Kecak (pronounced: /'ke.tʃak/, roughly "KEH-chahk", alternate spellings: Ketjak and Ketjack), a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.[1]

Kecak was originally a trance ritual accompanied by male chorus. German painter and musician Walter Spies became deeply interested in the ritual while living in Bali in the 1930s and worked to recreate it into a drama, based on the Hindu Ramayana and including dance, intended to be presented to Western tourist audiences. This transformation is an example of what James Clifford describes as part of the "modern art-culture system"[2] in which, "the West or the central power adopts, transforms, and consumes non-Western or peripheral cultural elements, while making 'art' which was once embedded in the culture as a whole, into a separate entity."[3] Spies worked with Wayan Limbak and Limbak popularized the dance by traveling throughout the world with Balinese performance groups. These travels have helped to make the Kecak famous throughout the world.

Performer, choreographer, and scholar I Wayan Dibia cites a contrasting theory that the Balinese where already developing the form when Spies arrived on the island.[4] For example, well-known dancer I Limbak had incorporated Baris movements into the cak leader role during the 1920s. "Spies liked this innovation," and it suggested that Limbak, "devise a spectacle based on the Ramayana," accompanied by cak chorus rather than gamelan, as would have been usual.

www.wikipedia.org; www.daveliu.com

Indonesian Black Pottery - Our stunning range of Black Pottery comes from the Beautiful Indonesian Island of Lombok. This pottery has regularly appeared in the Style Magazines and adds a touch of glamour to any home.
In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery, so excluding glass and also mosaic, normally made from glass tesserae. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as artifacts in archaeology. They may be made by one individual or in a factory where a group of people design, make and decorate the ware. Decorative ceramics are sometimes called "art pottery".[1]

The word "ceramics" comes from the Greek keramikos (κεραμικος), meaning "pottery", which in turn comes from keramos (κεραμος), meaning "potter's clay." [2] Most traditional ceramic products were made from clay (or clay mixed with other materials), shaped and subjected to heat, and tableware and decorative ceramics are generally still made like that. In modern ceramic engineering usage, ceramics is the art and science of making objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials by the action of heat.

There is a very long history of ceramic art in almost all developed cultures, and often ceramic objects are all the artistic evidence left from vanished cultures, like that of the Nok in Africa over 2,000 years ago. Cultures especially noted for fine ceramics include the Chinese, Cretan, Greek, Persian, Mayan, Japanese, Dominican, and Korean cultures, as well as the modern Western cultures.
Elements of ceramic art, upon which different degrees of emphasis have been placed at different times, are the shape of the object, its decoration by painting, carving and other methods, and the glazing found on most ceramics.
Pottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today. Ceramic art covers the art of pottery, whether in items made for use or purely for decoration.

www.wikipedia.org; www.one-world-is-enough.net

Reog Ponorogo - Ponorogo is most well known for the reog mask dance, which is said to have been created by one of the kings of Kediri in the 12th century. The performance re-enacts a legendary battle between Pujangga Anom, a minister from the court of Ponorogo, and Singa Barong, guardian spirit of the forest of Lodoyo. The former had aroused the anger of Singa Barong when he stole 150 tigers from the forest, apparently to be offered as a dowry payment for a princess of Kediri, whom the king of Ponorogo wished to marry.

A typical reog troupe, then, usually consists of the principal characters; Singa Barong, wearing an enormous tiger head and peacock feather mask, and his adversary Pujangga Anom. They are accompanied by one or more masked clowns/acrobats, as well as a number of hobby horse dancers, who are said to represent the troops of Pujangga Anom.

The people of Ponorogo have a reputation for being tough, both physically and mentally. The qualities of bravery and daring are fully displayed in a reog performance, where the focus of attention is on a trance dancer supporting a giant mask, often weighing more than 40 kg, between his teeth. The mask is a ferocious, snarling tiger's head, covered in real tiger skin and crowned with a gigantic three meter fan of peacock feathers.

