Objects from Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance are deinstalled following the close of the exhibition.

Most of the objects in Bali were borrowed from lenders in the Netherlands. Returning these works was therefore quite a journey.
On a Sunday evening I watched as a semi-truck was loaded with the crated artwork at the museum. We then hit the rode for an all night drive to Los Angeles International Airport, arriving at 4:00 AM for a flight several hours later. We waited in the truck until it was time to load the cargo.

It is my responsibility to make sure that all the crates make it safely on the plane. This can be one of the most stressful parts of the journey because I cannot board the plane until all the crates are inside the aircraft.  I have a security supervisor down on the tarmac who will call me to tell me that it is okay to board.  For this flight I can also see the loading from the window of the boarding area. Only half the crates have made it onto the plane when the flight crew calls for final boarding.  I have to pull out my best negotiating skills to explain why I am not able to get on the plane.  Fortunately, the crew allows me to check in and I only board after I receive that crucial phone call giving me the okay.

The journey doesn’t end at the airport in Amsterdam. I must next accompany the crates back to the many lenders all over the Netherlands.  Here is a photo from inside the truck while on the road.

Our objects conservator, Mark Fenn, flew directly to Amsterdam to assist with final condition checking. As each crate is returned to its owner, we must unpack them and condition check the objects to make sure that they traveled safely. In the picture below  Mark is working with Fiona MacKinnon, registrar from the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde, Leiden. They are looking over the golden throne chairs that were featured in the exhibition.  The chairs are safely back in the storage area in Leiden.

I am pleased to report that all the objects from the Bali exhibition traveled safely back to the lenders in the Netherlands and in the United States. I finally get to close these files and begin concentrating on my next exhibition project, Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, opening in May 2012.

Although you might guess that things around the Museum are winding down–we’ve less than a month of the Bali exhibition left–think again.

The rare opportunity to see noted puppet master I Wayan Wija brings an added benefit: Wija has brought a number of his puppets and miniatures, several of which will be available in the Museum Store through his Asia Alive residency, which runs until August 28th.

Current favorites include the frogs and lion (with wagging tail), and quite a few of the miniatures, which are essentially small, unmounted paintings done in the style of the wayang (puppets).

Ratih, the Balinese goddess of romantic love, lust, & everlasting pleasure

And then there’s my personal favorite:

If you can’t make one of the performances or talks, stop by the Museum Store to see the work of one of the world’s greatest living masters.

When someone mentions Bali and Java, what do you see?  Some speak of impossibly verdant jungle broken by blue expanses of sea and sky, sharp-toothed deities in wood and stone, dancers dripping with gold ornament, the press of tourists.

Perhaps because I have never visited Indonesia, I tend to think of its art and craft, the dislocated souvenirs of Paradise.  Like the pieces on view in the galleries, they’re my link to places I may never visit, and so become microcosms of a word-of-mouth world.  But there’s one thing I don’t need imagination for, and that’s batik.

One begins by drawing on silk or cotton with wax, and then dying the fabric.  You draw again, and dye again, creating another layer of ornament and color, picking up where the last design left off, incorporating new motifs and textures.
Like a lot of us around here, I like to DIY (or rather, Do It Myself), and I taught myself how to batik with both cap and tulis.  The block that you see above is a cap, or batik stamp.  This contrasts with the technique of tulis, literally meaning “written.”

Of course, saying I’ve done batik is a little like saying “I know how to cook,” which should not imply that I’m French Laundry caliber.  Although it was fun (and messy), I never got anywhere near the level of skill of the Language of Cloth artists, whose work will be available for purchase at the Museum Store’s July 15th & 16th trunk show.

Although ostensibly the owner of Language of Cloth, Daniel Gundlach is an artist in his own right, collaborating with batik artists, innovating and riffing on traditional techniques and blurring the line between craft and art.  We received word that he’s put together what he considers his finest collection of batik for the trunk show, including both cap-printed and tulis cloth.

A substantial component of the work we do with artists and vendors involves translating the stories of people, places, and art; with the pictures that Daniel has sent us, we can show you another facet of this world.

"With Asif in Pekalongan, I collaborated on a series of scarf designs that use his extensive collection of cap on habutai silk. I hope these can be offered at a price that will make them especially attractive."

"Bowo in Cirebon specializes in batik dongeng (story batik) and is working on a batik depicting the plight of the oceans."

" Hartono, whose work you have in the store already, has produced a number of beautiful shawls on a lovely raw silk from Cambodia, and is still working on another collection of new scarf designs."

To learn the full story, you won’t want to miss this event.  And for those who prefer silver to silk, Joshua Smith will be in attendance with his Indiri Colection of modern Balinese jewelry.

Trunk Show and Sale: Hand-Drawn Batik from Java, Sterling Silver Jewelry from Bali
Friday, July 15 & Saturday, July 16
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Classroom
Free admission

For more information and to get a sneak peek at additional images, visit the Museum Store’s events page.

This Balinese folktale about a gecko provides another important lesson:

Especially for Teachers: For lesson plans on Balinese art and culture that coincide with the concepts expressed in the above videos, view the related Educator Resource Packet. In addition, hear these stories and more and explore related artworks with your students by scheduling a free storytelling school tour at the Asian Art Museum.

The series of events depicted in the scroll (left) comes from a northeastern Indian version of the Story of Rama (the Ramayana). As is typical of scrolls from Bengal, in northeastern India, the scenes unfold in a linear fashion. This painted scroll would have been carried from village to village by a storyteller-priest who who would narrate the stories in public performances. The scroll was unrolled scene by scene as the storyteller’s narrative unfolded. Such paintings not only served as visual aids but simultaneously affirmed the existence of the mythic world they represented. Moreover, the recitation of religious stories and the audience’s participation through listening and viewing were means by which worshipers could demonstrate their piety and accrue religious merit.

Especially for Teachers: Through the study of The Story of Rama (The Ramayana) as well as a broader view of the arts and culture of Bali, students can experience how the literary, visual, and performing arts can provide a lens through which to understand the world—and to reflect on their own identities and world views. Prompt your students to explore how artists communicate events and characters with the use of the Lesson: Epic Story Scrolls (Grades 5-8). In this lesson, students will work in groups to observe and describe scenes in the scroll, then compare the context of the scroll’s use with those of scrolls illustrating other epics. They will then create a biographical scroll from the perspective of a character in The Story of Rama (The Ramayana). View The Abduction of Sita (an Excerpt from the Ramayana) video with your students to provide additional context for this lesson.

Hinduism originated in northern India and moved to Southeast Asia through maritime trade. More than 1,000 years ago, evidence of Hinduism existed in much of Southeast Asia. Though Hinduism is still popular in Southeast Asia, the Indonesian island of Bali is the only place in this vast region where a form of it is dominant even today. One of the ways Hinduism spread was through the telling of the Ramayana, a 1,000-year-old Indian epic.

Especially for Teachers: Download the Ravana handout (pdf), for activities related to this object and the Ramayana (The Story of Rama) to conduct with your students in the museum or in your classroom. For related videos and curriculum guides, visit the Asian Art Museum on ArtBabble (a video site dedicated to art content) and the Asian Art Museum’s  Educator Resources page. We would love to hear your feedback on our new Art At-A-Glance format. Stay tuned: there are more to come!

But thanks to the Bali exhibition, tigers are still making a strong showing.

If you, like me, can’t get enough of the bared fangs and bugged eyes of Bali’s critters, don’t miss a rare opportunity to see an open rehearsal of I Made Moja and Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s The Creatures of Balinese Mythology.

The (free!) show starts this Thursday, March 3rd, at 6PM, and tickets for the March 11th and 12th performances can be purchased here.

Apologies to all my rabbit friends–but until such time as someone shows me a fierce bunny, it’s all about tiger pride.

Here is what’s happening: we’re bringing Bali to you! Museum exhibition staff have been busy unpacking loans, condition checking objects, arranging cases, and even building a Balinese pavilion under our own roof.

We still have two weeks  until the exhibition opens to the public, but here’s a quick peek of what we’re doing between now and then.

Senior Registrar Sharon Steckline checks up on a set of gold earrings, held secure with their new custom mounts.

While the galleries are being prepared, borrowed objects are carefully unpacked.

After unpacking, objects such as this spectacular barong mask must be condition checked before installation.

Because of its large size, the pavilion in Vinson gallery was transported disassembled. Here it is being put back together.

Exhibition Designer Stephen Penkowsky supervises the placement of carved statues in Osher gallery.

The galleries begin to take shape as the objects move into place.

Bali Temple Explorer is now live, both on our website and in the galleries. This remarkable interactive film by Martin Percy, produced by unit9, lets you explore a complex of three small temples located near the village of Bedulu in Bali. You can travel through the site by clicking on the video images, and a menu at the bottom of the screen offers a map and commentary. The museum is grateful to Martin Percy and unit9 for making this interactive experience available as a complement to our Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance exhibition. Let us know what you think!

UPDATE: Bali Temple Explorer has won the 2011 Webby award in the Travel and Adventure category. Congratulations to all!

Bali Shortcuts: Ubud Cremation from Something Creative on Vimeo.

I am hoping the filmmakers who made this piece will give us permission to show it as part of our exhibition. In the exhibition, there will be a platform used for the actual burning of the animal coffin with the body inside, a ritual dagger that may have been used to cut open the coffin so the body may be placed inside, and a painting showing many of the cremation ceremonies.