A History of Balinese Woodcarving

The craft of woodcarving has never existed in Bali solely for decoration purposes.
In the olden days, the fine arts of woodcarving and painting were reserved almost exclusively for royal and religious purposes.

Louis Nizer said " A man who works with his hand is a labourer, a man who works with his hand and his brain is a craftsmen, but a man who works with his hand, his brain and his heart is an artist". Following this definition, in the olden days all the woodcrafters in Bali use their arts for religious purpose.

Woodcarving has a very long history in Bali. At the Elephant Cave (Goa Gajah) near Bedulu, Gianyar - elaborate Buddhist style carvings cover the entrance near the cave. This carving dates to 9th Century. Woodcarvings is largely links to religious tradition and Pura (small private temples) in Balinese home.

The influence of Hindu style traditional carving was completed in 13th to 14th centuries when Bali became Majapahit colony. The old Balinese carving were constrained by tradition - mainly producing Gods, Goddesses and Demons figure.

Before the Dutch conquered Bali in 1908 and up to Indonesia independence in 1945, the island was divided into a number of small independent kingdoms. The kingdoms fought sporadically adn often against each other, providing easy target for the Dutch to controlled the powerful kingdoms in central and south Bali. Some kingdoms preferred Puputan (Holy death by mass suicide). Two kingdoms to escape and surrender, the royal families of Gianyar and Karangasem agreed to exchange their political power for a peaceful life. As a result Gianyar, with its eight districts surrounding Ubud became the center of arts in Bali.

Woodcarving for commercial purpose probably started around 1935. The Dutch traders firstly introduce Balinese woodcarving to Europe. Until now, a lot of Dutch Museum still have a huge collection of Balinese woodcarving. The Dutch take-over of Southern Bali in 1906-1908 not only destroyed the traditional courts of the island but it also shattered the old system of art production. There were new patrons of the arts, and the artists made works that were commodities instead of items of religious use of content. This has an important impact on the production of carvings which could now be made with free themes and content. Mas area were already making birds and statues for commercial purposes: the new freedom of expression was turning a formerly religious art into mere handicraft. At this stage Bali was ‘discovered' by Western artists whose influence would give a new turn to the evolution of its arts. Several of them elected residence in Ubud, in particular Walter Spies (1895-1942) and Rudolf Bennet (1895-1978). With the support of the Sukawati House of Ubud they set to encourage the budding renewal of sculpture and painting, distributing material and guiding the artists with advice and criticism. The westerners also functioned as dealers, channeling Balinese works to international connoisseurs. This movement encourages woodcarvers to explore new style and carving technique - the usage of the woodcarving also expand to decorative and commercial purpose.

In a matter of years, the production had grown to guide the renewal movement through more official channels. This was the Pita Maha association (1936-1942), a guild of Balinese plastic art, whose name has now become identical with the renewal movement. The renewal of sculpture that took place in late 20's was both thematic and aesthetic. The first themes which came to the mind of Balinese carvers once they did not work for religious purposes were depictions of elements of their daily life: people sitting, drinking from pitcher, resting, squatting, talking. The Balinese started looking at themselves with a new, ‘candid' eye.

Soon, however, a stylistic evolution took place. The first one led to the ‘invention' of the sleek style. It was apparently evoked by Walter Spies in 1929, who, while commissioning two woodcarvings from the Blaulan sculptor I Telagan Blaulan, gave him a lengthy piece of wood he had just obtained for this purpose. To his surprise, I Tegalan did not cut the piece of wood into two as ordered but produced instead an elongated work. Associated with a sleek working of wood, a style was born. Much of the future evolution of Balinese sculpture would consist in playing with natural proportions: first elongating them, then, after the war, shortening them, producing the ‘style' still in favor today. There were several masters from this style: Ida Bagus Glodog, Ida Bagus Taman, Ida Bagus Ketut Roja, Doyotan, and Sondoh.

The greatest of them, however, was undoubtly Ida Bagus Nyana, a brahmin and traditional architect from Mas. Nyana innovated mainly in the imagination he showed while playing with mask, shortenings parts of the body, lengthening others, often giving his works an eerie, almost surrealistic quality. At the same time Nyana did not work his wood more than needed and he stuck to simple daily life themes. He thus avoid ‘baroque' trap into which fell many Balinese carvers. Nyana was not only a gifted carver but also a well-respected priest who help to design local temple in Desa Mas, Ubud. in 1974, Nyana received a high national award from President Soeharto in recognition of his art.

Another master of the new style was Cokot, from the mountain village of Jati , North of Tegalalang. Cokot used a minimalist technique. He would look in the mountain of strangely shaped trunks and branches and turn them, with as little working on the log as possible, into an assembly of gnarled spooks and demonic figures. Iconographically, these characters were derived from figures often found as part of the decoration of Balinese temples, but Cokot treated them in a free way, and, more importantly, took them to the fore by embedding them into huge trees and branches. He thus created a strong, expressionistic genre unique to this day. Ida Bagus Nyana and Cokot were artists from the Pita Maha years, but their productive career took them into the 60s and 70s. Most of today's Balinese sculpture is inspired from their works.

The sleek style of Balinese sculpture has considerably evolved since the 60s. To the simple lines of the original slender and squat carvings have succeeded a baroque working of wood that lets little space untouched. An important artist nevertheless appeared, Ida Bagus Tilem, Nyana's son.

Unlike Nyana and the artists of Mas, and even unlike Cokot, Tilem dared to change the proportions of the characters represented, not only by adapting the shape of his characters to that of the piece the wood he was working on, but by using for that purpose rotten logs that had been ‘cleaned' up, and would come up as gnarled shapes well suited to express twisted human bodies and faces. Tilem thus created for the first time a genuinely individualized system of representation. He marked the arrival of true modernity in the world of Balinese sculpture.

For the best collections of Balinese wood carving, the visitor should go to the FA Siadja Wood Carving gallery in the village of Mas in Ubud. A wide selection of carving from 1930s to current style worked in many different kind of wood is available.

Beside the two main styles of sculpture discussed above, other genres should be mentioned: Batubulan produces soft-stone works of gods and demons, Teges has made a specialty out of hyper-realist animals, and the Tegalalang area has become a huge workshop for false banana trees, flowers, etc, not to mention the wooden jewels of chess boards made in Tampaksiring area, the wooden panels of Batuan, and the many sculptors scattered around the island. For wooden masks, the most famous villages are Singapadu, Mas, and Batuan.

Era of Commercialization
In 1969 a new opportunity arose for the industry as the Government of Indonesia started to promote Tourism in Bali. A lot of Foreign tourist came to Bali and many woodcarving centre started to emerge in the surrounding village of Mas. For example in Kemenuh, woodcarving co-operative for handicraft purpose were established.
This co-operative provides material, marketing and financial assistance.

In 1974, a mass production of smaller design less intricate carving (carved cats, frogs and fruits)locally known as "pop arts'. As less carving skill required, mass production resulted quick economic return and lower quality carving. However this provide a quick economic return for a large group of people.

Nowadays they are also produced for enjoyment and commerce.' Men of every caste are artisans, and in Mas live some of the most talented. The best known is lda Bagus Nyana, who in 1974 received a high national reward in recognition of his art. For many years he has not sold his beautiful and original carvings, which may be seen at his home. His son, lda Bagus Tilem, is one of the most talented sculptors at Mas.