Author: jp

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Kan Kulak – portraying Bali culture

He reminds me of Bhoma, the spirit of the earth: Kan Kulak is a legendary artist in Ubud’s neighbouring village of Peliatan, representing Balinese culture and taksu (spirit). He studied art in Yogyakarta, but his main influence are his roots in Bali.

There is much more to discover in his art, diving deep into the complexity of Bali’s spiritual cosmos in Kan Kuak’s large black and white paintings.

Kan Kulak’s depiction of Dewi Sri, the goddess of rice, shows how all creatures and spirits depend on her and are connected to each other. In Balinese belief, all the space around us is full of spiritual energy and living spirits, so in Balinese art you will often find the whole space on the canvas or sheet of paper filled with creatures.

Black & white drawing is an ancient art in Bali, using a bamboo stick to draw. Nowadays, graphit is used also.

Kan Kulak is also in charge of community projects, designing and supervising the production of sculptures such as the giant bull sarcophagi for cremation ceremonies or the creation of a monster for the Ogoh Ogoh parade on the eve of Nyepi.

Above: Ogoh Ogoh designed by Kan Kulak in collaboration with artist friend Epong and other community members from his banjar in Peliatan.

Soon more on Bali art, Kan Kulak and his friends.

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Follow the dolphins to Flores

If you ask me for one of my favourite trips in Indonesia, come on board the handmade wooden boats of Perama Tours and cruise for three days and nights to Flores. That’s Indonesia! Watch the carpenters shape the boats in their dock, feel the wood under your feet, watch the dolphins follow the boat near Komodo Island.

How is it that this tour opportunity is quite unknown & a secret trip? Perama has chosen a promotion that I would never have chosen: they call the package “Komodo Hunting Trip”. Well, a visit to Komodo Island is included, but the beauty of the trip goes far beyond that!

Day 1

Coming from Bali, you need to take the ferry to Sengigi in Lombok, where the Perama tour to Flores begins. On the first day, the Perama bus travels across Lombok to their landing sites, with stops along the way to give an insight into the local culture & traditions of Lombok’s ethnic groups. But the breathtaking part for me was arriving at Perama’s traditional dock where they make their Bugis Phinisi style boats and see the barefoot carpenters at work.

 

The boats in the dock look like strange pieces of furniture. Forget all the plans – it’s all in the heads & hands of the skilled carpenters.

 

After sunset, the crew lights a bonfire and the boat sets sail for Sumbawa, the island east of Lombok. You sleep on the boat – it feels like a seventies adventure. Thank God I escaped the comfort zone. And nowadays – it’s a rare experience! The captain is an Indonesian who has known the sea for decades – I have never felt so safe on a boat.

2nd day

Arriving at the Sumbawa coast in the morning, the boat stops at the small island of Satonda for some snorkelling & island visiting. The boat then heads east with a stop at Kilo Beach, Sumbawa.

Day 3

After another night, the ship reaches the archipelago around the Komodo Islands. The beauty of the archipelago in the Marine National Park around Komodo and Labuan Bajo is breathtaking. Dolphins followed our boat.

After stops at Komodo and Pink Beach, the boat continues east.

Cruising towards Flores, the sea is dotted with small islands that the ship passes like in a wonderland, the archipelago gets more and more beautiful.

The harbour town on the west coast of Flores is called Labuan Bajo. Final stop of our boat tour. In the village yo find plenty of accommodations and one-day boat tours around the marine park with snorkeling and island stops.

Touring the inner island of Flores: A motorbike is the best way to explore Flores. But beware of the winding mountain roads of Flores and the cold mountain nights.

More about soon in the next chapter, Travelling Flores.

Perama Tour link here

+++ Update 2023 +++ Perama Tours had a hard time in the Covid epidemy and discontinued many of its famous tour programs including this tour to Flores, as well as its famous ship dock. Today, Perama offices are mainly brokers for general tour offers by third parties and some old short-term programs of their own. Boat tours to Flores still exist by third parties, but a bit more pricy.

