Indonesian Masks Festival 2010 in Cirebon

A big celebration called "Festival Topeng Nusantara 2010" or the Indonesian Masks Festival 2010 will be held in Cirebon  - West Java, Indonesia, October 2010. Festival participants come from various regions in Indonesia. Centers of mask  arts and crafts in Indonesia, such as Bali, Malang, Indramayu, Cirebon, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan (Borneo), North Sumatra and other cities will not miss this rare opportunity.
For spectators from outside Indonesia who are interested in the event can stop journey through Jakarta. From Jakarta to Cirebon can be reached via car or train with a long journey of

Balinese Art, From Majapahit Kingdom to Recent History

Image via Wikipedia

Balinese art is art of Hindu-Javanese origin that grew from the work of artisans of the Majapahit Kingdom, with their expansion to Bali in the late 13th century. From the sixteenth until the twentieth centuries, the village of Kamasan, Klungkung (East Bali), was the centre of classical Balinese art. During the first part of the twentieth century, new varieties of Balinese art developed. Since the late twentieth century, Ubud and its neighboring villages established a reputation as the center of Balinese art. Ubud and Batuan are known for their paintings, Mas for their woodcarvings, Celuk for gold and silver smiths, and Batubulan for their stone carvings. Covarrubias describes Balinese art as, "... a highly developed, although informal Baroque folk art that combines the peasant liveliness with the refinement of classicism of Hinduistic Java, but free of the conservative prejudice and with a new vitality fired by the exuberance of the demonic spirit of the tropical primitive." Eiseman correctly pointed out that Balinese art is actually carved, painted, woven, and prepared into objects intended for everyday use rather than as object d 'art.