DUE to being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bali Arts Festival (BAF) last year (2020) was not organized. However, this year the Bali Provincial Government returns to present the BAF XLIII in a hybrid (online and offline) format at Bali Art Center, Denpasar.
The Bali Arts Festival is an annual Balinese arts festival aiming to provide a space for expression and media for traditional Balinese arts. On the other hand, this event is also an entertainment center for the community in the pandemic atmosphere while still implementing health protocols.
The BAF 2021 features the theme “Purna Jiwa: Prananing Wana Kerthi (Full Soul, Breath of the Tree of Life).” This theme means glorifying trees or forests as the harmony of the universe towards a prosperous life with an all-perfect soul.
This art event taking place almost a month (Jun 12-Jul 10 July) features various cultural activities. Broadly speaking, this year’s BAF activities include rekasadana (performance), utsawa (parade), wimbakara (competition), kandarupa (exhibition), kriyaloka (workshop), widyatula (sermon), and adi sewaka nugraha (artist award).
Many different things can be found in the implementation of BAF during this year’s pandemic. The entire events are held indoor while still stricly adhering to health protocols as stipulated by goverment.
There are several venues in the Bali Art Center area that are used to host the event such as the Ksirarnawa, Natya Mandala Bulding at the Indonesia Institute of the Arts (ISI) Denpasar, and Wantilan at the Art Center. In addition, this year’s activity is much less than in previous years as adaptation to the pandemic condition.
Representatives from nine regencies/city throughout Bali will show off their expertise by presenting various classical art performances such as gambuh, gambang, wayang wong, gamelan, masks, shadow puppets and so on. Similarly, there are virtual art performances from Papua, traditional Paser dances from East Kalimantan and Indian classical dances.
The outdoor parade has now been replaced with Peed Aya presented cinematographically through amazing virtual format. Apart from being indoor at the Bali Art Center and Campus of the ISI Denpasar, the BAF events can also be watched through the YouTube Channel of Bali Culture Office, TVRI Denpasar, BaliTV and RRI Pro 4 Denpasar. Complete schedules of BAF events can be seen here for your reference.