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Kali temple in Singapore

All our roots go back to India – feel the echo of centuries: visiting a Hindu-temple dedicated to goddess Kali in Singapore October 2018.  Giving life and taking it, ancient goddess Kali can give us an understanding of the ambivalent power of mother earth.

Enter the majestic door…

Veerama Kali Amman Temple started as a shrine 1855, a first temple was built 1881 by Bengali community members.

A devotee contacting goddess Kali.

 

 

The flame is an important part of Hindu ceremonies. Agni, god of fire, is one of the oldest gods  in India besides Indra, long time before belief of trimurti (Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma ) came up.  

 

Shiva

Kali is an incarnation of the wife of Shiva.

Her sons are Ganesha and Murugan. In Tamil Hindu community, Murugan (also known as Kartikeya) is very important. I visited Thaipusam festival in Kuala Lumpur dedicated to Murugan, where devotees fall in trance, see my reportage on Maptia here.

Shiva

Below: goddess Saraswati is  the wife of Brahma.

 

accessories like the drum and cobra snake helps to identify the wife of Shiva.

 

This shrine might be dedicated to Hanoman.

Kali and her dark powers:

 

Where to find

Veeramakaliamman temple is located right in the middle of Little India at the main road Serangoon Road 144

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Hubud co-working space Bali

Hubud is a legend – founded in 2013 in Bali’s traditional city of Ubud, it has been ranked among the world’s top ten co-working spaces for years and has won multiple awards. Why? As one of the first co-working spaces, it was a blueprint and model of how to do it right, the balance of the best at a highly professional level.

Community spirit, skill sharing, meet-ups, inspiring talks, networking, great hospitality and close to nature, the founders knew exactly what they wanted and made it happen – in the early days of digital nomads shaping what co-working spaces should be at their best.

Its bamboo architecture was inspired by the Green School. I’m longing for such a place to work – close to nature. Barefoot in an open space, meeting people from all over the world in a highly active atmosphere of creating & sharing – paradise for me.

To be inspiring, it needs diversity. Not just business people and coders, but artists, designers, bloggers, NGO people, scientists, spiritual people and more. I love coming here and meeting all these people who are hungry to create something new, to break out of traditional stereotypes.

Diversity needs access for all: Ubud sticks to a fair pricing model that allows access to all member events for a low basic monthly membership fee. Thank you for keeping it affordable!

Hubud also brought PetchaKutcha and FuckUp nights to Ubud, sharing inspiring life stories, and was one of the pioneers in creating an international collaboration of co-working spaces (Co-working Alliance for Asia Pacific, CAAP) and a global learning community (see Hubud Global Learning).

Members’ lunches & social events promote networking.

Thanks for all and keep it going!

Visit Hubud online: Hubud.org

+++ Update +++  Hubud did not survive Covid close-down. The rent of the place was too high, Hubud had to shut down and did not open again since then. Alternative co-working spaces like Outpost try their best, but the creative vibe of this legendary pioneer co-working space is gone forever. The new co-working space Beluna in Ubud comes close to Hubud in terms of its bamboo architecture, but there are by far fewer lively skillshares and meet-ups. It feels more like a quiet retreat there. Outpost hosts international digital nomads who are more business-oriented and is less a home for a creative community like Hubud has been with its great diversity of members. You will also find fewer local Indonesian co-workers at Outpost, as the starting price for a membership is considerably high.

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Meet-Up for Photographers, Filmmakers, Creatives at Hubud October 4th 2018

Thanks for coming and sharing!

We were happy to welcome Joe Yaggi, who founded Jungle Run Film productions 1993 in Bali. He worked with BBC, National Geographic and other major broadcasters of documentary film (see also Ring of Fire ). At our Meet-Up Joe talked about Bumi Hijau TV reaching millions Indonesians via local television and his Swadaya project with Rio Helmi, how they raised 25.000 Dollar to shoot a pilot in East Java soon coming out.

Videographer Brian Ebbs presented his latest documentary on the Lombok  earthquake LombokStrong and other works. We also discussed the inspiring work of our colleague Marko Randelovic.

