Last week there was a festival in Ubud. Many writers and readers from all over the world gathering here to attend The 5th Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. This festival was held on October, 14 until October, 19, 2008. Many Indonesian writers also invited.
Why the festival held in Ubud? It's because Ubud is well known as the centre of arts in Bali. Many arts products are available here and the village is very tranquil. Accomodatian are very easy to get here. The climate also very friendly. It's goes with the Balinese concept of life called "Tri Hita Karana". It's how to keep the balance of three factors that will read the balance of life.
In the ongoing battle between tradition and modernity, globalization and localization, the radicals and the moderates, and tourism against agriculture, Bali is an island that struggles to stay in the middle. "Achieving modern progress without abandoning the traditional roots" is the ever-present mantra.
How did the Festival start?
The international Ubud Writers & Readers Festival began as a healing and economic development project after the Bali bombings in 2002. The Festival is an annual-ongoing event, held each October, in a month that commemorates the first Bali bombing. Now in its fifth year, the Festival promises to become the largest and most prestigious literary gathering in the South-East Asian region.
The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival is a respected international event, attracting authors, publishers, festival directors and academics from all over the world. In previous years our headlining guests were Michael Ondaatje [Canada], Amitav Ghosh [India] and the President of East Timor Xanana Gusmao, who each participated alongside over 100 other writers from New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, India Canada, the United States, France, the UK, Germany and Indonesia.
It's a world class festival and has a noble goal, so we all should support them. After all, how can we know about history, culture, etc. if there were no writers in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment