ART

Arts and Crafts Product in Bali Until this century Balinese artists produced work (paintings, stone & wood carving etc.) under the patronage of wealthy kings or as gifts to decorate the local temple. As such the artists were only doing their part as a member of the community and therefore never gave much thought to be recognized for their efforts by signing their work. In addition, art had to follow very stringent guidelines so whilst the quality may have varied the content was quite standard. It wasn't until the arrival of European artists that Balinese artists learned to express themselves individually and then began signing their work. Cloth & Textiles Bali has basically 3 indigenous textiles: Endek, Gringsing and Tenun Ikat. That being said most of the swaths of cloth and fancy printed apparel on sale in Bali are really Batik and native to Java, not Bali. FYI, the intricate designs on Batik cloth are made by applying wax to the fabric prior to dying each time another color is added. Inasmuch as Endek is really only popular with the Balinese it is not mass produced - so it is quite safe to say that any endek you purchase will have been hand made. It is a laborious affair. The horizontal threads are laid out and pre dyed with a desired pattern in a tie dye type of operation ( the fabric may be dyed several times with different colors ). Once dyed the threads are dried then woven into the vertical threads on the loom. These vertical threads are only one color -usually black. It is not until the weaving is complete that one knows for sure the quality and clarity of the designer's work. This is just a rough idea how the process works, it's actually much more complicated than this with several people - men included - to make just one bolt of cloth. The finished bolt is about 20 feet long by 3.5 feet wide. It takes about 10 days just to weave one bolt of cloth - so think of the value ! Now, if you think that's tricky try it with both the vertical and horizontal threads at the same time. Imagine a weaver must come up with a design then "tye dye" both the horizontal and vertical threads separately 2-3 times depending on the number of colors used. Even the slightest miscalculation when dying the yarn or a mistake by the weaver and months of work are lost. This is basically how Gringsing is produced in the Balinese Village of Tenganan - one of two or three places in the entire world capable of producing this extraordinary textile. As mentioned many times in BaliHotels.com this is one of the best souvenirs available to visitors to Bali. The third cloth, tenun ikat is also popular in Bali. Like endek the horizontal threads are dyed and woven into a solid vertical thread on the loom. The difference is that the patterns are solid colored blocks or simple crossing patterns. This cloth is also mostly produced by hand and is very popular in fashionable circles for clothing, home furnishings and accessories. Return to Top Paintings Traditional Kamasan Art This is the most traditional of all Balinese paintings. Originating in the Klungkung Regency during the reign Kingdom of Gelgel it was widely admired throughout Bali. The artists specializing in this art form are known as "Sangging". In days gone by these Snagging artists would often be commissioned to travel to other kingdoms to decorate a palace or temple with this style of painting. Kamasan is easily distinguished in the market. The paint color is predominately orange (sometimes blue) and the theme always depicts Hindu epics and are based on the Javanese Wayang characters. The characters are divided into two camps: Good, ( those with refined facial features and slim bodies) and Evil, (those with distorted faces, red color and distended bodies). The painting is a large canvas divided up into panels with each panel telling the story of a well known adventure. Years ago Kamasan art was placed primarily in temples as wall hangings, used as curtains, or as banners during festivals. (Go to the Kerta Goa Hall of Justice in Klungkung to see fine examples of this style). The paintings are used much the same way today with restaurants now often using the canvas for menu covers. Kamasan still today has Sangging artists dedicated to painting in the traditional Kamasan style. Easily the best known Kamasan artist is I Nyoman Mandra who has his own school, and does restoration work. Bpk. Mandra can be found in Klungkung. Return to Top Modern Art As mentioned earlier starting this century Balinese artists came under more direct influence of Western artists with the arrival of European artists. The most famous of these were German, Walter Spies and Dutchman, Rudolf Bonnet. These two painters taught the Balinese painters new, more realistic and expressionistic art - scenes from every day life, landscapes and the like - which now dominates the paintings produced on