Very humbling experience today at the pottery, as I sat making 1kg bowls for testing different sorts of glaze traps.  Bandem, the gun thrower, was sitting at the opposite wheel nonchalantly making 40 cm salad bowls from 5kg balls of porcelain. He was easily making 2 large bowls for each small one that I made. So, if he is so good, whatever am I doing here? It is not due to the teacher/practitioner divide, he happens to be a good teacher as well as being clever and good company.

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I live in hope of being able to contribute something, and in fear of being exposed as a fraud. In Bali in particular, ceremony, ritual, habit and inertia get in the way of change. Change for the better or change for the worse. It is just those factors that have seen Balinese culture survive and outlast lengthy occupation by the Dutch and Japanese. There are some things that the pottery management would like to have done differently. So perhaps I am here to try to introduce some new habits. Currently a work in progress.

There is little in the way of ceramics that is too small or too large for Gaya to undertake. Two-piece coffee tables are a standard stock item. A recent project is 50 mirror surrounds for a new hotel. Each mirror measures about 2 metre by one metre. Each surround divided into about 25 pieces for firing.

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I was personally invited to take part in the mud dancing, and have lingering regret at having declined the opportunity. The second annual international mud festival was held at the Green School, Ubud. The mud festival was the delightful showpiece of a fund-raiser and getting to know you open day at the school. The Green School might be described as the love child of John Hardy an American visionary philanthropist and his wife Cynthia. When he sold his multinational jewellery business he put his money and energy into founding the school of his dreams Architecturally, the school is comprised of overwhelmingly cathedral scale bamboo buildings. The philosophy is eco-green-sustainable. Age range is from 2 y.o. (called geckos) to year 12. Current student numbers are 250, 90% of which are expat, under 10% locals on scholarship and a small handful of boarders. Having been initially established by the Hardys, the school now has no major benefactor and has to balance its books with school fees and fundraising efforts. The school produces half of its energy usage from an extensive solar array. All children take part in working the vegetable gardens. The corn and lettuces looked very good, the rice crop less so. As enrolments officer Tim explained, they are only kids & not experienced farmers, so the result is not too bad. Neither words nor photos can describe the feeling of wonder at the vision and execution of the three story high cathedral like main building. Like all buildings at the school it is totally bamboo with grass roof.

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After the guided tours, visitors assembled at a sort of amphitheatre above a little field, devoid of rice, with a thin film of water over a rich black soil. At the other side of the field a band of guitar, African drum and tenor horn was gently mooching in the style of a Cuban Ry Cooder. After a few minutes, a woman, Staff? Teacher? Parent? Innocent bystander? Whatever, danced, ever so gracefully, seductively into the middle of the field. Becoming covered progressively, gently and beautifully by a steadily increasing layer of mud. Needless to say, over the next little while she was joined by many of the audience. OK, yes, I’m ashamed and embarrassed to admit that I didn’t join in. Maybe next year. In the following clip, a younger band has taken over, mainly students & friends.

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The expats in town include everyone from dropouts, survivors, entrepreneurs and the  Establishment who exercise influence around town. Mario Blanco was born here of expat artist Antonio and a famous local dancer, so he always qualified as a fully paid up local.

Gyan Daniel Wall is an Australian potter-in-residence at the Gaya Ceramic Art Centre, an affiliate of Gaya Ceramics where I am involved. Apart from riding a very old motor bike, Gyan qualifies as an authentic expat because of his engagement with the action of the town, like being a some-time drummer at warungs and bars. Gyan proudly remains a journeyman potter, leaving a trail of beautifully made wood fire kilns wherever he goes around the world. As recently as a couple of months ago he led a workshop here to build a new Anagama kiln for the Gaya Art Centre. A neat construction method without form work and using raw hand made bricks. Gyan also likes pizza, so the Anagama has a pizza oven attachment. Handy for feeding the workers

Janet deNeefe is a high profile expat who owns two restaurants, a bar, a homewares shop, a cooking school and a guest house, is author of two books, wife and mother of four children. Born in Melbourne, she fell in love with her husband, Ketu, and moved to Ubud in 1984. She is particularly famous for initiating the Ubud writers and readers festival in the wake of the Bali bombings to bring tourists back to Bali in general and Ubud in particular. Last years star-studded cast included the British-Pakistani intellectual Tariq Ali, Alexander McCall Smith, Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish, known as the Gaza doctor whose three daughters and niece were killed when Israeli shells hit their home, and Australians Paul Kelly and Alex Miller.

The UNESCO heritage rice fields gained their status by the extent of mountainous terracing and the continuing use of traditional methods. AND the water buffalo do really cool mud dancing