Bali was originally an animist culture that became Hindu when it was incorporated into the Majapahit Empire in the 14th century. The Balinese are amazingly skillful artists, craftsmen and musicians. They create brilliant masks and woodcarvings. Visitors to Bali are surprised by the decorative and beautiful details they create using perishable materials such as fruit, banana leaves, rattan, rice, flowers, plants, and other readily available tropical materials to decorate temples, shrines, paths, rice fields and more. Balinese crafting skills have been handed down through generations for centuries and are taught to children at an early age. Their music and dance are world famous, very complicated and seamlessly accompanies a large variety of dramas, mask dances and other dance performances. Balinese dance masks called topeng (literally, pressed against the face) are considered to be “tenget”(endowed with magic). Every Balinese village has a collection of dance masks used in performances as offerings to please the gods and require prayers and rituals with a priest.
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Court ministers (patih) in Bali, Indonesia are danced in mask (topeng) performances named Topeng Panjegan where a single dancer interprets 5 legendary characters wearing full face masks, cannot speak and much portray them only through gestures and body language and positions. Patih manis (literally sweet, a good natured, diplomatic minister) is often the first solo…
This is Kebo Taruna mask a powerful historical Balinese minister (patih) from the 14th century. Considered a folk-art, Hindu-cultural-and-ritual-art, ethnic art and offerings to the gods, masks are danced in a historical drama with the music of a percussion orchestra (gamelan). Balinese-masks are carved using a light durable wood called pulai that enhances pigments and…
This rare folk art Rangda mask was made on the island of Lombok, Indonesia by ethnic Balinese Hindu craftsman. Primarily Muslim, a Balinese Hindu minority ruled the island from 1750-1895 and Hindu temples (pura) have been centers for Balinese activities since the 17th century. Balinese girls are encouraged to “dance with their hands” and formal…
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