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Rice. It is an integral part of the Balinese way of life. There are few other cultures in the world where a single object has such a resounding influence on the daily lives of the people near which this icon blooms.
Life and death are celebrated with the blessing of rice. Marriages, birthdays, and each religious holiday are marked with the adornment of it on both those being celebrated and those doing the celebrating. Its verdant pasture blankets the landscape, the beauty that is Bali. Its cultivation is an engineering marvel. It is currency and sustenance. The Goddess Dewi Sri is its guardian.
I have chosen rice as the subject of this project to show how something so seemingly minuscule and inanimate could play such a multifaceted role in a single culture. From the aesthetic beauty it provides the land, to its function in religion and gastronomy, rice is the evocative icon of Bali.
I will present the story of rice through a series of shots depicting the colorful ways it is engrained in the Balinese culture. From the sweeping landscapes to motley ceremonies to food stalls and temples, I will engross the viewer in a journey through Bali that is marked with the magic, beauty and mystic that rice has provided to the inhabitants of this paradise island for centuries. |