Neyna from Jakarta showed her submissions for portfolio night in Singapore and told us about Doc.Now! workshop  in the Alleyway Café Denpasar and the upcoming MiniKino festival for short films October 6th to 13th taking place in different locations around the island. Have a look on the festival booklet here

Patricia Segovia from Peru showed us, how she started to share her travel experience on social media like her instagram supported by a community back home in Peru

Daiana Paduan from Argentina told us about her travel blog for Spanish speaking audience Dale una vuelta al mundo and how she started photographing to support her writing.

Myself as the host of the evening I presented my latest multi-media history project in my hometown Time Echo ( http://time-echo.de) , my photo reportages on South East Asian culture ( like Ogoh-Ogoh, a reportage used to pitch for a documentary on the same subject now) my Green School Documentary and the launch of the new Travel Blog Cosmic Beachcomber

For blogging, I suggested using WordPress Page builder Elementor, which I discovered on a recent talk on Hubud.

It was a joy hosting, you can catch up  with me on facebook  or on my website Joo Peter

By the way, the cover photo I shot in Jaisalmer, Rajastan.

See you next time

Joo Peter

 

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Dukun Jawa – a Balinese photographer

I’m proud to present my friend  Dukun Jawa, one of the best masters of classic photography on the island.  There are photographer legends like Rio Helmi and David Metcalf working in Bali since decades, but let’s bring much more local artists to the headlines!  My friend Kan Kulak introduced me to Dukun Jawa, who lives east of Ubud in a truly Santai village.

You will spot Dukun Jawa on major traditional events, deeply rooted in and dedicated to traditional Bali culture.

Dukun Jawa runs also photography courses, contact datas below.

Dukun Jawa ( I Nyoman Pujawan )

Photographer, tour photography guide, Ubud, Bali. WA: +6282145025800
email: alassangker@yahoo.co.id www.jawanphotography.com

 

There are also a lot of young photographer artists on Bali with great potential like Epong, who is also a gifted carving artist.

Below Epong is working on a Ogoh-Ogoh head designed by Kan Kulak.

See also my photo reportage on Ogoh Ogoh on Maptia here

 

 

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Bamboo Architect Nau Schlosser

20 minutes North of Ubud Nau Schlosser and Sacha Stone made their dream come true: Akasha. Hidden in the rice fields, artists are experimenting with new bamboo architecture and interior design.

Nau Schlosser is a Spanish architect working an bio architecture with all his passion, leading the art to a new level with computer aided design and collaborating with many like-minded artists.

I met Nau Schlosser contemplating there on his new projects on my first visit there. Akasha was completed 3 years ago.

Like Green School architecture, a new technique helps to make bamboo a lasting material, resistant to insects. Nau Schlosser uses silica to petrify bamboo instead of boric acid, which is used by Green school. More on the techniques at the end of this article.

 

Part of the experimental playground is the elaborate light design by Sacha Stone, who created the interior design.

Building close to nature is essential for Nau Schlossers architecture.

All design is inspired by nature, like in this new project below

After a computer-aided design process, construction is done fundamentally based on century-old Asian knowledge in Bamboo construction.

Check out Nau Schlossers website here: http://bioarc.co

See also my story and documentary film on Green School

(c) all photos by Joo Peter, architecture plans by (c) bioarc.co

About techniques to preserve bamboo

silica for petrfication here

traditional methods (water, fire) boric acid and lime water:

http://www.kitilfarm.com/bamboo_preserving.php

Film on a mobile version of  treatment with boric acid here

 

 

 

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Toraja Land – Sulawesi

Living in a small region of the mountains of Sulawesi, the Toraja people are a proud, independent and smart. They keep a unique heritage alive and are famous for their Tau Tau figures, effigies of the deceased family members buried in caves in rocks. Major events are funerals in the village with sacrifices of buffalos.

White buffalos are the most sacred to the Toraja people, and a lifetime of savings can be spent on it for a funeral ceremony.

After exploring the jungle for hidden graveyards in caves with their famous, boat-like shaped coffins, I bumped into a rice farmer living close by.

