10
March
2013
Nyepi, the Balinese new year day...
So, tomorrow is the night before Nyepi here, the Balinese new year day. It’s that time of year once again where the monsters come out. So tomorrow, all the locals go wild with the parade of “ogoh-ogohs”, large monsters made from paper mache by the villagers, which are paraded through the streets and later burned to symbolise a cleansing of negative energies. From midnight, everything goes silent. All phones are switched off, no internet, no electricity, not even flights in and out of Bali for 24 hours.
Time for contemplation and appreciation. A day of total silence across the island. There is no sound, and black cloth is pulled across the windows. Nobody is allowed to work or to go outside, tourists included. No electricity should be used, and no noise is permitted. The idea is that the evil spirits, roused the night before, are duped into thinking that nobody inhabits the island, and decide to go away.
Happy to be here for this strange an usual day (me without electricity... what will I do !!!)
Lars Henkel illustration work
So, I figure out the strange an usual world of Lars Henkel was appropriate for tonight...
