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Balinese and Art Craft
If
you spend your holiday in Bali you will
not feel complete without buying souvenirs
in the shape of typical works of art like
sculpture, woven cloth, painting, ceramic,
bracelets, rings, bamboo plaits and the
like. These artistic handicrafts are widely
sold at street side, art shops and gallerys
or offered by hawkers at tourist areas.
About the price, it much depends on your
ability to bargain to its sellers. Obviously,
they would be affordable to your budget.
The Balinese have a high artistic talent,
as described by the anthropologist Miguel
Covarrubias in his book The Island of Bali.
They can process roots and timber blocks
into a high artistic-valued sculpture. Likewise,
other materials could be processed into
enchanting works of art. Such works of art
are now made in mass production so it turns
to be handicraft industry. They who are
deeply involved in this field are always
open to yield new designs of works of art
that can be sold to visitors.
By the development of tourism in Bali, make
more and more Balinese rely on their livelihood
in the handicraft industry. Its marketing
is not only oriented to visitors who make
a visit to Bali but it has also been exported
to foreign countries, particularly in Gianyar,
Badung and Denpasar, there are many art
craftsmen that have made cooperation in
marketing with overseas buyers. This handicraft
export has become the mainstay of the gross
regional product of Bali.
Those who are deeply involved in this industry,
and ties to an international marketing network,
at least, has overseas customers, their
life is economically very prosperous. They
are often called nouveau riche whose houses
look extremely fine, have new car with a
very consumerist life style or like to show
a bit of exclusive appearance.
It is different from those who work as farmers,
even a poor farmer that lives very modestly
their house merely has minimal requirements
to live in and they commonly categorized
into an “indigent family”. It
is caused by the authority that gives less
attention to the marketing of their agricultural
products so the income of farmers is relatively
low and it is not balanced to their hard
work in cultivating the agricultural land.
Therefore, there are many Balinese people
now leaving their work as farmers and turning
to tourism and the handicraft industry.
Many also sell their land to tourism investors
or entrepreneurs that causes many hotels,
shops and luxury houses appearing in numbers
in Bali.
Predecessors of the Balinese were really
creative and hard workers. According to
historians, since the prehistoric period
the Balinese have expertise in making artistic
goods of bronze or clay to meet their life
needs. This is called perundagian (carpentry)
period that developed after they could grow
crops. According to I Made Sutaba who wrote
the book Prasejarah Bali or Prehistoric
Period of Bali (1980), inhabitants that
lived together in a village had accomplished
to gain prosperous life, mastered the technique
of making pottery and bronze casting. Such
goods have now become very important historical
remains retained in several museums and
temples in Bali.
Creativity mentioned above kept on increasing
and foreign relationships of Kings in Bali
have been opened to kings outside Bali like
those of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and so forth
and occurred trade contacts with some foreign
traders, particularly from the Chinese mainland
and other Asian countries since 8th to 14th
centuries AD.
Kings mentioned above are Sri Gunapriyadharmapatni,
Dharma Udayana Warmadewa, Anak Wungsu and
Sri Aji Jayapangus. In that time, foreign
traders also brought along their handicraft
products like various motifs of ceramics
so it then improved the knowledge of the
Balinese in creating more varieties of handicraft
art.
The ceramic wares from this historic period,
for instance, nowadays are retained in large
numbers in Museum Bali as written by I Made
Sutaba in his other book entitled “Museum
Bali Salah Satu Sumber Informasi Kebudayaan
Bali Dalam Rangka Membina Cinta Budaya”
(Museum Bali as one information resources
of Balinese culture to develop cultural
affection). For example, there are Chinese,
Japanese, European and Thai ceramics that
is known as porcelain from Sawangkalok.
Similarly, there are also sculptures, masks
or other works of art created by the Balinese
that are retained in Museum Bali, Museum
Nyoman Gunarsa and other museums in Bali.
In the current development, these handicrafts
no longer become luxurious goods. Nearly
all of Balinese households have works of
art either for ritual needs or functional
daily use like ceramic plates for eating,
ceramic glasses for drinking and many others.
Ceramic centers are appearing in numbers
in Bali as well. Simply choose one Balinese
distinctive work of art to take home as
a souvenir.
(Ketut Sumadi-Contributor of Bali Travel
News)
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