History of Balinese Art

Artistically, Bali is and has always been a melting pot of cultures and traditions. The Balinese have a natural capacity for absorbing different cultural elements and blending them with their own, to produce dynamic new hybrids. Over the years, Bali has been the recipient of numerous foreign influences, namely Chinese, Buddhist, Indian, Hindu, Javanese, and most recently, Western. For centuries, artists and craftsmen in Bali worked under the patronage of the priests and the ruling classes, decorating palaces and temples. The artists themselves never signed their work and usually lived close together in artists "villages" Generally the artists did not have much room for personal expression, as their designs followed strict aesthetic and religious guidelines, but with the arrival of European artists at the start of this century, things began to change, and Balinese artists began developing their own individual styles. PAINTING The place synonymous with the traditional form of Balinese painting, is the village of Kamasan, near Klungkung. Up until the beginning of this century, and under service of the king of Gelgel and Klungkung, it was only natural that the painters and illustrators, called "Sangging", should settle in this one area. As it was not uncommon for ruling families from other parts of Bali to acquire the use of a Sangging to decorate their own palaces or temples, the Kamasan style of painting quickly spread throughout the whole of Bali. The style for which the artists of Kamasan are famous is based on the East Javanese "Wayang" art. These were basically two-dimensional, iconographic representations following strict rules and guidelines as to how the characters should be portrayed. For example, a person's characters and status can be seen from the colours used to portray them, a noble man's headdress, or even the direction in which he is facing. Noblemen always have had very refined faces, while coarse characters were depicted with large, bulging eyes and fangs. Today in Kamasan you can still find people who are dedicated to painting in the traditional "Wayang" style. One of the most famous Kamasan artists is I Nyoman Mandra, who, aside from producing his own paintings and doing restoration work, started a school to try and keep the "Wayang" tradition alive. It wasn't until the early 1900's, that western influence reached Bali . The use of Asian symbols in the works of, amongst others, Paul Gauguin, Toulouse Lautrec and Camille Pissaro, created a new trend for Asian-influenced art and European painters began to move to Bali. Ubud's fame for art can be traced to the arrival of the German painter, Walter Spies and the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet. Together, with Indonesian artists such as Gede Agung Sukawati, they established the Pitamaha Group, which encouraged Balinese artists to be more expressive and less bound by tradition. Aside from the Kamasan school of painting, there now exists a wide range of different styles, the characteristics have been briefly listed below: Ubud Style Influences by the western use of perspective and everyday life subject matter, the Ubud style is one of the most 'Expressionist' of all the Balinese schools. Despite this, Ubud art still retains many traditional features, including the attention to detail and very stylized characters. Among the better known (indigenous) Ubud artists are: Anak Agung Gede Sobrat, Ida Bagus Made, I Gusti Ketut Kobot, Dewa Putu Bedil and Made Sukada. Batuan Style Strongly "Wayang" based, this style involves hundreds of intricately painted representations of Balinese life, filling every available nook and cranny of the canvas. Batuan artists like I Wayan Bendi, Ni Wayan Warti and I Made Budi, make much more of a statement about life in Bali, with subject matter that includes everything from traditional village activities to camera toting tourists, & even surfers. Earlier Batuan artists, Ida Bagus Made Togog and Ida Bagus Made Wija, dealt more with the darker, supernatural side of life, with people depicted as being extremely vulnerable to the spirits and powers of nature. Keliki Style Keliki art is very similar to the old "Batuan Style" with the one exception being size; Keliki paintings measure 20 cm by 15 cm, and contain scenes of mythical and Ramayanic characters engaged in battle, good versus evil, on sinister backgrounds. Keliki artists also follow the tradition of the "Wayang" artists in that they seldom sign their work. Pengosekan Style From this village, on the outskirts of Ubud, a new style sprang up during the 60's that concentrated on just a few natural components such as birds, insects, butterflies and plants. These paintings tend to be more realistic and less expressive than the Ubud style. Young Artists A second movement, born of European influence, occurred in the early 60's, with the arrival of Arie Smit to the village of Penestanan. He encouraged the artists in this area to explore & experiment with vivid colours and more simple abstract forms. The paintings in this style are much more 'expressionist', with little attention to detail or perspective. Among the better known of the "young artists" are: I Wayan Pugur, I Ketut Tangen, I Nyoman Londo and Ketut Soki. STONE CARVING Stone carvings were mainly used to decorate temples and palaces and the carvers had much more leeway in their use of subject matter than the artists and illustrators. There is little difference between the iconography decorating temples and that of private buildings. Gateways represent the dividing line between the inner and outer worlds. As well as portraying deities and demons, the carvers included many scenes from public life and there are many temple surfaces enriched with the antics of the Dutch colonists, including scenes of bicycles, drunken parties, car breakdowns and even airplanes. Bali's modern day centre of stone carving is the village of Batubulan, situated along the route between Denpasar and Ubud. In the temples in North Bali there would appear to be more creative works in stone (with the exception of Pura Puseh in Batubulan). If touring in the north of Bali, it is worth taking the time to visit Pura Meduwe Karang in Kubutambahan, Pura Dalem in Jagaraga and Pura Beji near Singaraja. At Pura Sagen Agung in Ubud works by Bali's most famous stone carver, I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, and other accomplished artists, are to be found. WOOD CARVING Wood carving, like stone carving, has traditionally featured largely in the temples and palaces on Bali, with little free standing 'sculpture' work produced commercially. Immaculately carved "demons" and "mythical beings" decorate pillars, door panels, lintels and window shutters with the aim of protecting the building/s from evil intruders. With the arrival of European influences, wood carving started to develop along more innovative and commercial lines. Although there have been noteworthy carvers in the past, for example, I Nyoman Cokot, Ida Bagus Nyana and Ketut Nongos, artistic integrity has suffered as a result of the commercial boom in the tourist industry. These days whole villages specialize in producing certain styles of work . The village of Mas, near Ubud, is probably the best known for its carvings of female figures, Buddhas, characters from Hindu epics and the traditional Topeng and Wayang Wong masks. TEXTILES One of the most striking things about Bali is the rich variety of cloths and materials that are to be found in the thousands of shops across the island. However, in actual fact, very few originate here! The myriad of batik clothing and sarongs available across the island are mainly imported from Java, and most of the woven cloth (Ikat) found in and around the Kuta /Legian areas, are imported from the nearby islands of Sumba and Flores. Bali does however, have a very rich textile industry of its own. The beautiful "Songket" fabrics worn by performers of traditional dance are a fine example. In Songket, gold and silver threads are woven into the cloth to create complex motifs of birds, butterflies and flowers, & sometimes they use so much gold and silver that the underlying cloth is barely visible. "Endek", or "weft ikat" is another commonly used weaving method in Bali. In "weft" weaving, the "weft" threads are dyed to create the design and then are woven with plain warp threads. These pieces of cloth are recognizable by their abstract designs and bright colours. The last common form of weaving to be seen in Bali is the "Geringsing", or double-ikat and it is perhaps the most sought after. A creation when both the "warp" and "weft" threads are dyed to their final designs before being woven together. With the exception of certain areas in India and Japan, this weaving technique can only be found in the small Bali Aga village of Tenganan, in East Bali.