an evening of dance and music.

Festival director and founder Janet De Neefe said South American writer Isabelle Allende was already lined up for next year's event, which will run from Oct. 14 to 19.

The festival is a boon for the local economy, worth hundreds of millions of rupiah, according to Ngurah Wijaya of the Bali Tourism Board. He said the festival was helping to turn around a tourist industry that has been ailing since the two terrorist bombings in 2002 and 2005."While the festival is economically valuable, its power to inspire writers and readers is a repeat of the 1930s when writers told the world about Bali," said Wijaya.

More than 600 participants joined this year's festival, nearly double the previous year."This festival was extra special. We doubled our sales and there was a wonderful energy in the combination of writers, readers and events," said De Neefe on the sidelines of the closing ceremony.

Riding the vulcano - downhill!

2007-09-20T18:19:00.000+08:00

Pat, Chris, Ruth and Stuart on one of their walks starting directly from outside of the Ladybamboo Villa
After several cool and delicious dips in the pool and soaking in the still, quite nights in Ubud we decided to go on a bike ride. We were driven to the top of the volcano for a breakfast of pineapple pancakes and sweet tea, all with a sweeping view of the crater and lake. Then, off we went – down hill to Ubud!
Seeing Bali by bike is a great way of experiencing life here. We stopped to look at vanilla pods growing, to savour cool tropical fruits in a paddy field and to take pictures of the many happy children running in the streets after our bikes. After several miles of downhill we hit our first uphill, the guides were greeted with the shouts of ‘I thought this was all down hill’ as we slowed our pace and puffed up hill!

But, we were never disappointed as our friendly guides yelled ‘next left’ and we went rushing from concrete roads onto bumpy, muddy paths. These were the greatest parts of this trip as we ventured onto paths less travelled and were rewarded with seeing animals, birds, and Balinese people getting on with their daily lives.
By 1pm we had reached a temple, surrounded by huge trees and we rested here for a while. The air was so fresh and clean, and the temple seemed to be more about rejoicing in nature – a beautiful place to think and appreciate life. When we looked up to the sky, however, we saw dark clouds forming and knew that we were likely to get wet! Off we went, choosing the muddiest path possible of course!
A short way on we took shelter in a building whilst we watched the rain come down and sat with artists who were making their wooden handicrafts. We finally made it back to Ubud, hungry but happy. Our guides hadn’t finished with us yet though, as we were whisked off to have a banquet at Roda Restaurant on Jl. Kajeng. This was the perfect ending to a day that I think one we will all remember. After eating as much as we could, back to Lady Bamboo we went. Happy to shut out the noises of Ubud and welcome back our sanctuary, away from the worries of the world.

My husband, Stuart and I work in Banda Aceh, at the very tip of Sumatra, where the tsunami devastated so many lives in 2004. My parents, Pat and Chris always make it out from the UK to wherever we are working and this year was no different.

We booked to stay at the Lady Bamboo in Ubud because it looked so inviting on their website. When we arrived, we were not disappointed. Lady Bamboo is an oasis within an oasis. Ubud is a magical place, full of surprises and delights and Lady Bamboo was our tranquil refuge. The staff at Lady Bamboo are attentive, but not over whelming and blend into your own style of relaxing.

In memoriam Dr. A.A. Madé Djelantik

2007-09-17T13:41:00.000+08:00

I met Horst Jordt from the German Walter Spies Society this Thursday, the 13th of September at the cremation of my former family doctor Dr. A.A. Madé Djelantik. Soon after I received the following letter from Horst, which recalls the life of this outstanding Balinese Prince.

At exactly midnight, between the 4th and 5th of September, Dr. A.A. Madé Djelantik, our Honorary President of the Walter Spies Society Germany, passed away peacefully at Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar which he founded many years ago. Yesterday, the present director of the hospital, Prof. Dr. dr. AA Gedé Sudewa Djelantik, informed me that very soon,'Rumah Sakit Sanglah' in Denpasar will be renamed in his honor.

