Heroic dance: East Nusa Tenggara artists perform the Bhara Buri battle dance during the Bali arts festival at Taman Budaya in Bali on Sunday
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Environmental concerns, particularly those relating to the island’s water scarcity problem, are taking center stage at the one month-long Bali Arts Festival (PKB) as participating artists perform their esthetic interpretations of the festival’s main theme “Ulun Danu: Conserving Water as the Source of Life.”
On Sunday, performers from two different villages showcased traditional dances that underlined the intimate affinity between the island’s art and culture and its water-centered agricultural communities. The Lege Sawitra troupe from Suwug village, Buleleng regency, performed a Gemblungan Medi dance while the Yadnya Wisesa troupe from Karangasem performed a Ngelawang dance.
“Here, the creation of art is closely connected and heavily influenced by the natural world. The whole construction of Balinese traditional arts and culture has gravitated around its rice-growing civilization and its dependence on water,” prominent scholar I Made Bandem said.
“Environmental degradation, therefore, will also eventually result in cultural disruption,” he added.
The message about the importance of environmental conservation was pronounced even louder at a street parade marking the commencement of the annual festival, which entered its 39th year this year, making it Indonesia’s longest-running art festival.
Held Saturday afternoon before Bajra Sandhi monument in Renon, Denpasar, and officiated by Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, the parade saw contingents from the island’s eight regencies and one city present the best traditional performing arts from their respective regions.
All of the contingents presented a float with a message revolving around the importance of water, ranging from Gianyar regency’s semi-mythological account of the development of an irrigation dyke in Keliki village, Buleleng regency’s fascinating fishermen’s dance to illustrate the rise of Lovina Beach as a tourist destination, Badung regency’s special ritual to protect and conserve a water source, to Denpasar city’s visual narration of Serangan Island’s Sakenan temple as an example of how a coastal society became a thriving model of multiculturalism. The Bali administration’s contingent performed The Churning of the Milky Ocean, a classical episode from the Hindu epic Mahabharata that narrates the struggle between gods and demons in recovering Amerta, the Elixir of Life, from the Ksirarnawa ocean.
Water scarcity and coastal conservation have become a hot issue in Bali in the past few years. Various studies have shown that Indonesia’s most famous tourist destination is facing water scarcity caused by soaring demand for clean water, severe sedimentation in lakes and uncontrolled land and rice field conversion that has reduced the size of its water catchment areas. Moreover, the controversial reclamation plan for Benoa Bay has not only triggered a series of massive protests but also forced the islanders to reconsider their views on mass-tourism and its negative impacts on coastal communities.
“Art has always served as a medium of education and dialogue in Bali and hopefully this year’s festival will enlighten the public on these vital environmental issues,” poet Ketut Yuliarsa said.
In addition to the floats, each contingent also presented signature dances, music, costumes and floral arrangements from its region, making the parade a colorful feast for the eyes that drew thousands of spectators, residents as well as visitors.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was originally slated to officiate the parade and the organizer had prepared a motorized platform decorated with golden-colored dragons for him. However, the President could not make it to Bali as he had just concluded his work trip to West Java on Saturday afternoon. Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani officially opened the festival on Saturday night at the Werdhi Budaya Art Center. The festival, which will run until July 8, presents 230 performances involving around 17,000 artists as well as exhibitions, parades and seminars. It also involves art troupes from several regions outside Bali and foreign artists from France, India, Japan, Timor Leste and Tunisia.
Initially conceived in the late 1970s by the then Bali Governor the late Ida Bagus Mantra as a platform to showcase the island’s art masterpieces as well as to revitalize the islanders’ pride and passion in their own cultural legacy, the Bali Arts Festival has played a pivotal role in ensuring the survival and relevance of Bali’s traditional arts in the 21th century.
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