The island's well-organized cultivation system and its astounding fertility have given the Balinese the leisure to develop their arts. It's incredible that so many people in such a small area pour so much energy into creating beautiful things. Their worship of life and the gods encompasses a wide range of art forms, and they can create beauty out of even the most simple necessities of everyday life. Influenced by incoming European artists, modern Balinese art only began about 1927, when for the first time artists began dating and signing their paintings. Before that, all art was for God. If the painting or sculpture was too innovative, it might not have qualified in the service of God, and the work would be considered a failure.

There is still no word in the Balinese language for "art" or "artist." A sculptor is a "carver," a painter is known as a "picture maker," a dancer goes by the name of the dance she performs. The Balinese have never allowed artistic knowledge to become centralized in a special intellectual class. Everyone on Bali is an artist. The simplest peasant and most slow-witted worker create something, or are aesthetically conscious as critical spectators. A field laborer will chide a clumsy instrument maker for a job poorly done. Even dagang, young girls who run small foodstalls, are skillful practitioners of Bali's classical dances.

But Bali's art is living on borrowed time. Communities are increasingly unwilling to subsidize the sumptuous ceremonies, music and dance troupes, and new costumes and masks, preferring the comforts of the modern lifestyle. The Balinese are very susceptible to fads: fashions, theater themes, new painting styles, dance crazes. They're unabashed and uncanny copyists, and some of their stone temple carvings are copied right out of magazines. Their earthy stone carvings and paintings show pregnant women, boys playing, beer drinking, seductions, even atomic bombs exploding in heaven.

Perishable Art
The purest and oldest example of Balinese art is the ancient mosaic-like lamak, which last only a day. Woven by women for Balinese feasts, lamak are made from strips of palm leaf, bamboo, and yellow blades of sugar or coconut palm pinned or folded together to form fancy borders, rosettes, and diminutive tree designs. There are hundreds of different designs. After hanging a day on an altar or rice granary, they wilt by night. Other perishable arts include five-layered stacks of organic temple offerings, outrageous adornment on cremation towers, cones of edible fruits and cakes, and long rectangular panels of sculptural tapestry hung on temples and shrines. Hourglass-shaped palm-leaf fertility figures (cili) with round breasts and long thin arms appear when rice seeds first sprout.

Wayang
The Balinese form of wayang kulit has the same repertory as on Java, but puppets are smaller and more realistic than the Javanese variety. On Bali, wayang shows are performed in the open air, and men aren't separated from women, as on Java. In addition, Balinese theater forms aren't as strongly influenced by the two-dimensional shadow play. On Java the art of wayang topeng is dying, but on Bali it's still going strong. More expressive and typical of the characters than the topeng masks of Java, these pantomimes act out deeds of local kings and warriors in Balinese history, with usually two or three players impersonating the heroes. The preeminent maskmakers on the island are I Wayang Tangguh, Cokorda Raka Tisnu, and I Wayan Tedun of Singapadu; and Ida Bagus Oka, I Wayan Muka, and Ida Bagus Anom of Mas

Carving

The Balinese sculpt with natural media: wood, stone, bone, horn, even deadwood or gnarled tree roots. For the most part, souvenir-caliber woodcarving is turned out now, and successful creations are mass produced. There are only about a dozen places in Singakerta, Pengosekan, Kemenuh, and Mas, the main woodcarving centers, that sell high-quality carvings--and they want as much as Rp420,000 for one. You can negotiate a better price for a far superior product by taking note of the artist's name and visiting him in his home workshop. Bring cash. If you want something made to order it'll usually take about two weeks. Bring a photo or picture of what you'd like copied.

If you're looking for quality woodcarvings, go to Tegallalang, Pujung, and Sebatu, all north of Ubud. This is a great area to meet woodcarvers. Using very simple tools, top-class carvers earn only Rp5000 a day. Prices are cheap, and you'll see items unavailable in the expensive galleries of Mas. The wood used is ebony, jackfruit, teak, tamarind, hibiscus, or frangipani. Statues are usually finished with neutral or black shoe polish.

