Worldwide photo contest projected to boost Bali's image

JAKARTA (JP): The island of Bali offers a rich variety of art and culture, a most fascinating tropical environment and a well- preserved religious culture. These characteristics have been the great attraction for tourists, both domestic and foreign, for many years.

However, many riots, mainly the one in May 1998 in Jakarta, as well as other disturbances in other regions, have led the flow of tourists to Bali to sharply decline.

In order to recapture the interest of tourists, the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Foundation -- a foundation that observes and enhances regional culture -- in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bali regional government organized a photo competition about Bali. The Bali International Photo Competition '99 ran between Dec. 28, 1998 and Aug. 31, 1999.

"It was open to the public. Indonesians and foreigners who had visited Bali opened their photo albums and looked at the photographs they had taken of Bali," said executive chairman of the competition Made Gunarta. "People who had not taken photographs of Bali could go to the island to take photographs."

Domestic participants were allowed to send two to 10 photographs each and had to pay Rp 15,000 for each photograph, while the rate for foreign participants was US$5. There were 804 entries for the competition: 654 from Indonesia from 14 regions including Bali and 150 from 27 countries abroad. The number of photos received was 3,564, 2749 of which were from Indonesia and 815 from abroad.

The council of adjudicators comprising local and international photography experts and other professionals found that only 500 photos were eligible for reevaluation to find the best photos.

Edhi Setiawan of Sumenep, East Java, received the $10,000 first prize for his photo titled Exotic Bali Terrace Field. Anom Manik A. of Denpasar, Bali, received the second prize of $7,500 for his photo titled Smile and Sandhi Irawan of Jakarta obtained $5,000 for his photo titled Makepung (bull race). Fifty nominated participants each received $500.

In his photograph Edhi Setiawan describes the beauty of Bali, especially at Pupuan village, Tabanan, where paddy fields are arranged neatly on hill slopes. The friendliness of the Balinese, who always smile when welcoming tourists in Bali, is the object of Anom Malik A.'s photographic work in which we see an old woman in Serongga village, Gianyar, smiling broadly to tourists on their way to a temple for prayers.

The island of Madura knows the karapan sapi (bull race), Bali has its makepung, which is the subject of Sandhi Irawan's work, which did not mention the location of the photograph. There were many more photos about the nature, art and culture of Bali taken by the participants. Six foreign participants from Italy, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia were among the 50 nominees.

The 500 photographs, including those of the three winners and the fifty nominees, are displayed at the Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana exhibition hall in Jimbaran, Bali, from Dec. 16 to 31, 1999.

"The awards will be presented to the winners at the same place on New Year's Eve to welcome the new millennium," said Made Gunata. (PJ Leo)