Pacifica Graduate Institute Hosts an Exciting Exhibit—Mythic Threads: Art, Healing, & Magic in Bali by Pamela Bjork; the Exhibit Showcases Balinese Culture and Mythology
Santa Barbara, California (PRWEB) November 17, 2014 -- Pacifica Graduate Institutes invites the community to view their current art exhibition, Mythic Threads: Art, Healing, & Magic in Bali by Pamela Bjork, a 2012 graduate of the Mythological Studies Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her 20-year passion and intrigue in Balinese culture and mythology led her to the topic of her dissertation, Hospitality of Color: Healing Presence in Ceremonial Balinese Textiles. This expanded exhibition illustrates the living myth of a contemporary culture and helps the viewer, to see the stories in the images and artifacts and to understand the meaning inherent in them.
The allure of Bali, a tiny island in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago, has captured the public imagination since the 1930s. On Bali, which is known as Island of the Gods, indigenous beliefs and ancestor worship are interwoven with Balinese Hinduism—all in the midst of Islamic Indonesia. Vibrant cultural traditions are so entwined with notions of the sacred, that the Balinese have no word for religion. Gods descend to Earth as honored guests that inhabit deity statues, residing in threads of sacred textiles and participating in ceremonies and elaborate rituals. The gap between myth and reality is porous in Bali.
"This tiny island provides an exemplary notion of a vibrant, ever-changing culture that focuses on the communal and interdependent nature of life rather than the separate self," says Pamela Bjork. "Mythological figures, weapons of the gods, flowers and colors of the Gods are woven into the textiles unique to Bali, imbuing a felt-sense of the holy."
The exhibition consists of Balinese ceremonial textiles; photographs of sacred rituals, mythic dance, and Balinese people; dance masks; mythological stories, Ketut Liyer’s magic drawings (of Eat, Pray, Love fame), and other cultural artifacts collected over the past twenty years. An accompanying short film, produced by Pamela Bjork, provides sounds and visions of ritual ceremonies, sacred dance, healers, and peoples of Bali.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. It will be up indefinitely in the lobby of Pacifica's Ladera Lane Campus, 801 Ladera Lane, Montecito, California, 93108. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, November 22, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at the same location. For more information, please call 805.969.3626, ext. 103, email publicprograms(at)pacifica(dot)edu or visit http://www.pacifica.edu/mythic-threads.
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About Pacifica Graduate Institute
Pacifica, with two campuses in Santa Barbara, California, is an accredited graduate school offering masters and doctoral degree programs framed in the traditions in depth psychology.
The Institute has established an educational environment that nourishes respect for cultural diversity and individual differences, and an academic community that fosters a spirit of free and open inquiry. Students have access to an impressive array of resources including the OPUS Archives and Research Center which is home to the Joseph Campbell Library and Archives.
The mission of Pacifica Graduate Institute is to foster creative learning and research in the fields of psychology, the humanities, and mythological studies, framed in the traditions of depth psychology. Consistent with and supporting this vision, Pacifica Graduate Institute is employee-owned, and practices shared stewardship. http://www.pacifica.edu
Erik Davis, pacifica.edu, http://www.pacifica.edu, +1 (805) 969-3626 Ext: 364, [email protected]
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