Egypt in colours

We met with Tamer and Shahira from a group Egypt in Colors مصر بالألوان, a company of fine art students that started their activities the day Hosni Mubarak stepped down. The idea of the group is to bring more colors and art to the streets of Cairo, especially to poorer areas, to boost self confidence of Egyptians [...]

Egyptian revolution gave birth to street art

Today is the official start of our research into “Egypt. Revolution. Art”. We strolled the streets of downtown Cairo and Zamalek island to document the numerous graffitis that appeared during and after the revolution. It is safe to say that before the revolution street art almost did not exist in Egypt. We discovered that many [...]

Policemen with flowers? – or understanding Bali

Did you ever see a policeman with flowers tucked behind his ear? Or rather one uniformed and with stiff expression sending goosebumps all over your body? Our first encounter with Balinese uniformed men was in the airport just as we landed. Already then we were surprised to receive a smile and a very pleasant “Enjoy [...]

Let’s dance! (traditional Balinese dances – Part 1)

When visiting Bali, the island of Gods, one of the “must” for all the tourists is to see traditional Balinese dance. However, it is not so easy to do, as there are hundreds of these dances. We were lucky to come at the right time and to visit the biggest festival – Bali Arts festival, [...]

The dancing letters

“If your writing is dancing, it is good. Feel it! My teacher told me and I kept staring at my writings for 7 days trying to understand whether they are dancing…” – started his story Atho’illah, a calligrapher from Jombang, East Java. While we were walking through the narrow streets of a small village and [...]

The Imam and his “performing circus”

Lia, our host in Surabaya, lives in a fantastic world of what she calls “a performing circus” and we had the chance to be part of it. Once we left our shoes in the big pile in front of the house and stepped in, music became part of our daily life for the next two [...]

Popular Islamic music – girls band!

It is no secret, while traveling in Indonesia we often have to rely on what shiny Lonely planet book advices us, however we need to note that the authors of Lonely Planet and even travel blogs have overlooked quite an important part of Indonesian cultural experience… That is – islamic devotional music. It would be quite [...]

A thousand hands – the Kecak dance

A thousand hands, a thousand feet Thrust forward their shadows Grasping for the obscurity of the sky Stamping out the torporous sleep of ancient powerful things Victorious king, Monkey warriors a million strong. A thousand hands, a thousand feet Impale the shaking earth and make it firm In the pale light of neon lamps The [...]