He told me he was learning Spanish by himself and had visited Europe some time ago, travelling from Amsterdam to Vienna during the winter time. Then he returned Sulawesi, continued his work in the rice fields and built a new traditional house. That’s the way Sulawesi people are. There might be a SUV parked outside, and the mummy of their grandma in the back of the house   — they know how to balance tradition and modern life.

A ritual rice storage building in a small forest mountain village

Rock tombs for the spirits of the ancestors, with Tau Tau effigies.

Men singing and dancing on a funeral ceremony. Buffalos and pigs are sacrificed to ensure wealth in afterlife.

Wooden, carved coffins in a holy cave in Toraja land. The old coffins are shaped like boats. Researchers and local people believe, that the ancestors of the Torajas came by boat to Sulawesi, shaping their houses and coffins like boats in memory of their origin.

family member in traditional costume at a traditional funeral in a village

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Ancient Fire – Tribes in Flores

he Ngada people in Flores are still living in an ancient matriarchal society, where women are the head of the clans. When a couple marries, the man moves to live with the woman’s family and works for them. Houses are symbols of female power and the process of building a new house is followed by a ceremony, where men sacrifice animals (a treasure in archaic society), cooking and sharing all in a big feast.

Bena village is seated below volcano Inerie, close to the sea. Ngada people are traditionally animistic and worship their ancestors — today their old beliefs peacefully coexist with their Christianization by the Portuguese centuries ago.

I visited Bena village for a major event, the ritual renewal of a clan house, owned by the matriarch mother. The final part, setting up the roof, is celebrated with music, sacrifices and a feast for the entire community.

Proud mother of a clan in Ngada, watching her men rebuilding her house. Her teeth are black from chewing betel nut, as was common almost everywhere in Asia in the early days. Women in Bali used to do it, even Geishas in Japan.

While the celebration goes on, the black fibers of sugar palms are turned into strings and ropes in a few minutes, used to bind thatch for the roof. It is stunning to see how the old men quickly process natural materials into construction parts of the house, all in a playful manner.

Shaped like an umbrella and covered with thatch, shrines for male ancestors called ngadhu are placed in the center of a village (here behind Moses working on thatch for the roof). Their female counterparts are called bhaga and are shaped like a little house , symbolizing the sanctuary of the family home and the female body. Each clan has such a shrine.

In its matriarchal society, the chief mother of a clan is called Ine. There are also wise old men called Masolaki, who are respected for their experience and living memory of the culture, keeping the village and clan history alive through oral traditions.

The people believe that these megaliths connect them to the supernatural world and help them to communicate with their ancestors.

 

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Diving deep into Bali culture: Fred B. Eiseman Jr.

His bestseller Sekala & Niskala introduced generations of travelers to the fundamentals of Balinese culture. However, many of his other writings remain little known. It seems that no expatriate delved deeper into Balinese culture than Fred B. Eiseman Jr. (1926–2013), who even published the first dictionary of the Balinese language.

When I reached out in 2014 to request an interview with him, I was saddened to learn he had passed away just the year before.

Eiseman published over 30 books on Bali and was a remarkable ambassador for Balinese culture. Today, only one of his books is still being reprinted—his bestseller Sekala and Niskala (The Seen and the Unseen), which refers to the Balinese concepts of the visible (sekala) and invisible (niskala) worlds that coexist. Another of his titles, Fruits of Bali, remains available as an e-book.

Most of his books were self-published in small editions, often photocopied by hand and sold in a few local outlets such as Ganesha Bookstore in Ubud.

A wonderful open-source project is now helping preserve the Balinese language, which began with 10,000 words from Eiseman’s dictionary: basabali.org. This inspiring initiative continues to add content from Eiseman’s work and is expanding its reach.

Back in 2015, I attempted to compile a chronological list of Eiseman’s works (see below), using my private archive and international library search tools,  identifying 24 titles in total. I also found additional works—mostly collaborations, such as with Patrick de Panthou—through online bookstores.