The success of a performance, including the ability of the principal dancer to bear the weight of the mask, is said to depend upon the magical power of the leader of the dance troupe. Known as warok, these men are believed to possess special talents, gained through years of training. One of the unique features of the reog dance is that the hobby horse (jaran kepang) dancers are invariably young boys dressed as women. Known as gemblak, they accompany the warok, who are forbidden close association with females, in their travelling performances.

Contest of Reog dance is presented annually by the local government. Ngebel, a natural lake and batik printing of ponorogo are also worthwhile seeing.
www.petra.ac.id; www.joglosemar.co.id

Batik sandals from Yogyakarta - Javanese traditional batik, especially from Yogyakarta, has special meanings which is rooted to the Javanese idea of the universe. Traditional colours include indigo, dark brown, and white which represents the three major Hindu Gods (Brahmā, Viṣṇu,and Śiva), and certain patterns can only be worn by royals. Other regions of Indonesia have their own unique patterns which normally take themes from everyday lives, incorporating patterns such as flowers, animals or people. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns similar to the Indonesian batik are also found in several countries such as West Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda and Mali, the Caribbean, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, and in Asia, such as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Burma.Batik has been both an art and a craft for centuries. In Java, Indonesia, batik is part of an ancient tradition, and some of the finest batik cloth in the world is still made there.

Contemporary batik, while owing much to the past, is markedly different from the more traditional and formal styles. For example, the artist may use etching, discharge dyeing, stencils, different tools for waxing and dyeing, wax recipes with different resist values and work with silk, cotton, wool, leather, paper or even wood and ceramics.Indonesian batik used for clothing normally has an intricate pattern. Traditionally, wider curves were reserved for batik produced for nobles. The traditional cloth has natural colors (tones of indigo and brown) while contemporary pieces have more variety of color.

Javanese batik typically includes symbols. Some decorative pieces may be mystically-influenced, and this type is very rarely used for clothing. Some may carry illustrations of animals or other intricate designs.
www.wikipedia.org; www.id.88db.com

Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on Earth; it has been measured surging skyward as fast as 121 cm (47.6 inches) in a 24-hour period,[6] and can also reach maximal growth rate exceeding one meter (39 inches) per hour for short periods of time. Many prehistoric bamboos exceeded heights of 75 meters (250 feet). Primarily growing in regions of warmer climates during the Cretaceous, vast fields existed in what is now Asia. Modern bamboos can only sustain their maximal growth rate for short periods of time
Besides its use as a construction material, it is also used for fencemaking, bridges, toilets, walking sticks, canoes, tableware, decorative artwork carving, furniture, chopsticks, food steamers, toys, bicycles, hats, and martial arts weaponry, including arrow shafting, bows, bow backings, fire arrows, flame throwers and rockets. Also, abaci and various musical instruments, especially types of bamboo flute, such as the dizi, xiao, shakuhachi, palendag, jinghu, angklung, it can also be used in building tree forts that can hold a normal child's body weight. The Bamboo Organ of Las Piñas, Philippines has pipes made of bamboo culms. Bamboo is the traditional material used for bamboo fly rods for fly fishing. When bamboo is harvested for wood, care is needed to select mature stems that are several years old, as first-year stems, although full sized, are not fully developed and are not as strong as more mature stems.
In Indonesia, bamboo has been used for making various kinds of musical instruments. The most popular ones are the kolintang and the angklung.

Bamboo is used in indonesia to make chairs,wooden sofa,wooden beds,and as a framing for the traditional Filipino house, Nipa Hut.
www.wikipedia.org; www.id.88db.com

Kuda Lumping is a Javanese''s art. Later, this cultural tradition has spread more into the Indonesian mainstream since it was claimed by Johor society in Malaysia as part of their culture, in addition to Reog Ponorogo art.

Grounded in history, the Kuda Lumping was born to symbolize that the society had the power to face the enemy or fight the power of royal armies. Besides that, it also acted as a form of merry entertainment.

