At the turn of this century, the native arts of Bali mirrored a well-ordered society governed by feudal lords and sustained by the guiding rituals of its religion. The palaces and temples, as political and religious centers of the island, were also centers of the arts. A prince would adorn his pavilions with the most exquisitely carved wood panels and the finest of paintings. His court would be entertained by the shimmering melodies of the gamelan, the soft sways of the classical Legong dance, or a parade of comics enacting a mask play. He would dress in the most lustrous silks and bear a splendid kris with a hilt of gold and precious jewels. Furthermore, as a ruling prince, he was expected to be well versed in the arts himself. He should be able to paint a picture, carve a block of wood, play a musical instrument, dance, and sing in the poetical Kawi language.

Of course, a prince who possessed all these artistic attributes belonged to the ideal world of superhuman heroes. In reality, if a ruler lacked talent he would support actors, artists and musicians as part of his retinue. Ordinary people, who looked upon their lords as models of conduct, would emulate them by learning the arts of dancing, poetry, music and painting. Thus, art was not exclusive to the aristocracy. Any farmer, merchant, even a coolie could become as fine an artist as his master.

The opulence of the court the highest secular institution in the Balinese community had its religious parallel in the lavish decoration and dances within the temples. Silken materials, gilded umbrellas, statuettes and sacred masks graced the temple shrines during festivals, while throughout the night the temple's orchestra would beat the rhythms of ceremonial offering dances, shadow plays and dramas of magic.

This convergence of beauty and ritual explains why the arts have endured to such a great extent in Bali . Ritual demanded a continuous renewal of communion with the divine through temple celebrations. The people poured all their artistic talents into preparations for these occasions. New offerings had to be made, new shrines constructed, dances rehearsed, music practiced and dramas created. Because of the island's climate and the materials used, frequent renovations were necessary. The only readily available stone was, and still is, soft volcanic stone that crumbles easily and is quickly eroded by rain. This kept carvers and masons constantly occupied creating new sculptures or retouching the older ones. Artists were called upon to replace cloth paintings that had rotted in the humidity, or woodcarvings which had been eaten away by white ants. Periodically, the island was struck by earthquakes that destroyed hundreds of temples in a matter of hours, causing scores of villages to engage in massive reconstruction. Because artifacts were assured only limited life, the Balinese were continually building and rebuilding, and this necessity has kept the arts alive and dynamic.

As artistry was inseparable from courtly life and religious practices, so it was from the everyday experience of the people. The Balinese language has no words for "art" and "artist". In former times there had been no need for such definitions. Art was never considered a conscious production for its own sake. Rather, it was regarded as a collective obligation to make things beautiful: food exquisitely presented as an offering; a cloth wrap of gold brocade; motion in the pattern of a dance; sound in a musical rhythm. And this was always done with a definite purpose: to create beauty in service to society and religion. A woodcarver carved the pillar of a royal pavilion as his duty to his prince. A sculptor sculpted a stone temple gate as an act of devotion to his faith. Just as an aristocrat demanded the highest standard of work for his palace, so did the people for work in the temples of the revered deities.

While the artist was a respected member of his community, he was not set apart as belonging to an elite. As a "figure- maker" or "picture maker" as well as a farmer or merchant, he was called upon when his skills were needed. These he gave gratuitously. He neither signed his name to his work, nor received money for his labor. His prime aim was to serve his community.

In the first decades of this century, Bali entered a new era as a colony of the Netherlands Western education, modern technology, films magazines, and a steady tourist trade opened up a new world for many Balinese, and this broadening of outlook was reflected in the arts For the first time, craftsmen began to treat their work as art for art's sake, experimenting in new styles, themes and media. Some accomplished artists received recognition from abroad, and it was during this time of invention and renewal in the 1 930s that many of Bali 's finest works were produced.

What distinguish Balinese art today is a fusion of the lively, ornamental folk art-beauty in service-and the recently added element of self-conscious "art". Anyone passing by a temple gate can see that the love of decorative splendor which highlighted the past is still very much alive. As was true in the olden days, the majority of Bali 's artists are highly skilled craftsmen who learned their trade by mastering the traditional forms inherited from their forefathers. The qualities they admire -attention to detail, technical precision and sureness of hind-are the mark of a fine craftsman. Like so many things in Bali , art is an expression of collective thought. Many paintings, carvings and sculptures are made communally in workshops, where a master craftsman supervises a group of apprentices. A small number of outstanding artists who have developed unique styles do create individually, their best work often setting the trend for many imitators.

The Balinese artist is intensely aware of his surroundings. He feels his environment as one who is a participant rather than an observer.Local painter rarely draw from nature; they know nature, and in their art they distill from it an essence which is uniquely Balinese: They scan their experience, select details from it, and give each detail a fresh significance. The Balinese style is an art of particularism. Certain formulas of reality must be adhered to, whether from nature or myth. Dutch-born painter Arie Smit, who often sketches scenes of Bali in a rapid, impressionistic style, showed one of his paintings of a temple to a local artist who criticized it because the bricks of the temple gate did not look properly laid.

