Handmade Traditional Mask from Pak Wito
His name is Pak Wito, usually carved a mask from wood and miniature of the mask. Pak Wito lives in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Actually, he is a labor.
His skill to carve influenced by his traditional live in Malang and his contemplation about his conviction. According Pak Wito, some mask he has made need some ritual to make the carving mask has a magic power.
The carving mask he has made usually used in traditional dance in Malang for welcome party, when an important guest came to Malang. The traditional dance that use the carving mask are :
- Tari Bapangan : traditional dance about soldier from Pandawa and Kurawa. The mask use soldier character.
- Tari Sabrangan : traditional dance about king. The mask use king character.
The picture show Pak Wito and two mask miniature. The miniature representative about devil with ugly face and sharp canine tooth. Interesting about the mask miniature? Check this.
Fruit Carving from Thai
Thai cuisine involves the balancing of contrasting flavours, spicy and subtle, sweet and sharp. It is also concerned with aesthetic vaiues for the Thais believe that food should please the eye as well as the palate.
One particularly delightful aspect of Thai cuisine and the reflection of a more leisured age is the art of carving fruit and vegetables. This is a traditional craft which is still popular.
In the fruit carver's skilled hands and using a small and very sharp pointed knife, an ordinary papaya or pumpkin is turned into a bouquet of flowers, a radish becomes a tiny rabbit or daisy or a carrot a rare orchid. Almost any kind of fruit or vegetable can be used. The carver must understand the texture of each and use its natural colour to imitate that of the chosen subject. Not all the carvings are as small as a flower; a large round watermelon becomes a richly decorated and lidded bowl to be used as a container for fruit salad. The green outer skin is cut away to make a pattern in relief of flowers or even characters in Thai literature.
Why should someone bother to transform a pumpkin into a magic coach or a beetroot into a butterfly? The answer is the Thai appreciation of beauty and craftsmanship, whatever the medium.
Information from: "Thai Studies" by Wadee Kheourai.
All photographs are copyright Sriwittayapaknam School.
