Bali is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller offshore islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan to the southeast. The provincial capital, Denpasar, is the most populous city in the Lesser Sunda Islands and the second-largest, after Makassar, in Eastern Indonesia. Denpasar metropolitan area is the extended metropolitan area around Denpasar. The upland town of Ubud in Greater Denpasar is considered Bali's cultural centre. The province is Indonesia's main tourist destination, with a significant rise in tourism since the 1980s, and becoming an Indonesian area of overtourism. Tourism-related business makes up 80% of the Bali economy.
Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones and a set of hand-drums called kendang, which keep the beat. The kemanak, a banana-shaped idiophone, and the gangsa, another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed string instrument called a rebab, and a zither-like instrument called a siter, used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as sindhen for females or gerong for males.
Ghatotkacha is a prominent character in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. His name comes from the fact that his head was hairless (utkacha) and shaped like a ghatam, or a pot. Ghatotkacha was the son of the Pandava Bhima and the demoness Hidimbi, and thus a half-human, half-demon hybrid.
Kecak, alternate spellings: kechak and ketjak), known in Indonesian as tari kecak, is a form of Balinese Hindu dance and music drama that was developed in the 1930s. Since its creation, it has been performed primarily by men, with the first women's kecak group having started in 2006. The dance is based on the story of the Ramayana and is traditionally performed in temples and villages across Bali, Indonesia.
Bengkulu, historically known as Bencoolen, is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the area of the historic Bencoolen Residency from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was finalized by Government Regulation No. 20 of 1968. Spread over 20,130.21 km2, its area is comparable to the European country of Slovenia and it is bordered by the provinces of West Sumatra to the north, Jambi to the northeast, Lampung to the southeast, and South Sumatra to the east, and by the Indian Ocean to the northwest, south, southwest, and west.
The culture of Indonesia has been shaped by the interplay of indigenous customs and diverse foreign influences. With over 1,300 distinct ethnic groups, including significant Austronesian and Melanesian cultures, contributing to its rich traditions, languages, and customs, Indonesia is a melting pot of diversity. Positioned along ancient trade routes between the Far East, South Asia, and the Middle East, the country has absorbed cultural practices influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity. These influences have created a complex cultural tapestry that often differs from the original indigenous cultures.
Walter Spies was a Russian-born German primitivist painter, composer, musicologist, and curator. In 1923 he moved to Java, Indonesia. He lived in Yogyakarta and then in Ubud, Bali starting from 1927, when Indonesia was under European colonial rule as the Dutch East Indies.
The Balinese people are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Bali. The Balinese population of 4.2 million live mostly on the island of Bali, making up 89% of the island's population. There are also significant populations on the island of Lombok and in the easternmost regions of Java.
Switching Channels is a 1988 American comedy film remake of the 1928 play The Front Page, the 1931 film of the same name, and the 1940 film His Girl Friday. It stars Kathleen Turner as Christy Colleran, Burt Reynolds as John L. Sullivan IV, Christopher Reeve as Blaine Bingham, Ned Beatty as Roy Ridnitz, Henry Gibson as Ike Roscoe, and George Newbern as Sigenthaler. The film was notorious for its harsh infighting between Reynolds and Turner during filming. The film was a box office failure and received mixed reviews from critics.
Batara Kala is the god of death in traditional Javanese and Balinese mythology, ruling over it in a cave along with Setesuyara. Batara Kala is also named the creator of light and the earth. He is also the god of time, who devours unlucky people.
A kebaya is an upper garment traditionally worn by women in Southeast Asia, notably in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southern Thailand. It is also worn in parts of southern Philippines and Cambodia.
Bengkulu, formerly Bencoolen is the capital of the Indonesian province of Bengkulu. The city is the second largest city on the west coast of Sumatra Island after Padang. Previously this area was under the influence of the kingdom of Inderapura and the Sultanate of Banten. The city also became the place of exile of Sukarno from 1939 to 1942. It covers an area of 151.70 km2 and had a population of 308,544 at the 2010 Census and 373,591 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 391,117. The city is the only city in Bengkulu Province.
A Millionaire for Christy is a 1951 American comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Fred MacMurray, Eleanor Parker and Richard Carlson. The film is a screwball comedy, in which Christy Sloane (Parker) is a legal secretary from San Francisco who is sent to Los Angeles to inform radio host Peter Lockwood (MacMurray) that he has just inherited $2 million.
Roland Varno was an American character actor from Utrecht, Netherlands.
Antonio Maria Blanco was a painter born in the Ermita district of Manila. Blanco died on December 10, 1999, in Denpasar, Bali.
Oka Antara is an Indonesian actor of Balinese descent. He is best known for starring in the films The Dancer (2011), V/H/S/2 (2013), Killers (2014), and The Raid 2 (2014).
Merah Putih is a movie, directed by Yadi Sugandi, brought out in Indonesia in 2009. This film is an adaptation of Japanese propaganda film Air dan Api by Andreas Liong and Ignatius Matulessy in 1943.
Benkoelen Residency, also spelled Bencoolen, is an administrative subdivision of the Dutch East Indies, covering the present-day province of Bengkulu, Indonesia. Benkoelen was a British colony before they ceded it to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. It was one of the control center of the Dutch before independence, though after independence it became the resident of Bengkulu prefect. Initially it was the part of Sumatra, with the division of Sumatra, it became the part of Southern Sumatra. Further, on the demand of Bengkulu Struggle Agency and according to Law no. 9/1967 Junkto Government Regulation no. 20/1968, Bengkulu became an all-new province, thereby making the Benkoelen Residency a part of it.
Stephan Streker is a Belgian film director and screenwriter.
