cw2

The masks you have seen from Bali fall into two categories, those that are employed for the Topeng and those used for ritual and religious performances in which a Rangda and a Barong Ket mask are used. Besides having an entertainment value for those who watch the characters they depict in action, they also serve a practical purpose to the Balinese. Discuss some of the masks and the characters they depict and the way they are employed to serve ritual and religious purposes in Balinese society.

Masks from Bali and the characters the people depict serve ritual and religious purposes. Masks used for Topeng and the Rangda and Barong Ket masks are all examples of this. They both service the communities and help protect them.

Topeng Pajegan is a performance in which one man plays all the roles and wears different masks. With all of the characters played, there is a representation of birth, life, and death by the end of the play. The first character, Topeng Gras, represents the young and strong “life-force” and the last character, Sidhakarya, represents the face of a dead old man who still wears a smile. All of the masks are used to represent the external struggle between good and evil and how they both balance the other one out. This is not entertainment because most villagers don’t pay full attention to the performance, but rather a ritual that is done for the community //(Performances in Bali and film).//

The masks of Rangda and the Barong are also important characters in Bali. The Rangda mask is one that has big eyes and hair with a really long tongue. This character is portrayed as a witch. The Barong Ket is a demon who is the enemy of Rangda who is supposed to guard the villages. Because they are opposites of each other, they also represent good and evil (notes).

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