The piece, which he wrote in 2007, was part of an anti-terror project in cooperation with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss.
«The Circus is in Town – a musical response to violence» is a musical response to the acts of terror on Bali in 2002 and 2005 and was first performed on 4 August 2007, when Frode Barth played together with local Indonesian musicians and received considerable attention from TV, radio and newspapers.
“This piece was created as part of an anti-terror project in cooperation with the Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss (1912 - 2009), who established ANCFEP (Arne Næss Center for Ecology and Philosophy) on Bali in 2001.
When the piece was performed in 2007 we also presented art and culture books to a new library on Bali,” says Frode Barth.
The reason why Frode Barth has been invited back to Bali to perform a concert at the commemorative monument is that one of the presumed ring leaders behind the Bali bombs was arrested in March of this year. This time he will perform two solo concerts for electric guitar and electronica. Fearing the gathering of large groups of people in Kuta, where the commemorative monument has been erected, the authorities have instead suggested Barth perform «The Circus is in Town – a musical response to violence» in Lombok and on Bali.