John McGlynn & Lontar Foundation: Translating & Preserving Indonesian Literature
by Eddie Dobbins. Photos by Suki Zoe The theme for this year’s Ubud Writers & Readers Festival was ‘Sangkan Paraning Dumadi’, or ‘Origins’ – …
Posts in category Culture
NO LONGER A ‘YOUNG’ NATION
When I was born, this country was in its childhood. By the time I was a teenager, people still talked about Indonesia as being a …
Pura Batur Sari’s Odalan: a Neighbor’s POV
Pura Batur Sari, on Jalan Suweta, Ubud had its latest Odalan this May. Long term resident and neighbour of the temple, Lyn Shwaiko lets us see …
The First Morning: Odalan at Pura Taman Pule – photo essay
The temple ceremony at Taman Pule in Mas falls every 210 days on Kuningan. The temple, classified as “Pura ring Jagat” – loosely translated as …
Melasti – Cleansing the Community
Most villages in Bali perform a Melasti (or also know as Mekiyis) ritual cleansing of their communities anywhere between 4 to 2 days before Nyepi, the day …
Ogoh-ogoh: Together We Shape and Face our Demons
text and photos by Rio Helmi A couple of years ago today (on the Balinese calendar that is) I penned a blog post here about …
ODALAN – Celebration of Community
Just about everyone who spends more than a week in Bali will run into a major temple ceremony. Nearly all of these ceremonies are what …
Lionel Shriver at UWRF: The Mandibles
by Natalie Sprite We Need to Talk About Kevin was originally titled From Cradle to Grave. Which sounds more like a death metal song …
Australian Literary Star Hannah Kent at UWRF: On Her New Novel ‘The Good People’
by Natalie Sprite Fairies are angels evicted from heaven. They were supposed to end up in hell. Except that half way through the eviction …
Ariel Leve: An Abbreviated Life, at UWRF 2016
by Natalie Sprite Ariel Leve grew up in a New York penthouse. Her mother was part of a circle that included Andy Warhol, Saul …