When he departed, a few family members and close friends were at his side.

Only days before, I brought a long-stemmed white orchid to his bedside together with a large reproduction of Walter Spies' Scherzo for Brassinstruments, a painting that he always loved.
Below the picture, I wrote: "Dear Dr. Djelantik, you encouraged us to start the Walter Spies Society in Germany and then gave us your precious counsel. Thanks for all your support. We admire you and love you."

He was visibly touched and tried to whisper something about the Scherzo. But when he realized that I could not understand, he saved the sad situation by smiling and, with the little energy he had, he stretched out his right thumb.
Dr. A.A. Madé Djelantik was the founder of the Yayasan Walter Spies Bali" (the Walter Spies Foundation Bali). At the outset, every year he carefully chose the projects or topics of discussion. In time, when the funding became sparse, the meetings could only take place every two years. The Walter Spies Festival of 1995 will remain a landmark event in the recent history of Bali. The festival centered on music, dance and theatre and was greatly responsible for inspiring teachers to bring back to life dances long forgotten, with new choreographies.

Following an appointment by the late President Sukarno, Dr. Djelantik taught medicine for many years at the Universitas Udayana in Denpasar. Later, he also taught "Aesthetics", a subject that was always close to his heart, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Denpasar, which he co-founded.

In his early youth, when he decided to become a doctor, he was the first Balinese to study medicine overseas. After graduating from the University of Amsterdam, in 1948 he was posted to some of the most remote parts of Indonesia at the time when this immense archipelago was still separated into two parts. He spent a period on the notorious island of Buru in the Moluccas. The person who banned him to this foresaken place was none other than his childhood friend, Anak Agung Gedé Agung, who at the time was the Prime Minister of the East-Indonesian Republic. Dr. Djelantik was suspected to be in contact with his friend Ngurah Rai, the great Balinese martyr who later died in Indonesia's struggle for independence.

And indeed there was still a relation between Dr.Djelantik and his former school mate Ngurah Rai. In 1947, short after the Balinese wedding of Astri Henriete Swart and Dr. Djelantik in the palace 'Puri Agung Karangasem', he received a letter written by Ngurah Rai:
"My dear friend, I fully approve of what you are doing. Please carry on with your mission. I will not follow your steps, because I have vowed that I will continue our armed struggle until my last drop of blood! Let us fight together, each in his own way. We remain brothers. Destroy this piece of paper. Ng.Rai"

After the Dutch had abandoned Indonesia Dr. Djelantik was able to settle back in Bali and work as a doctor. He was soon promoted to the position of "Chief Physician" responsible for the medical care of the entire island of Bali. When President Sukarno—whose mother was Balinese—came to stay in his residence in Tampaksiring, Dr. Djelantik served as his private doctor. Sukarno then asked him to start the faculty of medicine at the University of Udayana. It was at this time that Dr. Djelantik founded Sanglah Hospital, becoming its director.

Because of his success with malaria eradication in Bali, as soon as he retired, the World Health Organization employed him to help battle malaria in Nepal, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Highly educated and cosmopolitan, incredibly curious and well versed in several languages, Dr. Djelantik was one of the most unusual personalities of Bali. He was deeply rooted to his culture, and incorruptible in his principles. He faced many situations with great courage, and was incapable of betraying his beliefs and values.

Aside from his great vocation as a doctor and his commitment to the medical profession, he had a special love for classical music, and played the violin. He was also actively drawn to fine art, literature and philosophy. He read the works of German philosophers in the original language. At the funeral of his Dutch friend, Dr. Hans Rhodius, biographer of Walter Spies, he gave the farewell speech In Dutch. Some of the guests present could not help expressing their astonishment at the high quality of his language, which they had not heard in a very long time.

