PEGAGOGY

In Bali, masks are understood as capable of momentarily collecting a portion of cosmic energy, the vital life of the universe. As such they are understood to help visualize the divine powers, as well as providing them momentary material manifestations.
The play with the mask is, hence, the attempt to illuminate and the dare to connect to bigger themes than the individual. In Bali it is known that through the mask both extremes, the universal and the individual, can be connected.

Maria´s workshops with Balinese masks offer an exploration of these beautiful, rich masks, their dynamics and structures, and how they can enrich your deeper playfulness and aliveness and inform your understanding of different levels of play in life and art. For her, mask research is a journey to be pencipta, which is Balinese for a certain “creator“ who wrestles with being an interpreter, investigating into a mask, daring to let the mask live fully, and sharing stories through them.
Maria´s pedagogical research is rooted to ikhlas, which is a Balinese concept of giving without expecting anything in return. . This approach involves holding space for others to find their own spaces, stories and openness, allowing them to set themselves free (in Balinese besakan).