Bali Arts Festival to kick off next Monday

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to officially open the 34th Bali Arts Festival at the Ardha Chandra Art Center in Denpasar on the evening of Monday, June 11.

Prior to the opening ceremony, the President will attend a cultural parade starting from Bajra Sandhi Monument in Renon park through a number of major streets in the city in the afternoon.

The arts fiesta, Bali’s largest, will feature more than 300 traditional and contemporary art performances, exhibitions and discussions on cultural issues. Around 15,000 local and international artists are expected to participate in the one-month festival from June 11 through July 7. This year’s Bali Arts Festival will carry the theme of “Paras Paros”, which means togetherness in Balinese. All performances during the festival will adopt this concept. “We hope that this year’s festival will run smoothly and the organizers can minimize the difficulties and problems like those we faced last year,” Governor Made Mangku Pastika commented after a preparatory meeting here on Tuesday.

During the evaluation meeting, the governor identified a number of problems such as limited parking space, the overcrowded cultural parade, absence of information on performing arts and unreliable schedules for performances. “This year’s festival shouldn’t have to deal with the previous problems. Organizers have to anticipate them and find solutions,” Pastika added. The street parade will feature traditional Balinese cultural attractions from across the island. At the official ceremony, held at the 10,000 seat-capacity Ardha Chandra open stage, the President and the governor will sound a kulkul (a traditional wooden bell) from the Okokan musical ensemble from Tabanan regency to mark the start of the parade and the opening of the festival.

The administration will provide a special place for tourists who plan to watch the parade. “Tourists need a proper place to watch the cultural parade. Usually, they mingle with the rest of the audience, which makes it difficult for them to see the parade,” the governor said.  The opening ceremony will also feature the oratorio Purusadha Santa dance drama performed by students of the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Denpasar. The Bali provincial administration also plans to introduce its official dance entitled Bali Dwipa Jaya (Prosperous Bali) at the opening night.

The festival will be highlighted by a large variety of Balinese performing arts, including shadow puppets, gong kebyar, jogged bumbung and rare dances and theatrical performances.  In addition to traditional arts, the festival will also feature modern and contemporary arts, including a pop music concert, a modern theater competition, painting exhibitions, discussions and seminars. Seven foreign art troupes from four countries have confirmed their participation in the upcoming festival, including from the US, Japan, India, and the UK. by Ni Komang Erviani on 2012-06-07