Thanks to his unforgettable humor, irony, self-effacement, and the ability to put arrogant authorities in their place without letting them feel his superiority, he was able to survive the many challenges of his life. Because of his education in the 'Puri Agung' of Karangasem as the son of last governing "raja" of East Bali, he exuded humble modesty, compassion, and humanity, despite his regal status.

In 1990, he published his book on Balinese Paintings (Oxford University Press). In 1995, he contributed his essay, The Magic Realism of Walter Spies, for the catalogue of the exhibition 'Walter Spies di Indonesia'. Frequently, he also gave public lectures on Walter Spies In his autobiography, The Birthmark: The Memoirs of a Balinese Prince (Periplus, Singapore, 1997), Dr. Djelantik paid homage to his beloved Dutch wife Astri Swart who died the same year of the publication. In 1999, he also published a work on aesthetics entitled Estetika - Sebuah Pengantar (Masyarakat Seni Pertunjukan Indonesia, Bandung).

Some years later, upon reviving after a month-long coma, he found himself unable to devote himself to writing which had always been his passion. So he began to paint watercolors about memorable episodes from his adventurous life. These paintings inspired the Italian storyteller Idanna Pucci to transform them into a collection of stories, Against All Odds: The Strange Destiny of a Balinese Prince, (Saritaksu, Bali, 2005).

Many people from all social classes in Bali came to bid farewell to Dr. AA Madé Djelantik, who has been lying in state under the roof of the bale pavilion in the garden of his house in Denpasar, where once he welcomed his guests. He has been transferred to the family palace 'Puri Agung Karangasem' in Amlapura, in East Bali on the 12th of September. His body has been cremated on the 13th of September according to the rites of the Bali-Hindu religion. His ashes had been given to the sea close to his father's water palace in Ujung.
With deep reverence to Anak Agung Madé Djelantik, our Balinese Honorary President.

Horst Jordt Deutsche Walter Spies Gesellschaft
More Info about Walter Spies or auf deutsch

Travel warnings for Australia, London and New York

2007-07-30T12:32:00.001+08:00

While we were travelling the States and especially Hawaii last year it sprang to my mind, that the US and other governments are using travel warnings as a tool to keep tourists away for the sake of their own tourist industries. The only room below 100 bucks we found on Hawaii's famed Waikiki beach strip was smelling strongly and restaurants were competing in restricting guests personal freedom - most amusing to see how lovers got separated through an invisible smokers fence, which does not allow to smoke inside of open air properties, but only in a distance of approx. 6 meters from it's borders.

One of the world’s leading travel writers has just emerged from trips to Australia and Bali bemused at the huge difference between the fears about Bali often generated in this country and the exquisitely rich and tranquil experiences of those who actually visit there.
Pico Iyer – author of eight books whose articles are published worldwide in magazines such as Time, the New York Times and the Financial Times – says he encountered superb security, among the best in Asia, and “Aussies who couldn't believe that so many of their friends and neighbors were staying at home”.

He also found the island was bustling and crowded with visitors from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and other parts of Asia while many Australians missed out on the attractions of one of the top destinations in the world. Asian millionaires were flying in hundreds of guests for weddings while the Japanese (among the world’s most security conscious people) were coming in record numbers because it is one of the places where they feel most able to relax, he says.

“The island struck me as far safer than Los Angeles, where I maintain a home, or Delhi, which I visited soon afterwards, or New York, or carjack-filled London, or most of the places I visit. The murder rate in American cities has long been higher than even in cities in the midst of civil war, and since the September 11 attacks it is even more the case that places like New York, Paris, Madrid or London are less safe than less high-profile places. Certainly, I felt much safer in Ubud, say, or Nusa Dua, in Bali, where I was staying to promote the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in September than I do in Southern California or in London.   “I met many Australians in Bali who couldn't believe that their friends and neighbors back home asked about danger in Bali when, statistically, it remains one of the safer places in Asia. “Indeed, I found myself in my hotel talking every day to an 80 year-old gentleman from Perth who had come to spend four months on the island, even though he was wheelchair-bound. After a lifetime in the hotel industry, living everywhere and grateful to be based in Perth since 1946, he couldn't stop telling me how HAPPY and well taken care of he felt in Bali, to the point where he was taking the first extended vacation of his life there.” (more...)