One would never find here, as one does in Chinese panting a quick brush stroke representing a tree. In Bali , a tree is a trunk with twenty gigantic leaves, each leaf drawn with precision and care. And a tree is not only a tree, but also a boarding house for mysterious birds, snakes, lizards, butterflies and devilkins. Such a vision is true to an island community charged with cosmic and magical influences; it is realistic" without being photographic.

A virtue of Balinese art is that it retains its town distinctive character. The People are extremely proud of their creative traditions, yet they are also progressive and f a new idea catches their fancy, they accept it wholeheartedly. Their art has assimilated Javanese, Indian, and Chinese styles into an Indonesian folk art rooted in ancient magic. The relatively new influence of the West will inevitably increase, and with it so will the possibilities and challenges for contemporary art in Bali .

The present art community has two criteria: (a) a work of art is praiseworthy in the eyes of fellow Balinese, or (b) it appeals to the foreign market and is sold. Among Bali 's prominent artists who have gained international renown, the two standards of success merge conveniently. But when there is a conflict between them, problems arise which may have a greater impact in the future. A fine artist by Balinese standards may not win the Understanding of and in order to ear' a living might sacrifice the quality of his work for commercial reasons. The foreign market sometimes distorts the judgment of the Balinese. Many of the mass- produced half-sized copies of dramatic masks, the conventionally Posed nude figures, and "home-made" antiques now on sale seem out of character for a people who take pride in superior craftsmanship and attention to detail. Every country has its souvenir items and it would be wrong to look at this as representative of contemporary art, yet much of the superb execution in the antique carvings and early modern paintings is absent today.

One of the reasons for this lies in the structure of Balinese society. Modern art, created for its own sake, does not have a traditional place and function within the community. The important patronage of Balinese nobles has virtually ceased in the last four decades, and with it, the most influential aesthetic guidance among the Balinese themselves. Unfortunately, the island's two main museums in Denpasar and Ubud no longer have the funds to continue to buy contemporary works. Except for established painters and woodcarvers who have their own studios, the working artist has little choice but to display his work in commercially oriented art shops. Because a new place for modern art has not yet been found within the native community, many of the most beautiful examples go overseas and are lost to Bali .

With encouragement from discriminating foreign collectors, perhaps local artists will recapture the refined standards of elegance which prevailed in the past. Also if high quality works are priced according to merit, artists would gain the appropriate time they need to do fine work. If galleries recognize an audience that expects superior work, they may become veritable showcases for the best art currently created in Bali .

Though styles and traditions are now in flux, the all-pervading artistry of the people is more lively than ever, and the heritage of beauty in service to religion remains vital to Balinese life. A society today is rare, where the arts are continually enlivened in every temple, village and community, With the stimulus of a growing foreign market, a wider introduction to new media and materials, and the restoration of peace and affluence to Indonesia, the prospects for Balinese art have never been higher, nor have the challenges.

ARCHITECTURE AND STONE SCULPTURE

In other places in the world does a traveler counter such a profusion of decorative car, splendid gateways and monumental captures as in Bali . After an hour's drive, you already acquainted with a panorama of rishing styles. Those seem to spring into view everywhere along the roadside. Judging from the multitude of carved temple Palace walls, drum-towers, gates, public is, shrines and art galleries, it would appear e was an army of carvers scouring the island in search of barren stone. In truth, such . adornment is reserved for the public buildings in the villages. Domestic architecture, of little concern to sculptors. The majority of ..homes are made simply from bamboo..thatch, or whitewashed brick and tile. Air construction is left to carpenters, connectors and thatch-workers, with only sparse.carved above the gate or upon the. shrine. Formerly, rajas and lords built. palaces (puris) embellished with ..carvings and gilded woodwork. Now, the residences of prominent families, puris main among the finest examples of Balinese architecture, but they are monuments to an era at has passed. A sculptor today devotes his..to beautifying private and public buildings of a secular nature (including communal access) and, by far the most important ...in the community, the place of worship.

Surprisingly, the origins of the Balinese ..does not stem from Hindu Java, but can be, oed to Prehistoric megalithic sanctuaries, monuments built. Of large uncut stones which were laid in an open space surrounded ...Wall. During the ritual ceremonies of an .. Bali the great nature god's deities of the..of the mountain, and of the sea-would . upon these megaliths when summoned by a priest. Megaliths are the direct fore.of the shrines found in the inner courtyard of Bali Hindus temple. In some mountain villages that retain ancient customs indigenous to Bali , megaliths are still preserved in the ...Of stepped pyramids made of rough

Unlike India and Hindu Java, where the temple is a house or a hall, in Bali the temple is a rectangular plot of ground set apart from the profane world by a high stone or mud-brick wall. The enclosed area-a sacred tract of land upon which the deities descend-is just as significant religiously as the buildings and shrines within; this priority is reflected in the architecture of the Balinese temple, in which space is emphasized over mass.