Bali. Later on and together with local artist Gede Agung Sukawati the Pitamaha Painters Association was established. Styles which sprang from this effort are briefly described below. When looking to buy keep in mind that prices vary widely depending on the size and the amount and clarity of detail. Batuan These large paintings are easily identified because every square inch of the canvas is filled with tiny figures going about life's daily activities (some quite graphic if you look hard enough). Usually bright colored, these paintings seem to be getting funnier and funnier (or sarcastic depending on your view of video camera tourists being painted into village life) as the years go by. Keliki Keliki paintings are generally the very small paintings you see hanging on pillars and odd spaces in different shops. These too are crammed with little images but look closely though and you will see that the subject matter is very different - usually the subject is the supernatural with fantastically detailed demons. Pengosekan These are the bird, flower and butterfly paintings you see all over. The amount of detail and correct proportion determine the price but works of the best (i.e. I Made Supartha commands up to US$ 5,000 for a good sized painting). Ubud With highly stylized human features -strong lines, long necks, proud posture, and the like identify these paintings to have been influenced by Walter Spies. The paintings are usually large and colorful without being bright. Such artists as Dewa Putu Bedil are always in demand and you may well have to commission the best and wait quite some time before you own one of this style. Modern Nowadays there are many Balinese and Indonesian artists who practice what can best be described as Modern Art. Some like Made Winata, Krijono, and Joko amongst others have achieved a great deal of commercial success combining their Indonesian perspective with abstract figures and new colors. Return to Top The Keris These daggers with their wavy blades are famous the world over. Going back as far as Hindu Javanese of Majapahit in the 13th century, these beautiful daggers are much more than a weapon - they are a revered symbol of the man who owns it and each Keris is deeply believed to have a life and spirit of its own. Indeed there are stories of kings, too busy with affairs of the palace to attend their own weddings, letting the Keris stand in as the groom. And not just any will Keris will do, a Keris must be matched spiritually to its owner to protect him from harm. Since the Keris is found in many parts of Indonesia, there are correspondingly many different styles of blades, handles and sheaths - none any better than another just personal preference. In Bali the Keris is usually quite large and has a wavy double edged blade ( be careful when you unsheathe it, it's sharp! ) with an ornately carved handle (or hilt) representing one of the gods from the Ramayana epic. Also with the Balinese Keris the area connecting the blade to the handle is embedded with semi precious stones as is the sheath. As a comparison, the Keris from Java are usually smaller and less presumptuous and the Keris from North Sumatra are usually with straight, one sided blades. An old, valuable Keris can easily fetch US$ 5,000. but an average Keris is about US$ 200 - US$ 500. When buying, attention to detail is everything. Look closely at the area that joins the blade to the handle, does the handle look new and the blade old?, is the blade intricately forged? etc. Return to Top Masks Practically from the time you step off the plane you will see masks of different sizes, shapes and colors. Whilst these days many masks are produced solely as tourist souvenirs not to take masks seriously in Bali would be a mistake. When a Westerner dons a mask at a party it is to pretend he is someone else. For Indonesians - especially Balinese to don a mask is to begin living the life of the mask. Masks used in performances of sacred dances are sacred and as such revered and kept so in temples. You will not find such masks sitting idly in a store waiting to be purchased. That being said, there are still fine masks - all works of art - that are no longer used available for sale (for a price). Without going too deeply into (there are entire books devoted to the subject) most masks you will see are representations of Ramayana Epic. The masks with refined features such as a short pointed nose and white face represent Noblemen, while those with garish features - red faces with bulbous noses and missing teeth represent buffoons, idiots, liars and cheats. If you look closely at the eyes you will be able to see Chinese characters as well - they are the ones with the thinner eyes. Lastly, today masks are being made in modern shapes like a crescent moons and painted abstract colors but these are really only for souvenirs and