CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL ‘NORTH BALINESE CULTURE’

July 30^th – August 2^nd

Singaraja, Bali

www.northbali.org

Henrice Vonck 081 236 713 448

The town of Singaraja, sitting on the north coast of Bali, will host the conference and festival ‘North Balinese Culture’, to be held from July 30^th to August 2^nd, 2009. Its projected goal is to study the cultural heritage and artistic identity of the Buleleng regency, as well as to stimulate the revitalization of its artistic activity, particularly its performing arts.

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Makepung or bull race is the only spectacular crowd-gather event that is held in Jembrana Regency. Even the regency itself is nick named after this sport event, Bumi Makepung or Land of Bull Race.

The origin of Makepung is quite a mystery, some say it began as nothing more than rivalry between local farmers; others assume that it is introduced by Madurese migrants to celebrate the end of the rice harvest.

This ancient competitive race takes place on a race track about 800 meters long situated outside Negara, the capital city of Jembrana. The races are usually held three times a year, in August, September, and October.

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Back in my childhood days, my friends and I used to play traditional Balinese children game called “meong-meongan” or “the cat” game. It is a simple game, derived from the well known theme of a cat chasing a mouse. But this time I will not talk about the game but the song that accompanied this game. The game is accompanied by a simple a joyful traditional Balinese children song entitled “meong-meong” (free translation into English: “cat, oh cat”)

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Hundreds of children, mostly of 3 to 15 years of age, gathered in the inner courtyard of Duwur Bingin Temple, in Tegalalang village on Wednesday (4/22/09). They dressed in traditional clothes some of them were bare-chested. They had painted their faces and bodies with colorful images and pattern and each of them carried a slender staff made from the branch of palm, decorated with colorful flowers and young coconut leaves. They are the participants of Ngerebeg ritual.

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Hosted by Undiksha, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha Singaraja. With the support of Yayasan Pelestarian Warisan Budaya Bali Utara (Bali), foundation Irama, BAKE society (the Netherlands).

Undiksha, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha Singaraja presents the first International Conference and Festival on the ‘Cultural Identity of Buleleng’. Both Conference and Festival take place in the Bali Taman Hotel, Lovina Beach. Its aim is to (re-)discover the cultural heritage of the Buleleng regency, to describe, discuss and expose its artistic identity, and to stimulate the revitalization of its performing arts in particular. Highlights include a mabarung (competition) between east and west Buleleng gong kebyar orchestras, an evening featuring rare and sacred ensembles, and the presentation of contemporary and newly commissioned works. All concerts feature seniman tua (old masters). In the context of the conference, lecture-demonstrations will be given on the specific characteristics of North Balinese performing arts, and its interactions with south Bali. The conference also marks the opening of Roots of North Balinese culture, an exhibition of old photographs of parba, drawings, prasi and other works that have been preserved in Dutch libraries.

We still welcome contributions to the conference. Let yourself be inspired by the program below! We strongly hope that all known performers and scholars in the field will consider participating. We also hope young experts and artists will be present in large numbers.

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