A big thanks first to artist Ronald Wigman and his wife Egi who supported the Ubud Readers and Writers festival by offering accomodation to a couple of invitees ... in this case the lucky Dina and myself. Their beautiful home is Villa Tugu Pejeng, about fifteen minutes from Ubud on the way to Tapak Siring and if you want to take a stroll around it yourselves, click here.The villa would be the perfect place for a writer's retreat! It has five guest rooms and a beautiful terrace overlooking the swimming pool, with a view out over the padi fields: a vista which changes from season to season with the rhythms of the crop.
I stayed in the Japanese-styled Timur guestroom while Dina had Selatan. It was a pity that we couldn't spend more time just soaking up the peace of the place (though the chicken-duck-geese-doggie dawn chorus is hard to sleep through!). The festival days were long and we left the villa early in the morning and didn't get back until night.
Ronald has embarked on a video project - filming writers as they work. I sat for an hour and wrote a story for him yesterday, with the camera pointing down on me. I was happy that I'd got a first draft I can work with, and Ronald seemed pleased with the footage. I don't usually like to see myself on film, but found watching my pages being filled quite compelling!So if you are a writer and find yourself in Bali any time soon, Ronald would love to offer you the use of a table while he immortalises your scribbling habits on film!
8 comments:
lovely to have you back!! can't wait to hear all your stories. as for this one, i don't think i could ever write with someone or something watching me. what was your story about? and what's the ultimate aim of the filming?
i wasn't self-conscious because the camera was above and i wasn't really aware of it. the story was about sisters and rivalry, darkness vs. light, the hidden agenda of generosity. i asked Ronald to give me the words that started the piece so there was a big element of randomness.
first draft is always crappy, but some tension was beginning to emerge which i thought was interesting. i'll work on it for Ronald.
he talked of putting together the footage of several writers and displaying it on a screen perhaps at next year's festival. maybe also of painting a still.
Wow, a lovely place and what generosity and kindness of the lovely coupld for the arts!
Good to know you and Dina had a good time there, hope you'll get some rest ftom the trip. :)
Sorry, but if I was a writer how would I even afford the air tickets and food ? :)
dreamer idiot - thanks. yes feel pretty tired today ...
anon - well 100 writers managed it somehow
Good to have you back, Sharon. Miss your posts whilst you were away! And thanks for sharing the Bali Fest with us. Wonder if we'll ever have one here.....
Somehow..maybe because they were Indonesian ? how many non-local writers came under their own expenses ?
tina - we had one here a couple of years ago and hopefully will have another one before long
anon - most of the 100 were non-local, i'd say. take a look at the programme. many got sponsorship from organisations.
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