John Hardy sells jewellery firm - opens bamboo school and hotel

2007-07-16T18:35:00.000+08:00

John Hardy, founder of the John Hardy jewellery brand, based in Ubud, has sold his stake in the business to company president Damien Dernoncourt and creative director Guy Bedarida.

While WWD and other have have extensively reported about the sale John and his wife Cynthia offering now in a private press release some insights into the deal and reveal their plans for the future. Lots of goods things for them and Ubud are in the pipeline. And knowing Cynthia and John it is not surprising that things becoming visible already before they have been officially announced yet.

A small hotel with housing structures made from black bamboo (bambu betung hitam) and a school with holistic approach combined with elements from mainstream schooling opening up in the near future. But let us have a look at them personally:

About the school:

Scheduled to open in fall 2008, the school will be a member of Jürgen Zimmers 'School for Life' project, an international school initially serving day students from kindergarten through eighth grade. It is intended that in a few years’ time, a high school will be ready for operation, and the whole compound will be open 12 months a year with boarding facilities for students, their families, and adult visitors eager to quench their thirst for knowledge.

“We are building the School to create a new paradigm for learning: We want to cultivate physical sensibilities so that children adapt and grow capable, as well as spiritual awareness and emotional intuition to encourage them to be in awe of life’s possibilities,” says Cynthia Hardy. "We want this to be our legacy."
Source: Own research and Kul-Kul website

About the hotel:

Four little antique houses from Java built of teak timbers—formerly the houses of Javanese noblemen—gaze out to a spectacular rural view of faraway rice fields, temples, and mountains. Each house is discreetly fitted with air-conditioning and furnished with antiques and luxury accessories designed and collected by John Hardy.
Source: Hotel website

About the business deal:

Hardy will become the brand's ambassador and continue to help provide creative vision. His wife, Cynthia, will be a merchandising consultant. Terri Eagle, who joined the company from competitor David Yurman in 2005, will retain the title of president and chief executive officer of John Hardy USA. Dernoncourt, 35, has been president since 2003, and Bedarida, 43, has been in his role since 1999. An unnamed private equity firm backed the deal and Lincoln International acted as a financial adviser. It is unclear whether Hardy owned the majority in the firm or if he had partners. [Cindy understands there was a partner in Hong Kong]

Hardy's sales in the U.S.reportedly reached $150 million last year. We are a lifestyle brand and our strength is really in jewelry," Dernoncourt said. "We are about handmade luxury product and luxury with a soul. We believe that it's a brand with a real spirit, a real soul and a great future. The brand attributes are very strong." Bedarida said, "We're really following the heritage that John has given us. John is sort of a spiritual father to us. It's an incredible, exciting new era." The company has no plans to roll out stores in the U.S., with the exception of a Manhattan flagship slated to open in the next 18 months.
Source: WWD
More articles on Ubud News about the Hardys

Wolfgang Widmoser Website

2007-06-17T05:57:00.000+08:00

Thanks to Mark Ulyseas a great website just got better. Inspired by the fantastic reactions to the first solo web exhibition about Wolfgang Widmoser he has visited Wolfgang at his studio in the outskirts of Ubud on Bali and has contributed some great photos to the site. We show here Wolfgang with his beloved wife Diana and one of his seven children, Aura.

Wolfgang Widmoser has also contributed some more of his phantastic and photo realistic paintings to what looks to become one of the most popular websites about any artists living in Bali.