decoration. A fine mask properly displayed and well lit adds a lot to any home or office. Most of the best masks can be found in the village of Mas. Return to Top Stone Carving Driving around Bali it would difficult not to be impressed with the majesty of the intricate stone carvings that adorn the thousands of temples that dot the island. This stone is known locally as "paras" and is not really stone in the Western sense. Rather paras is volcanic ash mixed with sand and clay and compressed over the centuries into a hard material similar to sandstone or soapstone. As such the material is quite soft, decays easily and moss seems to grow on it overnight - so if you are walking through a rice paddy and happen to see an old, blackened, moss covered statue do not think it is centuries old - it may be 5 or at the most 30 years old ! Traditionally stone has been carved into the shapes of demons and deities to decorate temples and courtyards of royal families - rarely does the average Balinese have any stone relief in his living area. Stone carvers have been around a lot longer than painters and have never been subject to the same strict rules as painters. The imaginations of the stone carvers has always been allowed to run riot i.e. gods with multiple sex organs and even scenes incorporating everyday life with today's technology such as airplanes are now carved into temple relieves. To get a good idea of the range of items for sale a trip through Batubulan is a nice day spent. Whether or not you are ready to ship a 500 lb. statue back home is up to you but almost any statue would be focal point of your garden. Return to Top Wood Carving Wood carving shares a lot of similarities with stone carving inasmuch as both were used primarily to decorate temples. You can see traditional wood carving used to decorate the pillars and beams used to support the roofs of temples (and lately restaurants as well). However understanding that wood carvings are much easier to transport and have more practical uses in home decorating it should come as no surprise to learn that Westerners have begun to have a strong influence on what is now being produced. Not that that is all bad. Traditionally wood carvers have also had pretty much free reign to experiment and many have become more sculptors than carvers with the best wood carvers turning unusual pieces of wood that most folks would just as soon throw away into masterpieces. However, still the most sought after works are the traditional Ramayana figurines. There are many varieties of wood used. As a general rule of thumb all things being equal the softer the wood the faster it grows and the easier it is to carve and hence the price is lower. Popular soft woods are merantie, crocodile and hibiscus. Harder woods such as nangka (jackfruit), and kampor are much heavier and can be more intricately carved. Either way a word of caution - The wood is not always thoroughly dry before being carved and if you take it to a climate with less humidity it may crack. So sometimes it's better to take the older carving that's collected its share of dust and polish it up yourself when you get back home. Return to Top Other - Kites Whilst maybe not a traditional art form, in fact kites were only recently introduced into Bali by the Japanese during their occupation of Indonesia in World War 2, the Balinese have quickly turned them into an art form. It is not unusual to see a group of men struggling to put a kite 4 meters (yes, 4 meters - some of these contraptions can be down right dangerous to passing aircraft !) into the back of a truck to take down to the beach. In fact there are laws against flying kites too close around the airport. The shapes can be winged eagles or tall ships complete with main mast and sails ! Truly a delight. And when these really big kites are airborne the wind on the string produces a loud, hypnotic humming sound. Serious competitions have begun to be staged with international competitors trying their best against the Balinese. Airworthy small versions make interesting souvenirs for young children. Return to Top Bali Hotels - batik Balinese Arts & Crafts The Balinese seem to be the most talented of all of Indonesia's gifted artisans. Over the centuries there has been a steady steam of immigrants introducing new ideas, coupled with the generous patronage of Kingdoms past, Balinese artists have become justly famous. Indeed the number of foreigners who have been inspired by Bali as well as the number of Indonesians from other islands who have come to Bali to hone their craft are testimony to the importance of Bali in the art world. As such BaliHotels.com provides a brief - very brief - overview of traditional art forms just to acquaint and alert the casual or first time visitor to some of the art produced on Bali and give greater value to what otherwise would be just another curio. 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ANIMALDAY

