Statue in Bali

In Bali History, creating art was not seen as a real profession. Art was mainly created for temple decorations and religious festivals to honour the Hindu Gods. And actually, producing arts nowadays is still necessary to serve these Gods, but because of the growing tourism, works of art created in Bali are receiving more and more appreciation. The know-how and skill of creating Balinese art is gained from inside the families and is passed on through many generations. This way, specialized villages were formed with an expertise on a specific form of art. One of these villages is named Batubulan, which means “Moon Stone” and is located in the district of Gianyar. Batubulan is famous for it’s stone carvings.

Bali is rich in statues, carved mostly from wood and stone. Even though most Bali statues are carved in Java, where labor is even cheaper, master carvers can still be found throughout the Island, mostly in the Ubud area.

I'll be heading to Ubud, the cultural center of Bali, next week, so this is Part One on my search for The Making of Bali Statues.

Since I've made my own Goddess Statue from Hyper Tufa (a cement compound with vegetation) I'm trying to find cement statue makers. This is not that easy since almost all statues are made from wood (mahogany) or stone (granite or sandstone). After seeing the fabulous cement carving of Rama and Arjuna at the Nugurah Rai Airport, I knew there had to be some excellent teachers of this art.

Tourism plays a significant role for societies’ economic growth. One of the cultural components becoming a tourist attraction is the local craft. Tourists often complain whereas the local arts presented and offered are monotonous or no changes. This case then rises co-modification in all aspects of life including in tourism for the purpose of maximum profit. Co-modification occurs in all aspects of life, one of them is in wooden statue craft industry.

Some types of statues which have been co-modified at Singakerta Village are rama shinta statue, ganesha statue, oleg statue, janger statue, garuda statue, lion statue, dolphin statue, and dragon statue. Co-modification of wooden statue craft production occurred at Singakerta Village consists of form, color and material changes. Nowadays, the distribution channel of the wooden statue craft is dominated by indirect distribution channel which aimed for domestic and foreign entrepreneurs. Most of the consumption patterns of the wooden statue craft are massive consumptions. Factors which cause co-modification of wooden statue craft are internal and external factors. Co-modification of wooden statue craft causes impacts on social economy and social culture of the societies.