Balinese woodcarving is grotesque, almost psychotic, expressing vividly the people's fear of the supernatural. Features are distorted to emphasize a subject's special character--a frog's bulbous eyes, the sleek movement of fish, the graceful legs of deer. Figurine carving is unique, with faces rendered in painstaking detail. Still often seen are examples of the slender fluid form of figure sculpture with elongated arms and faces, inspired by a style born in the '30s when artist I Tegelan of Belaluan refused to cut a beautiful piece of wood in two.

Such mythological images as Hanuman wrestling with a serpent, or a dancing Sita, are common motifs. Painted woodcarvings of a heavenly nymph or mythical bird cost Rp20,000-35,000. Called The Bird of Life, the creature is used in cremation ceremonies to bear the deceased's soul to heaven. Chess sets of carved teakwood or bone pieces are quite distinctive; Vishnu riding on the shoulders of Garuda is the King. In Kuta the starting price is around Rp100,000, but sellers will come down to half that or less. For carved chopsticks, foot peddlers want as much as Rp8000 a pair, although you can get them as cheap as Rp3000-4000. Each stick is beautifully carved with owl or Garuda heads, abstract designs, etc. Boxed sets (12 pairs) go for only Rp15,000.

Bali is an ideal place for Western artists to study their crafts. Students of maskcarving, for example, can learn under the tutelage of masters like Muka or Anom in Mas. These teachers charge about Rp5000 per lesson. If you attend lessons every day you can learn to carve your own mask in about three weeks.

Stonecarving
Stonecarving is related to the craft of woodworking; since soft volcanic rock (paras) is used, the technique is much the same. Because Balinese believe constant maintenance of their stone temples is a moral obligation, stone sculpture is also a religious function. Stonecarving is relatively unaffected by tourist consumerism because most pieces are too expensive to ship. Stonecarving skill is most vividly seen in the distinctive split gates (candi bentar), swirling stone friezes, and absurd and menacing mythological statuary. The centers for stonecarving are Kapal and Batubulan; shops selling statues depicting characters from Balinese scriptures line both sides of the road. For something nontraditional, Wayan Cemul, just up the lane from Han Snel in Ubud, makes wild and wonderful paras sculptures.

Painting

Painting virtually died out on Java when the Majapahit Empire migrated to Bali during the 16th century. On Bali it's been practiced continuously for the last 400 years. For centuries Java was the Mother Country, and this is reflected in the subject matter of traditional Balinese art. Now most Balinese artists work solely for money, reasoning it's senseless to go to the trouble of making a good painting when a bad painting will sell for just as much, just as fast.

Try to visit artists at home (which you can find after persistent inquiry), and save yourself a percentage of the price which otherwise goes to the guide, driver, agent, or shop. The same paintings that sell for Rp5 million in the galleries on Ubud's main road sell for Rp420,000 just down the path in the kampung. High-quality paintings, if you can find them, cost roughly Rp420,000-840,000 per square meter. You'll often find that when you get back to Australia, the U.S., or Europe, the frame will cost more than the painting. Be sure to buy your frame in Bali, too.

Traditional Painting
Religious narrative paintings derive from the 14th and 15th centuries when the Hindu population of East Java relocated to Bali. They're characterized by a flat, stiff, formal style, painted according to a very strict traditional formula devoid of emotion. Figures of Hindu gods, demons, and princesses in lime watercolors are placed row on row in high state in the realm of the gods. Each god is distinguished by details of dress which set him or her apart. Shading to indicate perspective is traditionally not used. These paintings are read like a comic strip, the characters and events represented in separate frames, the scenes all taking place in a divine world. Cloud and wind patterns, and flame and mountain motifs, separate the scenes.

Sometimes up to 15 meters long and four meters wide, these paintings are hung along temple eaves as festive decoration. Modern examples of these cloth paintings are still turned out, especially in Kamasan village. Although influenced by Western art, Balinese painters have retained many artistic traditions from their Javanese cultural ancestors. Balinese painting is still limited in subject matter, treatment, symbolism, and particularly in the colors used: blue, yellow, black, white, and Chinese red, with dull browns and greens mixed from the pigments.

