I Nyoman Darma Putra

The Bali Bombings: Tourism Crisis Management and Conflict Avoidance

The combination of the bombings, SARS, the Iraq War and bird flu has brought about an acute decline in tourism in Bali, but despite widespread unemployment and a collapse in living standards the island has not experienced widespread strife. Despite severe provocation from the alleged Bali bombers, all of whom are Muslim, Hindu Balinese did not seek retribution by persecuting the island’s minorities. Bali’s politicians and opinion leaders appreciated the potential volatility of the situation and called for restraint using all available media and Bali’s network of village councils and urban wards. Various cultural and religious strategies, such as inter-religious worship and village security capacity building, were adopted to help manage the crisis. Rumours of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and the forced repatriation of non-Balinese, especially Muslim Javanese, appear to be unfounded. The widespread adoption of measures designed to avoid conflict appears to have helped restore confidence in Bali’s tourism industry. Some Balinese responses to the bombings are probably culturally specific, but this example of crisis management may have wider applications within the context of tourism.

The Bali bombs and the tourism development cycle

This paper analyses the impact of the Bali bombings on international visitor arrivals in Bali and compares this crisis with previous crises with reference to Butler’s hypothetical tourism area life cycle. The paper demonstrates that the Bali bombings had by far the greatest impact on international tourism visitation than any other crisis in the island’s history. Such was the severity of the decline in Bali that both national and local measures were taken to restore confidence. Important though these measures were, they do not fully account for the strong resurgence in international arrivals, suggesting that the destination has not yet reached consolidation in accordance with Butler’s hypothesis and that the strength of the resurgence owes much to the underlying trend of the development phase associated with the general picture proposed by Butler.

A New Theatre-State in Bali? Aristocracies, the Media and Cultural Revival in the 2005 Local Elections

Until recently, politik was a dirty word in Indonesia, “marked by a sinister tonality acquired after the political killings of the mid-1960s” (Pemberton, 1994, p. 4; see also Antlov, 2003, p. 75). After the fall of Suharto in 1998 and the end of his New Order [Orde Baru] regime, four changes of president in the following six years, and the successive programs of reformasi [reform], demokratisasi [democratisation] and desentralisasi [decentralisation], however, politics is back in the public domain. In Bali, where a studied apoliticism was raised to the level of an art sanctioned by religion (MacRae, 2003); the political has re-entered public life more gradually, with public figures now stepping into the formal political arena as candidates in free elections. The national process of desentralisasi and demokratisasi saw the heads of districts [bupati] and city mayors [walikota], along with their deputies, elected for the first time in 2005 by popular vote rather than appointed from above. In Bali the first such election (Pemilihan Kepala Daerah, commonly abbreviated to Pilkada, or Pilkadal in which the final “l” stands for langsung [direct]) in June 2005 offers some insights into the repoliticisation of Indonesian society in general. It also highlights a distinctly Balinese approach to this new political era. The campaign leading up to the election drew on a combination of elements of traditional Balinese political order and new formations of power made possible by the mass media. In June 2005, Pilkada were held in four of the eight districts [kabupaten] of Bali (Badung, Bangli, Tabanan and Karangasem) as well as in the main city, Denpasar. The Asian Studies Review June 2007, Vol. 31, pp. 171–189

Kidung interaktif: Vocalising and interpreting traditional literature through electronic mass media in Bali

This article investigates the role of mabebasan radio and television programmes in maintaining the life of traditional Balinese literature in the modern era. Mabebasan is the chanting and interpreting, line by line in highly stylised language, of traditional Balinese poetic genres such as gaguritan, kidung, and kakawin. In the past, mabebasan was usually performed to accompany religious rituals or as a form of entertainment for small numbers of mainly elderly male literary enthusiasts. Since the early 1990s, however, mabebasan has begun to appear as a new form of electronic media programme on radio and television. It is now commonly called ‘interactive kidung’ (kidung interaktif) as it was originally carried out interactively by phone. These programmes are broadcast almost daily by many radio stations throughout Bali and by the two main television stations. They attract participation from a wide audience, including women, who were previously excluded from this activity. This article argues that these relatively new media, through kidung interaktif, have not only arrested the declining art of textual chanting and interpreting but have turned it into one of the most significant factors in the revitalisation of traditional Balinese literature. *This article stems from a paper first presented at the 17th biennial conference of ASAA (Asian Studies Association of Australia) on ‘Is this the Asian Century?’ Melbourne, 1–3 July 2008. Research was funded by an Early Career Researcher Grant 2009 from the University of Queensland. I would like to thank Helen Creese, Adrian Vickers, Barbara Hatley, Pam Allen, and Brett Hough for their invaluable inputs to the earlier draft of the article. I am grateful to my colleagues in Bali including I Nengah Medera, I Nyoman Suarka and Windhu Sancaya for sharing information on the subject of this article. I would also like to thank IMWs two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions as well as Christopher Dames for editing my English. I take responsibility for any shortcomings.

MORE THAN JUST ‘NUMPANG NAMPANG’: Women's participation in interactive textual singing on Balinese radio and television

The singing and interpretation of religious and literary texts (makidung) has historically been a male dominated activity in Bali. In the last decade, however, since makidung programmes on radio and television have become popular, the participation of women in makidung activity has been substantial, with the number of female participants surpassing that of men. In this article, which forms part of a broader wide-ranging study of contemporary textual singing practices in Bali, we present some preliminary findings on the participation and motivation of women in textual singing programmes in the broadcast media. Women take part in on-air textual singing for a variety of personal, religious and social reasons. We show that, in spite of some elements of ‘self-promotion’ (numpang nampang) as participants seek to build their reputations as skilful practitioners, the participation and motivation of women in on-air interactive textual singing has been instrumental in fostering strong interest in Balis textual heritage.

