Last week, as a fringe event of Ubud’s Writers and Readers Festival, Threads of Life Gallery presented Kahi Ata Ratu. Outside their beautiful fair trade Gallery that works with culture and conservation to alleviate poverty in rural Indonesia, I enjoyed a set of Sumbanese songs from East Sumba, sung by the queen of Sumbanese folk music who accompanied herself on her Jungga, an Indonesian type of guitar. As motifs appear to weavers, songs appear to Ata Ratu in her dreams. This resulted in a spontaneous performance that spoke of her journey to Bali, of traditional textiles, culture and the land.