Sketching Ubud - timeless

2007-05-08T18:25:00.000+08:00

No 46, Ananda Cottages, Ubud, Bali
8.5" x 11.5" pencil in Daler Rowney sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Just saw again this nice drawing from well-known 'Traveler with a Sketchbook' Katherine Tyrrell. She is making marks with pencils, pen and ink. The sketch at the top of this post her room in Ubud's own Ananda Cottages in Ubud. Timeless, done at dusk - nearly 10 years ago.

Ananda Cottages sits in the outskirts of Ubud in middle of rice fields. Katherine notes the windows with no glass - only blinds........and the banana trees and palms right outside the window.

You can see more sketches from Katherine Tyrrell's two trips to Bali and Ubud on the Bali page of her website.

Do you like Martinis?

2007-04-05T04:11:00.000+08:00

Wolfgang Widmoser: Martinis inspired by Naughty Nuri's

If so, in Ubud there is only one choice to go to: Naughty Nuri's. Situated a bit out of town and opposite the famous Neka Museum it is owned and managed by Isnuri Suryatmi, with support from her husband Brian Aldinger from New York.

No, diners and drinkers at Naughty Nuri's demand far more than surface hype, coming in droves for what this smoky warung is famous for: Pork spareribs and a martini that has been called the best in Bali by some and the best in the world by others.

One sip of this knockout number and the mouth is alive with juniper berries, tang of lime and a mellowing in the bones. It's perhaps the flavor of the juniper berries that most amazes. When the berries hit the back palate the sensation is so full of zing that it is shockingly good.

As an added advantage to this incredible drink served for around 5 USD a shot is the chance to meet some of the famous and not so famous insiders living around here or coming in for a short stay. Wolfgang Widmoser, Ubud's leading painter has even made Nuri's to his marketing office, at least that is what he states is the reason for him hanging out there nearly every day. Above painting is made by him in exchange for a few more Martinis. Trisha Sertori, Contributor to the Jakarta Post with residence in Ubud has more on this trendy watering hole, which is the legitimate successor of the once famous Beggar's Bush from the Ubud of the eighties. But that is another story...

Bali News: Botanischer Garten in Ubud

2007-03-23T14:51:00.000+08:00

Bali News: Botanischer Garten in Ubud

Nyepi 2007 - The day of silence

2007-03-19T12:12:00.000+08:00

Sorry, No Post for today: We Are Out for Nyepi reads it on one Bali website. No phone call gets picked up, no email gets answered. The Balinese celebrating their New Year today: Nyepi.

No visitors are allowed to come to the island during the day of silence. All entry points, apart from the international airport, Gilimanuk Port in West Bali and Padang Bai Port in East Bali, will be closed. The island's Ngurah Rai International Airport will welcome its last flight on Sunday at midnight and will halt operations until the morning of March 20.

Ogoh-Ogohs 2006

The island is temporarily closed for 24 hours as of Monday morning at 6 a.m. through to the same time Tuesday to observe Nyepi (the Hindu Day of Silence).

90 percent of the island's 3.5 million inhabitants will practice Yoga Semedi and Catur Berata Penyepian (meditation), Amati Geni (which forbids them from lighting fires and switching on lights), Amati Karya (working), Amati Lelanguan (enjoying leisure activities) and Amati Lelungan (leaving their houses).

Visitors are encouraged to stay in their hotels during the holiday, as the island will be tightly guarded by traditional Balinese security guards, Pecalang, to ensure all people abide by the holiday regulations.

Bali will be completely darkened and silenced for a full day, allowing the island's Hindu population to meditate, contemplate and pray for a better future and visiting tourists to expereince one of Bali's most outstanding ceremonies as the Balinese welcome the Saka New Year 1929.

More photos with Ogoh-Ogohs 2006

We have illustrated this article with photos taken by Andreas Bittner at last New Years afternoon celebrations proceeeding the day of silence.

Start of Nyepi ceremonies: Melis Day

2007-03-16T06:59:00.000+08:00

Three days before Nyepi, all the effigies of the Gods from all the village temples are taken to the river in long and colourful ceremonies. There, they have are bathed by the Neptune of the Balinese Lord, the God Baruna, before being taken back home to their shrines.

