Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance

This summer at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco!

Congratulations to our friend Jay Xu and all those at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco who have put together a spectacular exhibition on the island art of Bali! For those who may be traveling to San Francisco this summer, the exhibition, titled Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance, is a sprawling collection that reveals the rich cultural history of Bali, an island unknown to outsiders before the 1930s.

We consider Jay, his wife Jennifer, and their lovely daughter Toni, among our dearest friends. We have had some amazing travels together in Asia. We missed traveling with them again to Egypt this year! But perhaps it's for the best since Jay has been busy with all the great happenings at the museum! We are, however, trying to persuade them to join us in a private East Africa safari in 2012!

Over these many years, Bali has become one of the top tourist destinations in Asia. Bev, Zen, and I love this lush, green island and its unique Hindu-Animistic culture!

The exhibition incorporates that which is so important to Balian culture - art, ritual, and performance. In addition to displaying Balinese rituals and artifacts, what may be most impressive about the showing is the Museum has imported more than 25 dancers, musicians, and artisans from Bali! There will be more than 60 live performances and demonstrations during the run of the show!

A job well done, Jay!

Here is a link to the exhibition: Bali: Art, Ritual Performance

Confucis and Mao: Age Old Ideologies in Present Day

Zen learned about Confucius in school and wanted to know more about the Confucius statue and the uproar around its appearance (and later removal!) in front of the newly renovated National Museum in Tiananmen Square.

Photo of the statue from AFP/Getty

The 31-foot bronze statue of the Chinese sage was erected near Tiananmen Square in January of this year - only to "disappear" 4 months later. The political class was first to take notice of the statue, a historical reminder of Chinese politicians relying heavily on symbolism and historical allegory to attack their rivals. The statue caused turmoil since Confucius faced the iconic portrait of Mao Zedong. The history of Mao and Confucius dates back to the Cultural Revolution against the “Four Olds” (old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas).

One night in April the statue mysteriously disappeared and was later relocated with no explanation! It has caused much commotion in China - students of Confucius are outraged while Mao fans celebrated on the streets of Tiananmen Square on what is seen as victory for Mao.Given the government has recently embraced Confucius ideals, this incident is an interesting look into the intricacies and complexities of China's leadership