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Shopping
in Bali
 Shopping"
is a word that can make some people very
enthusiastic and especially when doing it
in Bali. Bali is known as the warehouse
of unique handicrafts. But the questions
now are: What handicrafts are worth shopping
for? Where to go to and how much to pay
for it? What should we know about it?
The first thing to do is limit your scope.
You can buy almost anything in Bali, from
agar-agar to zinc. The most important thing
is how to get something that you will be
happy to own and display in your home –
something of quality and value; something
that has entrapped part of an artist’s
spirit of creativity. Such items need not
necessarily be expensive. Some preliminary
education is necessary. It must be kept
clearly in mind that wherever in the world
there is a profitable industry involving
the production and sales of genuine, quality
crafts, hand-made by individual artists,
there will inevitably exist an equally profit-able
industry dedicated to copying these works
of art, using less expensive methods, mass
production, materials of interior quality,
misrepresentation, and outright fakery.
This is not unique to Bali. It exists everywhere
in the world where there are tourists. The
serious shopper must know the fact.
If you have even seen a Balinese wood carving
– how do you know whether the one
you want to buy was made by an individual
craftsman or mass-produced in a factory
that turns out dozens of identical carvings
every day? That is not easy to answer because
experience is really the only teacher. The
best advice, as it is everywhere in the
world, is simply this: avoid the peddlers,
the hustlers, and the hawkers. Buy only
from an established shop with good reputation.
You may pay a little more, but not necessary
so. But, don’t forget that the most
valuable asset of a shop is its good reputation.
Educational point number two: if possible,
shop without a guide. Sometimes this may
not be possible. If your time is limited
to three or four days in Bali you can’t
begin to see all there is to see, much less
even to find the reputable stores that sell
good quality crafts, and shop leisurely
in them. Prices at almost every store are
subject to bargaining. That is universal
practice in Asia. And obviously, your bargaining
position is much better if you come in alone
and the shop owner or clerk realize that
he does not have a guide’s commission
to pay. Such stores do not necessary have
the best merchandise or the most attractive
prices. This is a fact of life in Bali,
as it is elsewhere, and you better be aware
of it.
Point number three: almost every craft shop
in Bali will give you a so-called discount,
ranging 5% to 20% or more. There may be
a sign advertising this fact. You may inform
to the clerk about the discount when you
enter or you may have to ask what the discount
is. Don’t be misled; you are not getting
a discount if everyone who buys there gets
it too.
If you don’t have a guide how do you
get top the stores on your own? The first
place you should go is Tourist Promotion
Board that is located in Denpasar. Map and
advice are excellent, English is spoken,
and it is all free.
Most Balinese crafts are sold in art shops
that sell a variety of merchandises, something
of almost every type of quality Balinese
craft that occasionally located in the larger
cities or along the routes of dense tourist
travel. Beside that there are also several
places that you can visit to find out special
handicraft or merchandise that you want
either in a village where the items are
made or in the art market in several area
in Bali like Denpasar (Badung Market), Gianyar
(Pasar Seni Sukawati), Kuta (Night Market),
etc.
Curiously enough, one of the most popular
crafts sold in Bali is not made in Bali
at all, like batik for example. There is
no significant batik industry here because
the industry is in Central Java. But if
you want to get the original Balinese textile,
don’t be afraid because there are
number of good Balinese textiles with high
quality that are produced in Bali. Endek
or woven cloth, is a type of material known
in the trade as" weft ikat". This
kind of textile can make up into a shirt,
pants, dress or skirt. While on the subject
of materials, you might be interested in
looking at double ikat cloth called geringsing.
It is extremely difficult and time-consuming
to make and quite expensive because it takes
two or three years to make and this industry
can you find in Tenganan village of Karangasem
Regency. The red, yellow, and black colors
come from roots, bark, and leaves.
Still another characteristic fabric of Bali
is called Songket. This is a brocaded material
that is woven on a small horizontal loom
called cag-cag. The type of songket most
popular with the Balinese has a design of
gold, or sometimes silver, threads woven
into the weft. Not only Balinese textile,
in Bali you also can find many kind of statues
that are made from such material either
stone or wood. A stone statue weighing several
dozen kilograms is hardly the sort of thing
that you can put in your suitcase and bring
home as an example of Balinese craft. There
are many kind of statues either made of
stone or wood with unique carvings and shapes,
mostly its can be found in Batubulan, Gianyar.
Scene of monsters, legends and scenes from
everyday life, heroes etc decorate the street
along Denpasar Gianyar. Wooden statues are
sold all over Bali, but you might as well
go to the source in Mas, Ubud.
Tegalalang, Gianyar is a center of mask
wood carving, carved and painted trees of
all size- banana, coconut, and papaya, some
of which look surprisingly like the real
thing, complete with browned, insect-eaten
leaves, and some of which are quite shoddy.
There is a very strong, ancient traditional
of carving masks for at least three kinds
of religious dance: Topeng, wayang wong
and Barong Rangda made by society here.
In this regency you can find bamboo furniture
with prices is quite reasonable. The center
of bamboo furniture industry is at the village
of Belega near Bona with principal product
are chairs and tables. But the best places
to buy bamboo baskets and the home of many
famous shadow play puppeteers and is the
best place to buy it is in Sukawati.
Bali is also famous for silverwork. The
village of Celuk, just beyond Batubulan,
on the main road toward the northeast, is
the home of dozens of good silver shops.
Nice bracelets, pendant with turquoise,
rings, nice necklace, hairpin, plated coffee,
animal-in short, just about anything in
silver that you can imagine at good prices.
Next we come to the subject of Balinese
painting. There are several numbers of painting
galleries that appear in Bali, especially
in Ubud if you want fine quality genuine
Balinese painting. Mostly the object crude
attempts to copy or play upon the tourist’s
conception of a tropical paradise, a glowing
sunset with a boat in the distance, a nymph
taking bath and so on. But if you are interested
with the classical painting styles just
go to the Kamasan Village in the Regency
of Klungkung. The style is derived in part
from the wayang kulit puppets with very
conservative and highly stylized. The subject
matter comes from the Hindu Epics and other
legends, never from everyday life. So what
are you waiting for coming and shopping
to Bali while enjoys this beautiful island.
(BTN/Rai from SNBook)
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