Negotiating cultural constraints: strategic decision-making by widows and divorcees (janda) in contemporary Bali

ABSTRACT This article discusses the strategies deployed by widows and divorcees (janda) in negotiating cultural constraints and social stigmatisation in contemporary Bali. In Balinese patriarchal society, women are disadvantaged in terms of their access to employment and commonly earn less than men. When a marriage ends, Balinese widows and divorcees not only lose their partners but also an important source of family income. Janda may need to take on additional burdens in supporting themselves and their families and are therefore economically vulnerable. In addition, janda are often considered to be sexually available, may be the target of mens sexual advances and thus become a frequent source of gossip. The dual state-village administrative system further complicates divorce and remarriage within Balinese patriarchal society. In order to understand how Balinese janda cope with these social and cultural constraints, this article focuses on the contrasting life histories of three janda. Deploying Pierre Bourdieus concepts of economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital, the analysis demonstrates that access to multiple forms of capital plays an important role in enabling Balinese janda to make their lives bearable and manageable. With adequate access to economic resources, janda can not only demonstrate their independence and ability to support their children, but also are able to meet their social and religious obligations. In this way they can maintain their respectability and social acceptance within their local communities. These findings contribute to a wider and more complex picture of the life of Balinese janda.

The Bali Bombings Monument: Ceremonial Cosmopolis

In 2003 a monument was erected at the site of the 2002 Islamist militant attacks in Kuta, Bali. Government and other official discourses, including the design brief, represent the monument as an integrated and culturally harmonious public testimony to the victims. However, the monument is also a discordant association of ideas, meanings, and political claims. While originally designed to subdue insecurity, the Bali bombings monument, in fact, constitutes a site of powerful language wars around its rendering of memory and its presence in Balis integration into the globalizing economy of pleasure. This paper examines the ways in which the monument is being articulated and consumed as a social and cultural marker for the islands tourism geography. The paper pays particular attention to the increasing diversity of Balis visitors and the ways in which a precarious cosmopolization of the Kuta-Legian area is being experienced and expressed at the monument site.

Modern performing arts as a reflection of changing Balinese identity

Scholarly studies on the performing arts in Bali have been heavily focused on traditional dance and drama. Modern theatre therefore has not only become a neglected subject but is treated as though it is non-existent. This study focuses on the development of modern performing arts in Bali from the late 19th century until the 1960s. It begins with the arrival of the popular Malay theatre styles, stambul and later tonil, from Java, and describes the nature and impact of these two styles on Bali. It then proceeds to show how they were changed into sandiwara during the Japanese occupation and the period following independence, when western-style theatre was also introduced. The final theatre form discussed is drama gong, created in the late 1950s and achieving great popularity in succeeding decades. It discusses how these modern performing arts act as a barometer of changing ideas of Balinese identity, particularly in regard to drama gong which was considered modern when initially performed in Indonesian, but ...Scholarly studies on the performing arts in Bali have been heavily focused on traditional dance and drama. Modern theatre therefore has not only become a neglected subject but is treated as though it is non-existent. This study focuses on the development of modern performing arts in Bali from the late 19th century until the 1960s. It begins with the arrival of the popular Malay theatre styles, stambul and later tonil, from Java, and describes the nature and impact of these two styles on Bali. It then proceeds to show how they were changed into sandiwara during the Japanese occupation and the period following independence, when western-style theatre was also introduced. The final theatre form discussed is drama gong, created in the late 1950s and achieving great popularity in succeeding decades. It discusses how these modern performing arts act as a barometer of changing ideas of Balinese identity, particularly in regard to drama gong which was considered modern when initially performed in Indonesian, but was then regarded as a ‘traditional’ form when performed in Balinese as a reflection of an increasing sense of regional identity.

Getting organized culture and nationalism in Bali, 1959-1965

Lembaga Kebudajaan Nasional (LKN, Institute of National Culture), which was affiliated with the Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI, Indonesian National Party) was one of the most important of cultural institutions in Indonesia in terms of membership and national coverage. This chapter focuses on two main areas: first, the development of the Bali branch of LKN, its relationship with the Central LKN and with other cultural institutions in Bali and beyond; and second, the arts and cultural activities of LKN Bali. It shows how dynamic cultural activities were at a regional level in Indonesia between 1950 and 1965 and how national politics influenced such activities. The chapter argues that the existence of LKN Bali enlivened cultural activities on the island, in that members of this organization made enthusiastic use of a variety of traditional and modern art forms to express a veritable fever of nationalistic sentiment during this period. Keywords: cultural activities; Lembaga Kebudajaan Nasional (LKN) Bali; nationalism

A Literary Mirror

A Literary Mirror Is the first english language work to comprehensively analyse Indonesian-langguage literature from Bali from a literary and cultural viewpoint. It covers the period from 1920-2000. this is an extremely rich field for research into the ways Balinese view their culture and how they respond to external cultural forces. this work compliments the large number of exsistingstudies of Bali and its history, antropology, traditional literature, and the performing arts.