Masks, between heaven and hell

It took four years of work and study to produce Masks of Bali: Between Heaven and Hell, the new book born from the collaboration between the acclaimed dancer-scholar Prof. Dr. I Made Bandem and the art historian Bruce W. Carpenter on Balinese mask traditions. Not only for scholars but also for lovers of history, Asian art and legends, the book is presented in two elegant volumes with a preface by Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia. The texts describe the traditional dances that have survived to this day, their pre-Hindu origin, famous artisans and their biographies, the major dancers and everything that belongs to the universe of masks, including rare ones. Precisely the masks never photographed before, and therefore not documented, can be found in the second volume, accompanied by around 1000 images. The extensive photographic repertoire is due to Doddy Obenk, who supervised hundreds of Balinese masks dating back to the period from the 16th to the 20th century, researched in archives, institutions and private and museum collections, published here with dedicated forms and captions.