04-18-2011, 03:39 PM
The Bali exhibit is cool, but if you've ever been to Bali, there's a ton of Balinesian art everywhere. Still, Bali is one of those crazy psychedelic cultures - the art, the music, the dance - it's all spectacular and trance-inducing. It made me want to go back.
The best piece is a tiny ivory kris handle. The detail is extraordinary. I'd love to see that under a magnifying lens. There were two more kris (krisses? kriss? kri? what's the plural of kris?) in the case right next to this handle. They are both superb, but the second one is gorgeous with a dark wood-grain temper and golden-relief pattern.
There's some cool Barong stuff too. I love barongs. It's a cousin of Chinese lion dancing. They have a boar barong, which I'd not seen before.
There's also a Here, Not Here exhibit of modern Buddhist art, which didn't really work for me.
The best piece is a tiny ivory kris handle. The detail is extraordinary. I'd love to see that under a magnifying lens. There were two more kris (krisses? kriss? kri? what's the plural of kris?) in the case right next to this handle. They are both superb, but the second one is gorgeous with a dark wood-grain temper and golden-relief pattern.
There's some cool Barong stuff too. I love barongs. It's a cousin of Chinese lion dancing. They have a boar barong, which I'd not seen before.
There's also a Here, Not Here exhibit of modern Buddhist art, which didn't really work for me.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse