Lempad of Bali

What are you going to do for six months? I've said this before, but this was the refrain from many people when we first revealed our Ubud plans. Well, there is no shortage of stimulating events to keep us more than busy. In the past week we have had something on every night. Last night, Friday, there was a choice of three events we could have happily attended. We have been attending the Flyday night quiz each week, and the table has been doing pretty well, but last week we flagged our absence as there was a one-off screening coming up of a 1980 documentary that sounded fascinating.

 Then, conflict. On Thursday night at the Bar Luna UWRF Festival preview night we discovered that a locally-based author would be talking about his book, and it is on a subject that interests us enormously, but so did the film's subject matter. With both on at the same time, a reluctant decision needed to be made. We might not get a chance to see the film again, but we could always read the book. Betel Nut and Lempad of Bali it was.

 The late John Darling was an Australian film maker and Bali aficionado who lived for many years in Ubud. When he died a couple of years ago, it was to the sound of the Balinese music he had come to love. In the 1970s he became very close to Lempad, a revered Balinese artist and architect who was producing amazing work even as a centenarian. Just do a Google image search to see some his unbelievable output. When Lempad died in 1978, he was 116 years old.

Asked by the family to film their patriarch's cremation, a huge affair given the status of the artist, John Darling quickly realised that the story needed to honour the man and his achievements in the context of Balinese history over his lifetime. The result was the film we were privileged to watch last night. We learned so much, particularly about the resistance to both the Dutch and Japanese conquerors of the island. We learned about the buildings in Ubud we walk past every day that were designed by Lempad, particularly the Palace, which the Prince of the time built to better rivals in other regencies. And we saw the art, which will be honoured in a special exhibition at Puri Lukisan next year. There is also a Lempad section in the Neka Museum.

If you love Balinese culture, or are interested in learning more, do seek out this wonderful film.

And what did we miss at Bar Luna? A talk by Richard Lewis about his book Bones of the Dark Moon, which explores the events of 1965 and 1966; the years of massacre. Until very recently nobody has been talking much about this terrible era, but writers are starting to tell the story. Another is Cameron Forbes, whose book Under the Volcano, looks at a broader bloody history of the island.

We were so sorry to have missed Richard's talk but will definitely be reading his book. So much more to tell about the week past, but it will have to wait.

So the question really should be asking if we have plans for a rest any time soon. We're not complaining.