Part of your study program at the Udayana University in Bali is to participate in cultural workshops and excursions. The workshops and excursions will give you an insight to the traditions and customs of Balinese people, as well as tourism and the worklife in Bali.
The workshops and excursions are schedule once a week, mostly on Thursdays.
The Workshops
The workshops are centered around Balinese traditions, customs and their dailylife. This semester we have the Ornament Workshop, the Traditional Costume Workshop, the Balinese Dance Workshop, the Balinese Manuscript Workshop and the Traditional Healing Workshop. In the beginning of each workshop you will learn about the history of the topic and how it has an impact of the everyday life in Bali.
Janur, Palm leaves Ornament Workshop
85% of people living in Bali are Hindus. They embrace and celebrate their religion with colorful, stunning ceremonies. Part of that is to give small daily offerings and bigger ones for special occations like Balinese new year, weddings, etc. In the Ornament workshop you will learn how to make different kind of palm leave ornaments. It‘s harder then it looks like in the beginning and you need a little patience to get the right flair - but once figured it out, you can make your own beautiful palm leave ornaments.
Bali Traditional Costume Workshop
Many Balinese wear their traditonal costume in every day life, but most important is the costume for ceremonies and temple visits. In the workshop we went together to the traditional market to buy our own traditional costume. The costumes are used for the last excursion to the Besakih Temple, where we get the oppurtunity to participate in a temple ritual. But you can wear it for other occasions, for example when you are visiting temples or participate in family rituals. In the workshop you will learn which clothing parts are included in the costume and how to dress right. In the workshop the students had the challenge to use their Indonesian Language skills from the lecturers and bargain the best price for the costume.
Bali Traditional Dance Workshop
Balinese dances are a very ancient dance tradition that is part of the religious and artistic expression among the Balinese people. Balinese dance is dynamic, intense and expressive. The Balinese dancers express the story of dance-drama through the whole bodily gestures; fingers, hands and body gestures to head and eyes movements. In the workshop the students will both see some traditional dance and will learn some basic movements of the dances. It‘s really fun to try the very strange dancemoves and understand the basic function of the music combined with the dance.
Balinese Manuscript
In the Balinese Manuscript Workshop the students learn about the differencies in the writing and signs of the traditional Balinese Manuscript. Above the history and tradition of the writing, the students get to try to do the writings themselves. The writings are really delicate, but it‘s nice to try it out and write your name.
Traditional Healing Workshop
The book and movie Eat Pray Love have turned the spotlight on balians, (dukuns/shamans) the traditional healers who play an important part in Bali’s culture by treating physical and mental illness, removing spells and channeling information from the ancestors. A Balian is committed to serve, and may never turn anyone away.
In the workshop the students learn about the tradition of the healers and how they still have great importance in the dailylifes of Balinese. The students make some excercises with the healers where they try to see the aura around the campus. Afterwards the healers pick some volunteers from the students to tell about their aura.
Cultural visits
During the semester the students will have different opportunities to participate in cultural events either within Balinese families, Rituals or with the university for official events. This semester the university invited some of the students to a cultural initiation and to a dinner with the Governeur.
The cultural initiation was held by the ,International Office‘ of the Udayana University in my professors house in Denpasar where I was invited with 4 students. The cultural initiation began with a small templeceremony, followed by a number of lecturers held by UNUDs professors, a traditional Baris-dance and was enclosed by a delicious lunch and a small ornament folding workshop.
After the initiation at the professors house we were invited by the King of Denpasar to see the ancient Tempel Agung. Before we went to the temple we got welcomed by the King‘s son who represents the current King Cokorda Ngurah Jambe Pemecutan. After the speech, some conversation and tea we headed to the temple which dates the 13. Century. The temple is usually not open to foreign visitors but through the accopagnion of the Prince and our traditional clothes we could enter the temple.
The dinner at the Governeurs house in Denpasar was held after a conference on education and schooling and was dedicated to the delegates of the conference. I was invited with about 10 students to represent UNUDs international program. To begin with we could enjoy a show of the Legong Dance accompanied by a traditional Gamelan Orchestre. After the dance, the Governeur held a welcome speech to everyone followed by different speeches by the delegates about the educational situation in Bali at the moment. After the speeches we enjoyed a lovely meal and heard two Balinese musicians play. In the end of the evening we saw another traditonal dance and got the oppurtunity to take pictures with the delegates and the dancers.