Melasti (Melis) is meant to clean the pratima or arca or pralingga (statue), with symbols that help to concentrate the mind in order to become closer to God. The ceremony is aimed to clean all nature and its content, and also to take the Amerta (the source for eternal life) from the ocean or other water resources (ie lake, river, etc). Therefore big ceremonies are held at all major beaches, also on Saba beach close to Ubud.

Tawur Kesanga: A year ends with fun and noice

2007-03-04T18:59:00.000+08:00

As in many other villages one day before Nyepi Ubud will hold a large exorcism ceremony around noon around the main village cross road, the meeting place of the demons.

Ubud‘s Ogoh-ogoh (the fantastic monsters or evil spirits or the Butha Kala made of bamboo) are famous creatures for those carnival purposes. The Ogoh-ogoh monsters symbolize the evil spirits surrounding our environment which have to be got rid of from our lives .

Some are giants taken from classical Balinese lore. All have fangs, bulging eyes and scary hair and are illuminated by torches. Aim is to maintain a harmonic relation between human being and God, human and human, and human and their environments.

In the evening, the Hindus celebrating Ngerupuk, start making noises and light burning torches and set fire to the Ogoh-ogoh in order to get the Bhuta Kala, evil spirits, out of our lives. Sometimes pretty scary with all this noice and rockets around - till nearly total silence is falling over Bali.

Budiana - Melbourne next step after India

2007-02-20T21:35:00.000+08:00

I Ketut Budiana (55), well known painter from Ubud, Bali, will make a one-month visit to Melbourne, Australia, this April. "My visit is at the invitation and sponsorship of Dr Mizes Teven, an anthropologist from LaTrobe University in Melbourne," explained Ketut this Sunday in Bali.

During his stay in Australia, he will paint animals and every things relating to affection. The paintings were expected to be able to support the research on Hinduism, which had been carried out by Dr. Teven, he said.

"Dr Mizes has conducted researches in various places in Bali concerning the teachings of Siva," Budiana said. His works of art, both painted in Bali and which will be painted in Australia, will be displayed in LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

In addition to painting, he will also give information on the teachings of Siva to the Australian audience. 'Kundalini' a work by Budiana shown below may fit to this as would do other paintings by I Ketut Budiana clearily influenced by his earlier stay in India.

Ubud Tours I: Up to Kintamani

2007-02-18T16:24:00.000+08:00

An often recommended tour from Ubud is to get up to the village of Kintamani to have breakfast at a restaurant overlooking Lake Batur and Mount Batur. The first glimpse of this active volcano will take your breath away even more if you have managed to take one of the organised Tours offered by the local Padma Tours in Jl. Kajeng, central Ubud or the International Sobek with its tour office on the Sayan river. You can start the day with an early breakfast at 3 a.m. in Ubud's Ladybamboo Villa and other participating Ubud Accommodations and returning back to Ubud for an early lunch and a good siesta. The strong ones with little time let the morning roll out with one of the lovely bike downhills of Bali, others might do that on a seperate day - or not at all:)

Balinese in the mountains look differently shows photographer ©Ingo Jezierski

The bike route from Kintamani to Ubud winds down through farmland, fields and tiny villages where ordinary Balinese go about their lives. Little children run out as you pass, waving and calling "Hallo." The guide stops frequently to acquaint you with local crops, including coffee, cacao, turmeric, ginger and taro.

Bali is so gorgeous, you can't help but gasp and stop from time to time when a hillside terraced with rice paddies or a thousand-year old temple comes into view.

Ubud-Impressions I: Ladybamboo Villa

2007-01-20T10:14:00.000+08:00

Still dreaming from those days in 2006 in Ubud... After many years I got the chance to visit Bali again, one of my favorite travel destinations in the world. Some of you might remember to have seen photos of my earlier visits in the Apa Guide books.

