Georgetown Festival Penang kicks off on the Malaysian island of Penang in two days and we’ll be there! The month-long arts festival is jam-packed with events, exhibitions, screenings, and installations. It’s our first trip in 15 years and we can’t wait to get back. Our work is kind of crazy. It’s nothing new to us, … Read more
A night at Phare Cambodian Circus, Siem Reap, might seem like an odd way to spend an evening in the northern Cambodian city that’s famous for Angkor Wat temple and other Angkor archaeological sites. Yet the circus arts have a long history in Cambodia, dating to the Khmer Empire, and this quirky show has become … Read more
Musings on the nature of tourism spectacles, performances that are artificially constructed and commodified for the tourist gaze, and the notion of authenticity when we travel. This is the metanarrative of my previous post, I suppose, so perhaps you’d better take a read of that one first, if this is to make sense. No matter … Read more
It’s hard to escape the apsara in Siem Reap. The celestial nymph is everywhere we look. Clad in silk and a colossal golden headdress, she seductively adorns temple walls in the form of elaborate carvings, or in human form as a graceful and distant dancer performing the Dance of the Apsara Divinities. The Apsara is … Read more
The artistic, cultural and spiritual heart of Bali for centuries, Ubud is serenely located up in the hills in lush jungle, surrounded by rice-paddies. Lined with galleries, cafés and craft shops, its narrow streets are a delight to wander. There’s no denying that Ubud has become increasingly commercial and its economy is more tourist-focused than ever. … Read more