Modern Painting
The period between the world wars brought heavy changes. Balinese artists stopped painting according to rules and started to re-create their own visual experience. During the years 1933-39, the European artists Walter Spies and Rudolph Bonnet, among others, demonstrated to Balinese artists that painters can be free of set formulas or a single stylistic convention, encouraging them to unfold individually. These Europeans taught them the concept of the third dimension. You can see Rousseau's style, which greatly influenced Spies, evident in Balinese painting. Tourist demand for paintings "suitable for framing" again changed the technique and content of the painting style.

Balinese painters are filled with stories and myths from childhood and never lack for an inspirational theme. Dozens of stories are depicted simultaneously in many of their paintings. In jungle scenes there's elaborate, riotous decoration of leaves, flowers, and animals, with every leaf carefully outlined. Reminiscent of Persian miniatures or the work of the English artist Beardsley, tiny blades of grass and insects are found in the farthest corners of the paintings. Artists are now working mostly for a European market. Birds and banana-leaf panels have lately become the rage--more decoration than art.


Art Galleries and Museums
To familiarize yourself with high-quality historical works, visit the collection of paintings at Ubud's Puri Lukisan Museum. Many of Bali's finest painters live in and around this village. To understand contemporary Balinese painting, see the Neka Gallery in Ubud, the Neka Museum north of Campuan, and the superb Agung Rai Gallery in Peliatan. Also visit the Art Center on Jl. Nusa Indah in Abiankapas, Denpasar, and its permanent exhibition of Balinese painting (open 0800-1700, tel. 0361-222-776), only a 15-minute walk east of Kereneng station. Called the Taman Werdi Budaya, the center also features Balinese and Indonesian maskmakers and woodcarvers. A car park, museum, and small, fixed-price handicraft shops with reasonable prices are also found in the complex.

You must ferret out the talented artists as it's difficult to find anything of quality--usually the same tropical scenes of birds and frogs, and copies at that. Prices vary wildly. The government store Sanggraha Kriya Asta in Tohpati (Badung) used to be a good place to determine fair bargaining prices, but in 1994 its silver, woodcarvings, and clothing were more than double what you'd pay at most shops in Ubud. Mobiles are still inexpensive, though.

Music
Enormously loved by the people. The sound of echoing xylophones, drums, and clashing cymbals is heard all hours of the day and night. Bathers sing in the rivers, rattles clack in the fields, looms tingle with bells, kites vibrate in the wind, little boys walk along lanes imitating the sound of gongs, and flocks of pigeons circle overhead with whistles attached to their feet.

Some of the finest gamelan are made on Bali and cost up to Rp42 million. Every village has its own orchestra, given such names as Sea of Honey or Snapping Crocodiles. All musicians are unpaid amateurs. Anyone may play--a musician might hand over his gendang to a spectator during a performance. The Balinese gamelan is played more vigorously and passionately than the slower, more haunting Javanese variety. The Balinese like their music electrifying and very loud, with sharp changes in tempo and volume. Similar instruments are tuned slightly out of pitch with each other to make the sound shimmer. It's a perfect music for spells and animist rites. Old men play flutes in the background, dogs prance across the dance floor, infants suckle, children play--the musicians oblivious to it all. Many village orchestras practice in the evenings, when entry is free.

Listen for genggong, the Balinese mouth harp, a short thin strip from the rib of the sugar palm leaf with a grooved tongue. Tugging a string causes the instrument to vibrate; you "breathe" the tune. There's a whole repertoire of genggong pieces played by orchestras of up to 24 players. Two examples are "Crow Steals Eggs" and "Frog Song"; the latter sounds like the blissful rhythms of a frog's breeding chorus. These instruments can bleat, trill, croak, laugh, or lull you to sleep. Another unique Balinese instrument is the rejog: two deep gongs fastened to hang vertically at each end of a stick.

Dancing
Balinese dance will probably be the most impressive sight you'll see. With over 1,000 troupes, dance is at the very center of Balinese life. On Java dance is the prerogative of the courts, but on Bali it's most prevalent in the villages. The Balinese consider Javanese dancing boring, while the Javanese think Balinese dancing noisy and vulgar. Dancers on Bali perform for the pleasure of the gods, prestige, and the entertainment of friends and family.