Although its austere, tapering gateway stands apart from street side life, the Balinese temple is not a self-contained unit. It encompasses in its design a universal order essential to the religious rites carried out within its enclosures. A temple is always oriented to the four cardinal points: the direction toward the sacred mountains, the direction toward the sea, east and west. The "seats - of the deities are found at the farthest end of the temple nearest the mountains, while the entrance faces the opposite direction toward the ocean, which is why the temple walls never enclose a circular space.

No special classes of architects design the temples. Master sculptors in charge of the construction often take part in the manual labor of building, with the assistance of a number of stone and brick workers. A master sculptor usually has inherited the trade from his father and forefathers. He knows the traditional regulations of building a temple which are derived from a written system of proportions and rules passed down through the ages. All units of measurement are based upon the human body (that of the master sculptor). The temple gate must be so many times as high as the length of his outstretched arms, and so many times as wide as the length of his foot. The front walls must be so many times as long as the gate is high, and so on. Needless to say, no two temple exactly the same size, but this makes pies are e no difference to the Balinese. The beauty of a temple is judged by its proportions and how it harmonizes with the surroundings.

A master sculptor, well practiced in the art of stone-carving, knows by heart the many variations of decorative motifs that are the finishing touches to the walls and gate. Above the entrance should be placed the figure of Kala, a leering monster with outspread hands who catches any brazen evil spirits who seek entry. Or the ancient swastika symbol, a magic sign of good fortune and prosperity. Odd inventive motifs such as the upper part of a bird's beak or a grotesque face with a single eye are designated to finish each corner. They enclose row upon row of intricate volutes, spirals, arabesques, leaves, flowers, vines and tendrils that overshadow a temple facade in a riot of entwined vegetation. The Balinese penchant for gilt and bright colors frequently leaves these carvings boldly accented by strong lines of white paint, and blotches of pinks, blues and yellows. They go so far in some parts of West Bali to coat an entire shrine with brilliant silver chromo tone!

Together with its overwhelming decoration, a temple has its own personalities: the visionary fantastic giants, devils, sorceresses, serpents and magic birds that are energetically sculpted in bold postures, as if they were caught in a momentary dance movement while flashing their eyes, stamping and snorting. Their robust bodies and sumptuous costumes reveal the characteristically baroque traits of Balinese art. A temple is never without these awesome portrayals of deities, heroes and magical guardians which stand dignified on either side of the gate. They derive from an imagination unique to this island which conceives the supernatural and divine not as ethereal spirits, but as vigorous super Balinese.

The gateway and front walls of a Pura Dalem (temple of the dead) usually present a tableau of ceremonial figures such as the witch queen Rangda, posed in her conventional stance or enshrined in an elaborate niche. Yet there also exists a more playful, naturalistic art that enlivens the formality of temple sculpture. One can find in the same temple as Rangda, on the beck of the same shrine, a topsy turvy demon dancing on his head, a lively figure carved in refreshingly simplified contours, with more movement that the frozen upright posture of rangda.

Formerly in the absence of art galleries and museums, it was the public buildings, mainly the walls of temples and palaces that served as display cases for informal, amusing carvings; although they were always given secondary importance to the official statues. One can imagine an old Balinese sculptor, after dutifully carving all the principal statues and motifs, taking delight in finding an inconspicuous corner along the wall where he could freely chisel a minis cuie scene of his own fancy. Tucked away at the foot of a stairway, on a pedestal supporting a monumental witch, or behind a small shrine, you can discover the most humorous and suggestive relief's vignettes of passionate lovemaking, scenes of gory torments in hell, or such Western-inspired themes as automobile break downs, armed robbery, beer parties, single-prop airplanes, a blossom-wheeled bicycle, and sinking sailing vessels some of the finest examples of this playful secular sculpture are displayed on the veranda of the Denpasar Museum and on temple gates in North Bali.

With the constant renovation of the island's temples stone carvings of rustic scenes and rascals continue, but they are markedly subordinated to the architecture. Because of the inflexibility of the material and because they are not easily transportable, free standing statues are confined in theme to demons and divinities such as those sold in the village of Batubulan , or the small. Primitive statues produced in Ubud. The temple, though, remains just as much an eclectic showcase for the Balinese spirit-their reverence and ribaldry as ever. And the more earthy sensuous temple art, inspired by village life and laughter, is an age-old tradition that continues side by side with the modern movement in woodcarving and painting-a movement opening up a new world of expression to Balinese artists.