Tumpek KandangAnimals in Bali Animals have a very important position both spiritually and materially in Bali, bringing about a special day of “Tumpek Kandang” especially for cattle breeders. They pray to “Sang Hyang Rare Angon” to give thanks for protecting and safeguarding their animals. Some people call the special day “Tumpek Andang”, others call it “Tumpek Pengatag” and “Tumpek Uye”, celebrated on Saniscara (Saturday) Kliwon Wuku Uye, once every 6 months. This year, the first celebration is on 8 February 2003. “Sesajen” offerings are presented to “Sang Hyang Rare Angon”, in the hope that their cattle remain strong and healthy and reproduce well. The kinds of “upakara” offerings are in the forms of “peras”, “ajuman”, “daksina”, “dapetan”, “penyeneng”, “pesucian”, and various “tipat” rice packages in coconut leafs. Wealthy breeders of course prepare larger “sesajen” with their stables colourfully decorated with the finest cloth possible.On that day, the cattle food is more attractive than usually. Breeders and lovers of animals are engaged spend time with their animals, and offer “sesajen” followed by prayers. Balinese breeders apply modern techniques in rearing cattle, while persisting to recognise the tradition of celebrating “Tumpek Kandang” holy day. (Sumadi)

Craftsmanship, Business and Devotion

Craftsmanship, Business and Devotion

Balinese ancestors have passed on the working spirit always stressing physical and inner harmony. Take the example of a man occupied in farming in Bali, having the interest of achieving physical and spiritual balance by prayer to Dewi Sri as a symbol of fertility. A fisherman in executing his profession would be ready to pray before Dewa Baruna, the god of wind. Similar is the case with other professionals, the fisherman has also attached pronouncement of words inviting mysterious spirits believed to be capable of being materialized into reality.

In view of the dependency to natural forces as shown in various deeds and activities in rituals, artistry implements have emerged in complete rituals. Samples of these arts are those of painting, architecture, carving of statues, dance, music and so on. Presently, the arts function merely as a means of rituals in temples and royal palaces or private house of nobles. They really dedicate their daily activities in arts to ritual and traditional processions in the spirit of flexible teachings of Hindu religion. Their daily jobs have their own value of service or ngayah dedicated toward achieving physical and spiritual living perfection. Just because of this concept of ngayah too, artists of past time have never printed their names on their works. They are of greater tolerance in friendship relations, while preferring to uphold joint existence, committed social intercourse of mutuality known in Balinese as personal relations of asah, asih, asuh, paras, paros, sarpanaya, sagilik-saguluk, salunglung, sabayantaka. Such social relations have contributed to the anonymity of artistic works found in later periods, suggesting that Balinese culture was more communal in character. Arts in Bali originate from the pre-historical age, divided into four periods of (1) Pre-Hindu Time (8th Century); (2) Balinese Kings’ (8th – 13th Century); (3) Arrival of Majapahit Migrants (8th – 15th Century); (4) Period of Contact with Westerners and Age of Independence (15th – 20th Century). Take the example of work of arts of painting and sculpturing of the Pre-Hindu Age, according to data found in Bedulu’s Antiquity Museum (Gianyar regency). This museum houses tools made of stone of (Paleolithicum Age), instruments made of bones and horn (Mezolithicum Age), refined instruments of stone (Age of Neolithicum), sarcophagus (Age of Megalithicum), and various idols, bracelets, kettle-drums, and lamps, from the Bronze and Iron Age. Development of the art of painting and sculpturing during the Pre-Hindu era has shown signs of direct influence of Hindu culture flourishing in Bali. During this era, sectarian ideas sprouted out of sects of Siwa, Wisnu, Bairawa, and others. Remnants of these ideas have persisted in megalithic Pancering Jagat Temple in Trunyan and Bairawa statue in Pejeng. A bronze kettledrum in “Penataran Sasih” Temple of Desa Pejeng, is also a remainder from Pre-Hindu times. This kettledrum is more popular in Bali as “Bulan Pejeng” or “Moon of Pejeng”, being the largest bronze drum on the Earth. There are paintings of frogs, leaves of “Semanggi” Hirdrocotyle sibthorpiolides, complete with a lining of rays symbolizing a call to rain. Apart from this, the kettledrum war instrument is probably a masterpiece ever been created by human beings. During the reign of Ugrasena (896 M), in his “prasasti” inscription there is a story of “parbhwayang”. Around the ninth century (1045 - 4147), in some inscriptions issued by King of Raja Anak Wungsu, there is an _expression of “aringgit” introduced. It signals that there was a knowledge known by a group of experts skilled in painting of wayang puppets. In one of the inscriptions, there is a drawing of wayang motive picturing God of “Batara Siwa”. Following are ancient scripts in the form of “lontar” manuscript, containing pictures featuring the story of wayang or legend still favoured by the Balinese community. Pictures designed in this manuscript is a miniature of beautiful paintings, worked out by means of a tool such as a sharp-pointed knife on a flat “lontar” leaf of very tiny format with measurement of about 2 cm up to 5 cm, of length of 11 up to 18 cm. The cleft produced by the trace of the knife is filled with a mixture of oil and soot. After Dewa Agung Jambe’s governance rule, the kingdom centre moved to Semarapura. There were Dewa Agung Jambe and his whole entourage, studying in depth the Hindu religion, arts, literature, and philosophy. Dalem Klungkung currently showed great interest, rendered blessing protection and performed developing efforts to artists of Kamasan Village. These performances by the ruler have showed his role as elders close to Kamasan artists. Visually, there are two sorts of paintings distinguished from each other firstly that called by Balinese “ider-ider”, while the second being “langse” or curtain. The first paintings are made of cloth usually 30-cm wide and with a maximum length of 600 cm. These paintings are usually hung under the roof of houses or temple buildings during a religious ritual. The second paintings are hung under the temple or house roof during rituals. In present development of Bali’s tourism, cultural arts in Bali have grown dynamically not merely in painting, architecture, and literature, but also in ways of thinking and living among Balinese community members in daily events. Nevertheless, the Balinese have never just simply imitated those coming from overseas, but they have been selective and adaptive in accommodating foreign influences in concert with local values and customs. In this way, a new cultural assimilation has come to the fore between Western and Balinese culture. According to Wood (1984) and Picard (1993), in an exposition made by Pitana (2000), tourism was capable of rendering a specific dynamic development of Balinese culture of its own, preceded by conscience on internal differentiation of ever changing culture absorbing tourism influence. A more realistic approach is to look on tourism as a carrier of “foreign influence, integrated into local culture in a process known as “touristification”. Balinese culture instilled with the spirit of Hindu religion is highly complicated and dynamic in character as shown in an analogy forwarded by James Boon, a U.S. anthropologist (1997), when he wrote the following: “Balinese culture is a romance of ideas and action”. This has been due to various differentiation and accumulation of variables of respective tradition and culture, in line with the Balinese concept of “desa, kala, patra”, referring to place, time, and condition. In Balinese cultural history, it has come to the fore a syncretism process among various cultural elements during thousands of years through cultural intercourse between Balinese people and the international world such as China, Egypt, Japan, India, and Europe. Nevertheless, in absorbing foreign cultural elements, history has shown, the Balinese community have indirectly accommodated foreign cultural elements intact. What has happened is such a way of screening and modification in conform to Balinese culture. Such happening has resulted in screened element absorption, which seemingly has been originally Balinese. Bali has been conscious of the term of “artist” following the influence of the western world. Artists independently have often signed their names on their own works evidently, with an aim of publicity among community members. Nevertheless, previously, ahead of the influx of Western influence, the term of “artist” conformed to the word “tukang” (craftsman) in Bali professionally meaning artisan skilled in decoration with ornaments, known also locally as “sangging”, while artisan skilled in building development is locally named “tukang bangunan” or “undagi” (building developer). The term of “tukang” has been applied to other professions such as “tukang igel” (dancer) synonymous with “pragina”. These professions originally were an inheritance going down from ancestors among certain people. Before being engaged in the profession, one should observe a religious ritual procession of cleansing. Without existence of the term of “artists”, Balinese people have really integrated themselves in performing artist activities. It is not strange if M. Covarrubias characterised all Balinese as artists.