Thursday, August 03, 2006

Challenge 78 - A souvenir

These masks are souvenirs of a trip to Bali where I was privileged to meet and work with Amon, an honored mask maker in his village. These are two of the four I purchased. Amon arranged for our group to dance with our masks accompanied by a gamelon band. I wore the mask of the old man and danced as an elder. I was in Bali to co-facilitate a workshop orginally planned by my friend, Lucia Capacchione. We visited shamans and were witness to many village dances including the amazing Kris dance to purge the evil from the village. Too bad Western cultures can't adopt these rituals instead of sending rockets and dropping bombs.
I collect masks from all over the world as I am fascinated by the representations of the psyche by different cultures. Many other souvenirs I have disposed of, used up or given away but my mask collections stays as a reservoir of my experiences. Posted by Picasa

3 comments:

Lin said...

THESE ARE WONDERFUL, Kay! And what an experience!!!

Tami said...

Wow! These are GREAT! Interesting story too, what a wonderful thing to be part of.

Jana Bouc said...

Fascinating story and the masks are amazing. Thanks for sharing the extraordinary images. I agree about ritual rather than war!