This time I was especially lucky as a friend was recommending me the newly opened Ladybamboo Villa as a cozy place to stay. And the Villa really fits my needs. With its central location directly in the center of Ubud it's an perfect place to explore Ubud by walking, which comes especially handy for those like me, who do not drive a car.
I like to share with Ubud.com some of the photos I made while rediscovering your beautiful artists village. Let's start here with a shot from the Ladybamboo gardens.

September 2007 - Writers and Readers come to Ubud

2007-01-13T11:10:00.000+08:00

The dates for the next Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2007 have been set to the 27-30 September 2007. The theme this time is Sekala Niskala : The Seen and Unseen.

The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival has itself established as a stand-out, world class event in the Asia Pacific region. The festival attendance in 2006 doubled the year before and festival organisers said feedback from 2006’s event was better than ever. And they continue: 'Of course, all of this would not be possible without the support and enthusiasm of the festival’s many sponsors, scores of volunteers and the community of Ubud'.

We promise to keep you updated, but please mark the last week of September already as 'have to go to Ubud'.

Belly Dance in Ubud

2007-01-13T09:33:00.000+08:00

Just back from one of their fantastic Latino Nights I have to prepare to go to the Jazz Cafe again. In another Ubud first they will present NIGMA, Bellydancer, choreographer, Oriental Dance instructor and founder of the “El-Oasis” Bellydance & Arabic Folklore School. A native of Poland she is now based in Madrid and has made her way around the world dancing and teaching the art of Belly Dance. You can read more about her fascinating life on her own homepage.

But what is reading compared to getting a first hand impression of her art? She has just finished a set of classes here in Bali and is now set to perform in Ubud. Drop by at the Jazz Cafe this sunday for an evening of tribal and oriental style belly dance. Nigma will perform three passes:
* THE ARABIAN UD
* NAY AND
* TURKISH SAZ LUTE

Sunday 14th January from 8 pm onwards, No admission charges
Jazz Café Jalan Sukma 2, Tebesaya, East - Ubud, near the main cremation ground, Tel +62 361 976594

Wolfgang Widmoser - the best painter of Bali?

2007-01-11T12:22:00.000+08:00

Ubud presents a new website featuring one of the most gifted artists of Bali: Austrian Wolfgang Widmoser, already a well known painter from Europe to the shores of Australia. His astounding body of work is now featured on www.ubud.com/wolfgangwidmoser.

Praised by many previewers as the best website about a Bali artist, it presents over one hundred of his recent paintings in an easy format featuring flash movies and 'resting' stills for those with slower Internet access.

The website affords insight in the inner workings and inspirations of Wolfgang: Inspired by the people of Ubud, his family and the colourful environment in which he lives, Wolfgang treads into exiting and unknown territories from his recent virtual-reality paintings of Ubud water lilies to female Balinese heads to vibrant abstract reality paintings.

Thanks to Wolfgang the site will help promote Ubud as the art centre of Bali and beyond. We invite other artists, galleries, music and cooking class organisers as well as schools of Ubud to present their work in a similar fashion on our website.

JAZZ and Jegog

2007-01-07T08:00:00.000+08:00

After successfully staging great Christmas and New Years parties Ubud is looking forward to another special night at the Jazz Cafe.

The YAA Jazz Orchestra & Planet Bamboo

International Jazz composer and musician Yuko Shitora collaborates with Planet Bamboo.
Yuko Shirota - (composer , singer & producer ) on keyboards
Tommy G - on saxophone
Kenji - on drums
Swentra - on Jegog (bamboo percussion)
Arif Hendrasto & friends of Planet Bamboo - on additional percussion

Sunday 7th January from 8 pm onwards, No admission charges
Jazz Café Jalan Sukma 2, Tebesaya, East - Ubud, near the main cremation ground
Tel +62 361 976594