Masks of Bali

• Event Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2005
• Time: 7:30 pm (CDT)
• Location: Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Talk
• Exhibit-Related tag

Judy Slattum

The fabled island of Bali contains a vivid, lively culture where mask drama celebrates their HIndu culture with an array of kings, clowns, and demons.

Judy Slattum first went to Bali in 1978 while on sabbatical from teaching theater arts at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz California. During her three-month stay, she immersed herself in Balinese theater, studying mask dance. Six months later she returned with the first of many highly successful study tours. In 1979, Judy brought members of Hit and Run Theater to Bali to perform and study in Ubud. They returned with a play based on Balinese mythology, and presented it the next year throughout Santa Cruz County. Soon afterward, Judy began her exhaustive research on traditional Balinese masks, sponsored by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. Meanwhile she has published articles on Balinese art and culture, taught classes in mask making, theory and performance, and guest-curated many museum shows on masks. Her book, Masks of Bali; Spirits of an Ancient Drama, the definitive work on the topic, was published in September 1992 by Chronicle Books. Her museum show of traditional Balinese masks toured the USA for four years and recently returned to Bali. She continues to write and publish on Balinese art and culture.

This talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibit "Visions of the Unseen: Picturing Balinese Ceremony and Myth." The exhibit is co-sponsored by the Atius-Sachem leadership honoraries. It is also supported by the Spurlock Museum Guild and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.