In 2014/2015, I encouraged his longtime assistant, Linud, who had cared for Eiseman’s original manuscripts after his death in 2013, to help to preserve the legacy of Eiseman by collaboration with the open source project BasaBali inspired by his dictionary. In 2016, Linud entrusted all of Eiseman’s materials to Alissa Stern, founder of basabali.org. Now, Eiseman’s manuscripts, books, and photo archive are housed at Cornell University, USA, and are expected to be digitalized and included in the BasaBali Wiki Project.

Eiseman Jr. spent many decades in his second home, Bali, but his remarkable biography reveals a curious explorer with interests far beyond the island.

Born in Missouri—Mark Twain’s home state—in 1926, Eiseman developed an early passion for nature and indigenous cultures. At age 11, he visited the Grand Canyon for the first time in 1937. By 12, he was already joining Prairie Trek Expeditions in the American Southwest during his school holidays.

During wartime, he completed his studies and became a highly respected science teacher in the 1950s, teaching earth science, chemistry, and physics. He also published on these subjects and received a national teaching award in 1959. During his school breaks, he continued exploring the Grand Canyon, eventually becoming a skilled river guide and a close friend of both Hopi and Navajo communities.

He first came to Bali in the 1970s—and ended up spending nearly the rest of his life there.

Fred B. Eiseman Jr. passed away on April 6, 2013, in Arizona. His ashes were returned to Bali.

Video-interview with Fred B. Eiseman i on vimeo March 20, 1996

 

Works by Fred B. Eiseman Jr.

(compiled 2015 by Joo Peter)

 

Bali : wood carvings and trees

a guide to the wood carvings of Bali with discussions of the types of woods used and the trees from which these woods come

Fred B Eiseman, Margaret H Eiseman

Den Pasar, Bali, Indonesia : Fred B. Eiseman, Jr., 1987

Bali : Sekala,  and Niskala

Fred Eiseman, 1988

Scottsdale, Ariz. (13025 East Mountain View Road, Scottsdale, Ariz. 85259) : F.B. Eiseman

Fruits of Bali

Fred B Eiseman, Jr.; Margaret H Eiseman, Berkeley : Periplus Editions, 1988

Flowers of Bali

Fred B Eiseman, Jr.; Margaret H Eiseman, Berkeley : Periplus Editions, 1988

Woodcarvings of Bali

Fred B Eiseman, Jr.; Margaret H Eiseman, Berkeley : Periplus Editions, 1988

Bali, Sekala and Niskala

Fred B Eiseman; Margaret H Eiseman Berkeley, Calif. : Periplus Editions, 1989-1990

Bali: Sekala and Niskala / 2. Essays on society, tradition, and craft.

Fred B Eiseman; Berkeley, Calif. : Periplus Editions, 1990

Tulisan Bali : a layman’s guide to Balinese script

Fred B Eiseman,  Jimbaran, 1995

2nd Edition Scottsdale, 1999

The Story of Jimbaran

Fred B Eiseman, Jimbaran Bali, 1996

Punyan-punyanan : Plants of the Jimbaran area Bali

Fred B Eiseman,  Jimbaran, Bali, 1997

Dadaaran Bali : foods that Balinese people eat

publisher: Jimbaran, Bali,1998

Ulat-ulatan : traditional basketry in Bali

Bangkok, Thailand : White Lotus Press, 1999

Balinese calendars

Scottsdale, 1999

Jimbaran, Bali, 2000

Usada Bali – A living Drug Store at Kubu Beach

written for Ritz-Carlton Bali, Jimbaran, 2000 (not listed  in worldCat)

Nyledét Jimbaran – Glimpses of everyday Life in a village in South Bali

Jimbaran, Bali, 2001

Usada Bali : traditional medicine in the Jimbaran area, South Bali

Jimbaran, Bali, 2001

Reinventing Bali : the island of peace

Wayan Darsana, I pseud. van Fred B. Eiseman (Jr.); Bali Tourism Authority (Denpasar)

Bali Tourism Authority, Denpasar, 2002

42 p. : ill., krt. ; 21 cm.