The Kuda Lumping is a form of dance that uses ''horses'' made from bamboo: it is accompanied by the gamelan orchestra, which uses instruments such as: the gong, kenong, kendang, and slompret. The Kuda Lumping amazes the audience with the dancing Kuda Lumping riders. The traditional Kuda Lumping dancers are performed by girls, wearing the uniform of the royal men-at-arms. Nowadays, the Kuda Lumping actors are male. The sounds of a big whiplash that whip these dancers, symbolizes the input of mystical powers that can take control of the players'' consciousness. By riding the horses ? with bells on their ankles ? the actors straddle the horses, jump up, and roll on the ground. Besides jumping up, the Kuda Lumping dancers perform other stunts, such as eating the shards of the lamp bulbs, and stripping the coconut fiber by the. They eat the shards of the lamp balls eagerly. They don''t feel pain, and there''s no blood when they eat the glass shards.
www.thefreelibrary.com; www.flickr.com

Rattan furniture continues to be one of the most popular sources for interior design. Through adaptability and durability, rattan furniture adds options and class to homes across every continent. Poised at the front of this industry is Rattan Land Furniture, a quality reliable company in Indonesia that serves customers all over the world.

What is Rattan?

Rattan itself is the name for nearly 600 varieties of palm trees, and can be found mainly in the areas of Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Most of the world's rattan population comes from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. It is as lightweight as it is durable, and even offers some degree of flexibility, which makes rattan furniture the easy, breezy choice for home decoration.

Wholesalers, retailers and distributors can look towards purchasing high quality furniture at affordable prices. Raw materials are abundant in these countries, and labor is cheaper. Hence, it is possible for these countries to manufacture furniture and sell them at much lower prices.

Buying at a lower cost per unit means higher profit margins, which can only benefit the business. Stay abreast of recent home improvement industry news and try to spot trends. A businessman with acute business acumen should be able to predict trends and import the right type of furniture accordingly
sumber : www.tropica-furniture.com; www.articlesbase.com

Angklung is a musical instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held with one hand while the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Thus each of three or more angklung performers in an ensemble will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced. Angklung is popular throughout Southeast Asia, but originated from Indonesia (used and played by the Sundanese since the ancient times).

Angklung is a renowned musical instrument made of bamboo and its originated is West Java, Indonesia. In the early days, music played an essential part of ceremonial activities, especially in the harvest times. The sound of bamboos is believed will catch the attention of the goddess Sri – who will bring fertility to the plantation, and pass the joy and happiness for mankind.

The oldest Angklung in history that still exist is called Angklung Gubrag made in Jasinga, Bogor, and has reached 400 years of age. Nowadays, some of those older Angklung remain in Sri Baduga Museum, Bandung.

As the time flown by, Angklung is not only recognized throughout Indonesia, also, spreading to other Asian countries.
In the late of 20th century, Daeng Soetigna created Angklung based on diatonic tone scale. Ever since then, Angklung has been used in entertainment business as well it is even able to play diverse genres of music. And In 1966, Udjo Ngalagena a student of Mr. Daeng Soetigna developed Angklung based on traditional Sundanese tone scale Salendro, Pelog and Madenda.

Current days, many contemporary and young musicians compose music through the brilliant sound of bamboo.

Further reading
* Balinese Music (1991) by Michael Tenzer, Periplus / University of Washington Press .
* Can You Shake It? The Angklung of Southeast Asia by Prof. Kuo-Huang Han, School of Music, Northern Illinois University

www.wikipedia.org; www.angklung-udjo.co.id

Indonesian antique furniture - Many people come to Bali specifically to purchase furnishings and accessories for their homes. The premium items that you see featured in our catalogue are the collaboration of top international designers and skilled Indonesian craftsmen. Much of this stylish, high-quality furniture is designed in-house; it is often custom made and is very much in demand by five-star hotels.