In 1992, Bali's governor decreed that 11 sacred dances may not be performed in hotels. However, a great number of performances are staged especially for tourists; programs are written in Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and English. Many dance forms have been shortened to please the easily bored foreigner, but just because dances are put on for tourists doesn't mean they're of inferior quality. Restaurants and most hotels are not really sympathetic environments for Balinese dance, so try to choose an amphitheater or open-stage venue. If you don't like people in front of you popping up to use their flash cameras, get there on time so you can sit in one of the front rows. Please leave your cameras at home; flashes are very disrupting. Performances last an hour. Audio tapes are available at the entrance for Rp6000.

Try to see dancing in conjunction with a temple festival or other local ritual event. These are free and more spontaneous than tourist performances. On any night of the week you could see a number of different dance-dramas and ballets, honoring a local temple god, dedicating a new temple, exorcizing evil, or celebrating a wedding, tooth filing, or cremation. The stage could be an open dusty courtyard in front of a temple gate or a crossroads beneath the starry sky and towering palms. The dance area will be encircled by hundreds of squatting, sitting, standing people of all ages. The mood is electric.

Dance Choreography
Balinese dance is generally easy to understand; all you need is the thread of the story. In Balinese classical dance all movements and limbs speak--the joints, facial features, fingers, wrists, neck, eyes, hips, knees, feet, ankles. There are over 200 different kinds of dances, many religious, each a composite of not only dance, but also drama, music, spoken poetry, and ballet. Balinese dance styles stem from everyday work; dancers simply work gracefully and wear beautiful clothes when they perform. Men climb coconut trees with prehensile toes, which you also see utilized in some dance steps. Pikulan-carrying is excellent training for male dancers, the work giving them rhythm and good breathing technique, allowing them to effortlessly rise and fall in dance.

Women carry burdens on their heads, flicking their eyes in dance to greet each other and to watch where they step. Their fingers, trained from childhood to make small things, flutter with agility in dance, expressing feelings. Virtually everybody cracks their finger joints, enabling them to flutter their fingers in an exaggerated way. A good Balinese legong dancer can be judged solely by the suppleness of her little finger. Women's dance is pure form. Only in the men's dancing is the content open to interpretation. The Balinese don't dance upward and away from the earth, but move along its surface in slow, zigzagging circles. Female postures are characterized by an outcurved spine, buttocks pushed back, with the shoulders off center. With breasts and buttocks protruding, many poses are blatantly erotic. In both female and male dancing the limbs form angles. Elbows point upwards and the head sinks down so that the neck almost disappears.

Sudden changes of direction and precise jerky steps are marked features of Balinese choreography. They dance with a mesmerizing intensity; the only exceptions are the comic or grotesque characters who show shocked surprise or fear. Violence is shown on stage during a dance where it's not permitted in real life. You must have fire to dance, and it must come from the eyes. The complete lack of emotional expression of the other facial features can be likened only to a trance state. It's said experts can tell a dancer's teacher by the style in which she dances.

Dance Study
Watch or study gamelan and dance at SMKI, the High School of Performing Arts in Batubulan. There's also Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (STSI) on Jl. Nusa Indah in Denpasar. Though at this dance college you may sit in on classes, to seriously study Balinese classical dance you need a permit from Jakarta identifying you as a guest student. You can't really get involved with dance within the time allotted on an ordinary tourist pass--an average course lasts one to two years. For short term, it's more rewarding to go up to Ubud or out to a village to study dance informally. One way to find a teacher is to first find a style you like by watching performances, then approach the artist directly for lessons. Stay for several weeks; they're glad to have you. Many of Bali's dance teachers are elderly women, who know the complete repertoire of the dances. It's a great pleasure to watch these masters teach their young students in the villages. The interpersonal dynamics between teacher and pupil are captivating to watch.

The biggest problem is language. Another problem is money. The teacher usually leaves it up to students to decide how much they should pay. A teacher may ask Rp 25000 per lesson, but it's highly negotiable. Alternatively, the student may make a substantial donation to the gamelan orchestra.

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