Traditional Balinese stories : satua Bali kuna

Jimbaran Bali, 2002

Dugas pidan : the way things were : everyday life in Jimbaran, a village in South Bali, from Dutch times to the present

Jimbaran Bali, 2004

Scottsdale,2004

Babantenan offerings and their role in the daily lives & thoughts of the people of Jimbaran, Bali

(other title: Offerings : and their role in the daily lives & thoughts of the people of Jimbaran, Bali = Babantenan)

Jimbaran Bali, 2005

Kakaputan : wrapping & packaging things in Jimbaran, Bali

Jimbaran Bali, 2006

Paribasa Bali – Playing with words in Bali

Jimbaran 2006 (not listed in worldCat)

Things I wish someone had told me when I first came to Bali

Jimbaran Bali, 2007

Guide to the common fishes of Jimbaran Bay & Bali Strait

Jimbaran, 2007, not listed in worldCat

Dictionary English-Balinese

Jimbaran, Bali, 2008

Traditional Balinese tools in the Jimbaran area, South Bali = Prabot Bali tatamian

Jimbaran, Bali

Palalyan : traditional Balinese games in the Jimbaran area, South Bali

Jimbaran Bali, 2009

How Balinese people express ideas = Nyatuwayang pakeneh anak Bali

Jimbaran Bali, 2010

Bali Niskala : the intangible world of Jimbaran, Bali

Jimbaran Bali, 2010

 

About the publishers

Eiseman published five books with Periplus between 1988-1990, together with his wife Margaret.

Since 1995, Eiseman mainly self-published books as hand-made copies in small numbers.

Besides that, he had a major publication with White Lotus Press in Bangkok 1999 (Ulat-ulatan : traditional basketry in Bali).

For other publishers, also see special collaborations below.

 

Special Collaborations

Eiseman is mentioned as co-author/contributor in other books, especially in a book about Bali by Patrick de Panthou, which seems to have been republished many times by different publishers and a variety of titles. All five titles below seem to be based on the same travel book, which Eiseman developed with partners and had been published in English, French and German.

Bali

Patrick de Panthou, Fred B Eiseman and others

Editions du Pacifique (1978) french version

Times Ed. Singapore(1988)

Hachette (1989)

edition weltkultur (1996)

Bali (Travel Bugs)

Patrick de Panthou, Fred B Eiseman

Hungry Minds Inc (1993)

Bali – the emerald island

Patrick de Panthou, Fred B Eiseman

McGraw-Hill Contemporary (2001)

Bali and Lombok

Fred B Eiseman, Singapore, MPH Pub, Sun Tree Pub, 1992

Suntree Guides, Bali und  Lombok (German language )

Fred Eiseman Jr., contributors Leonard Lueras, Kunang Helmi Picard, Morten Strange, GEO Center, München, 1997

Online

Cockfighting in Bali

https://gtte.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/tajen-taji-rules-and-overview-of-bali-indonesia-cockfighting/

This text might be included in one of the books above.

 

Other works

Eka dasa rudra slides, 1979

Slides taken for a National Geographic magazine article.

ca. 10,000 slides (151 slide boxes)

Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY 14853 United States

(as listed on worldCat)

Bali Celebrates a Festival of Faith

article for National Geographic, 1980

Music

Kecak : a Balinese music drama.

Fred B Eiseman; David Lewiston; I Gusti Putu Putra; Kecak Ganda Sari.

New York, NY : Bridge Records, 1990, CD-Rom

orchestra Kecak Ganda Sari conducted by I Gusti Putu Putra

 

Other topics than Bali

Eiseman Jr. published also on different topics besides Bali, these publications are not listed here.

Also, Eiseman had a special photo archive on Great Canyon river rafting. Eiseman Jr came from Arizona and was passionate about the Great Canyon. He served as river guide for a while and made many boat tours on the river. See also Fred Eiseman Collection below.

Fred Eiseman Collection

http://library.nau.edu/speccoll/blog/2015/04/announcing-the-acquisition-of-the-fred-b-eiseman-collection/

Short Biography:

http://astro.cornell.edu/research/eiseman/Fred_B_Eiseman_brief_bio..html

more biographical informations:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?n=fred-b-eiseman&pid=165157047