Overall, the concept blends Oriental, tropical and minimalist design. Many of the traditional furniture designs are Dutch inspired Javanese, enhanced with whimsical charm and often embellished with intricate hand carvings of flowers and birds. The teak timber comes from Java, from youngish trees 20-30 years old. The product of mature trees is rare, expensive and environmentally unacceptable as it is not a sustainable resource.

However, some of our rustic pieces that have been fashioned from old teak planks salvaged from demolished buildings of the Dutch Colonial era. The natural colour of teakwood is a richly grained golden brown, but it can also be tinted by applications of oil, or stained to suit the distressed patina and heavier antique style. One of the beneficial properties of genuine teak is that it is resistant to termites.

'Christophoras' is an extraordinarily beautiful, richly grained, teak dining table, which focuses on the natural splendour of the material through the craftsmanship of a solid top fashioned from a single piece of wood. The table's well-balanced, simple yet sophisticated design combines sensuality, proportion and exotic contours, enhanced by masterful joinery. This product is an exquisite piece of furniture that is durable, enduring and conceived to become vintage.
www.jack-furniture.blogspot.co; wwwarticlesbase.com

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag (Latin: argentum, from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήεντος - argēentos, gen. of ἀργήεις - argēeis, "white, shining" ) and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. The metal occurs naturally in its pure, free form (native silver), as an alloy with gold (electrum) and other metals, and in minerals such as argentite and chlorargyrite. Most silver is produced as a by-product of copper, gold, lead, and zinc refining.

Silver has been known since ancient times and has long been valued as a precious metal, used to make ornaments, jewelry, high-value tableware, utensils (hence the term silverware), and currency coins. Today, silver metal is used in electrical contacts and conductors, in mirrors and in catalysis of chemical reactions. Its compounds are used in photographic film and dilute solutions of silver nitrate and other silver compounds are used as disinfectants. Although the antimicrobial uses of silver have largely been supplanted by the use of antibiotics, further research into its clinical potential is in progress.
he word "silver" appears in Anglo-Saxon in various spellings such as seolfor and siolfor. A similar form is seen throughout the Teutonic languages (compare Old High German silabar and silbir). The chemical symbol Ag is from the Latin for "silver", argentum (compare Greek άργυρος, árgyros), from the Indo-European root *arg- meaning "white" or "shining". Silver has been known since ancient times. It is mentioned in the book of Genesis, and slag heaps found in Asia Minor and on the islands of the Aegean Sea indicate that silver was being separated from lead as early as the 4th millennium BC using surface mining.[6]

In the Gospels, Jesus' disciple Judas Iscariot is infamous for having taken a bribe of thirty coins of silver from religious leaders in Jerusalem to turn Jesus Christ over to the Romans.

Set aside certain circumstances[clarification needed], Islam permits Muslim men to wear silver jewelry. Muhammad himself wore a silver signet ring.
Over the last 100 years the price of silver and the gold/silver price ratio have fluctuated greatly due to competing industrial and store-of-value demands. In 1980 the silver price rose to an all-time high of US$49.45 per troy ounce. By December 2001 the price had dropped to US$4.15 per ounce, and in May 2006 it had risen back as high as US$15.21 per ounce. In March 2008 silver reached US$21.34 per ounce.[34]

The price of silver is important in Judaic Law. The lowest fiscal amount that a Jewish court, or Beth Din, can convene to adjudicate a case over is a shova pruta (value of a Babylonian pruta coin). This is fixed at 1/8 of a gram of pure, unrefined silver, at market price.
www.wikipedia.com
Silver jewelry style from Bali is tending to thicker than others from Jogja, because it’s playing in correctness compile of the motif and form of the three dimension characters. Most of the Bali Silver Jewelry also forms by the solid silver.
Let say the rings or pendants from Bali, We could see that there are made from solid frame silver which carved look like with the Bali ornaments style.
www.articlesbase.com; wwwbalisilvers.com