(organization)
Hi ,
Hello and greetings from somewhere close to the equator.
Last week I was in Yogyakarta on Java - you can read it here..
Now back on Bali, where the Spring equinox meant that most of the population was up all night for Spring ceremonies. Our man in Bali; Ringo still turned up for duty, looking only slightly jaded. But most of our suppliers were basically sleeping the next day. Such is life in Bali.
The next major celebration is Bali New Year. Walk streets of Bali of an evening this week and you will see some mighty strange activity. All the local young people gather at the village meeting hall, put on very loud rock music, open a few beers and carry on making monsters late into the night. The more huge, grotesque and evil the better. Made with a wire frame, stuffed with foam and then elaborately decorated with paper-mache. Some are 30ft tall, some have horror movie inspired themes some are frankly pornographic. The youngsters get sponsorship from local businesses, t-shirts are printed to match the monster, team spirit, high competition and natural creativity combine to create a veritable tribe of monsters. Later they will be mounted on bamboo rafts, carried to the football pitch in the centre of Ubud where for a few days before New Year they are shown off. Then on the big night, they are trooped through the streets carried on the shoulders of their creators, and late at night do mock battles with each other.
It's a secretive affair making monsters, but I sneaked these pictures of our village monster in the making.
