Two visitors from
Indonesia viewed our blog recently. One
from Java, the other Bali. The latter
brings back fond memories from earlier voyages of this volcanic, mountainous “Island of the Gods”. Even today, we
often meet Balinese crew members from nearby-docked ships on their short shore
stopovers. Indonesia is linked historically with the Netherlands. It was one of several colonial “possessions” of
Holland. Indonesia is composed of a multitude of islands, but of all, Bali is
unique in the sense of the preservation of culture, art and traditional
crafts.
Not only are all the Muses represented, but each has its own
village where that traditional art form is maintained. It would take a 1,000
plus page book to describe Bali. We were
privileged to visit these villages on several trips to the island.
Shrine, Bali
Everywhere
you go, you see small household shrines to which the Balinese bring daily
offerings. Unperturbed by outsiders
(tourists), the people attend to their spiritual traditions. Stone statues made
from compacted volcanic material depict mythical figures. Gates
to Paradise, Buddhas, Garudas and
other deities are often shown with textiles of black and white checkerboard
pattern. These shrines or paras do
not last long. Each new generation has to rebuild them. This way stone carving skills are kept alive
too. Another village, Celuk, is entirely
devoted to silver and goldsmithing. 
Classical temple dancers, Bali
Then
there is Sukawati, the village of
classical temple dancers, and shadow puppet theatre or Wayang kulit. Each wayang puppet is operated
by one individual (dalang) who not
only controls the puppet’s movements but provides the storytelling and plays a
musical instrument. Almost always the stories are about battles between Good
and Evil. Children and adults alike sit
spellbound for some 4-5 hours or more watching these mythological epics unfold
on the ‘shadow screen’. 
Batuan is a
village of painters. Many traditional
artworks depict stories from the Ramayana,
often battles between the Gods and Demons.
Although all styles of painting can be seen in Batuan. Many of the
paintings are incredibly detailed and intricate. Further on is the
woodcarving village of Mas. Here we see sandalwood, teak and even ebony
carvings in all sizes, forms and shapes – created with a skill that seems to be
in the genes of the master carvers. Striking textiles can be seen everywhere. The traditional colours are rare today: blues
from indigo, yellows and ochres from earth pigments. Today, textiles are multi-coloured and rarely
have been created with traditional dyes.
Woman creating the rare Gerinsing, only made in the village of Tenganan Peringsingan
To see the classic Geringsing (or double ikat) textile, on
one visit to Bali, an out of the way journey brought us to the village of Tenganan Peringsingan, where this almost
incredible style of weaving – a true
work of art in itself – is still practiced.
Then there are the Gamelan orchestras. Once you’ve heard
the unique sound from these instruments, you will never forget. Of course too there are terraced fields of rice
paddies, works of art in themselves.
Bali - terraced rice paddies
(These
remind us of the remarkable terraces of another island where we lived, Madeira.
The inspiration for the many terraces and ‘levadas’
of Maderia came from Portuguese explorers and spice-traders that had seen them
in Bali.) And last but not least, there is ever-present threat of volcanoes on
the Islands of the Gods.
Henri van Bentum
Posts
