Does Bali Need a System Reboot?
Is it just me? Or do we have a total system crash here?
I wrote the following rather long piece start to finish without stopping, in response to two heartfelt comments on the Jakarta Post reader’s forum. In those comments, the writers were giving voice to their concerns as visitors, about Bali and the issues that this island faces.
While their comments were valid, I doubt these two writers understand the unprecedented and bizarre situation which Bali finds itself in now, being all at once many things, among them: a beloved tourism mecca; a crossroads of global and regional cultures; a development boomtown; a small province in a country beset with serious structural, economic and ideological crises, many of which are not especially salient in Bali but affect it nevertheless; and a hotbed of internally generated and internally felt conflicts that are unique to the island. All of this is Bali now.
Internal conflict can result in internal injuries, or economic and social ones.
The issues mentioned in these two readers’ comments touched on various themes often noted by visitors, like long queues on entry at the airport, bad sidewalks and garbage strewn hither and thither. I agree entirely with their comments, but felt compelled to go a bit further.
Why Bali Might Need a Total System Reboot
Bravo to both Jakarta Post readers for speaking up. I have the same concerns that they do. As well as several others. Where to begin?
Island Magic at Minasian Chicago
Has Chicago’s Minasian Oriental Rug Gallery gone flat? In a certain sense, yes – - they’ve hung a fabulous show of Indonesian flatweave textiles rather than their usual rugs. The exhibition, entitled “Island Magic: Court and Tribal Textiles from Indonesia” runs through the 10th of January, and was reviewed in HALI this month.
Rare, old ceremonial textiles of Indonesia have been attracting far more serious attention recently, as they should. Museums in both Chicago and Los Angeles have major shows of Indonesian textiles on their exhibition calendars for 2008-2009.
Images © 2008, HALI Magazine
Primarily Primal: SF Tribal at the Presidio
Better late than never, here’s a review of the October group show by SF|Tribal, an association of Bay Area dealers. This year the event, entitled Primal at the Presidio, had a superb venue (Herbst Pavilion), for the weekend show and opening party.
Numerous prominent dealers in fine Indonesian textiles and artefacts were exhibiting, including Tom Murray, Joe Loux, Andres Moraga, Vicki Shiba, Frank Wiggers, Erik Farrow, Michael Auliso. There’s Tom (below) with tribal and textile expert, Cathryn Cootner who guided a morning sneak preview walk-through for collectors and scholars. Here’s a list and details about the SF Tribal dealers.
As a footnote, Tom was just here in Bali, and we had a very cordial chat with him during the vernissage at Biasa Artspace on Monday. No explanation of his off-season visit to Bali was given. Tom works in mysterious ways.
Witness the Self-Evident: Budi Agung Kuswara at Komaneka Gallery
Who hung this show? I forgot to ask during the opening last Saturday at Komaneka Gallery. What was extraordinary to me, and what begged the question about who hung this show, was the spontaneous emergence of a narrative, revealed in the sequence of images considered in turn while circulating clockwise (as one often does) around the gallery space.
Beginning with a full frontal floating self portrait (detail above) that almost knocks you backwards down the stairs as you enter the space, and returning to it again after a clockwise circuit, a story unfolds. The artist earnestly explains that he did not intend any sequential relationship of the works as they were hung. Yet a story tells itself, as if it had an independent will to make itself evident.
Pretty Viscera: Davina Stephens at Ganesha Gallery
Something profound happened at the opening reception for Davina Stephens’ exhibition entitled “This Side of Paradise” (Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort Jimbaran, 18 December). What happened is perhaps best voiced by considering the contrasts in Davina’s most recent work. On the one hand these are images that could be, and have been, called soft, sentimental and decorative. On the other, they expose dark and visceral themes that are deeply disturbing.
Calling All You Esoteric Archibuffs: Let’s Talk Turkey
Vomitrocious III: Refrigerated Beach to be Built in Dubai
How disturbing to learn that the sand on the beach at the Palazzo Versace Dubai will be chilled. This mondo luxe development will refrigerate its beach using a network of buried pipes. It will also feature a chilled 820 square meter outdoor pool and a simulated marine environment called the “scuba lagoon.” Engineered nature, I suspect, is not an eco-friendly kind of thing. And it’s definitely not halal.
My Personal Faves Win AIA Firm of the Year Award
Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen (OSKA) of Seattle has been raking in awards lately, and they’ve just won another. The American Institute of Architects has named them Firm of the Year for 2009.
Diadem Fit for an Assyrian Queen
I stumbled on this stunning diadem, excavated from a royal tomb at Nimrud in Iraq, where it was discovered near the remains the queen’s skull. Its technical sophistication and fine workmanship are unbelievable. This is one of the most beautiful pieces of gold ornament I have ever seen or heard of. Elegant. Lavish, yet not excessively so. Tastefully lavish.
What most piqued my interest, however, were the tabular “eye” agates. I used to have a ring by Jean-Francois Fichot, mounted with a similar stone, perhaps originating from the same period and region. Sadly, it deteriorated with constant wear, and I have been hoping to restore the ring, but haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement for the stone.
Another noteworthy feature for me is the fine knitting using gold wire. Crocheted or knitted wire ornament is also a tradition here in Indonesia, and I have seen numerous old and contemporary knitted wire artefacts from various island cultures. More on this tomorrow.
Get a Grip
Tribal art dealer, Mark Johnson has just added an unusual bronze grip to his website. He indicates it was excavated in Java and is approximately 2,000 years old, dating from the Indonesian bronze age, often referred to at the Dong Son period. I have never seen a similar piece from Indonesia, or anywhere else for that matter, yet find its form rather striking in its simplicity. It reminds me of something, but of nothing ancient I have ever seen from Southeast Asia. The protruding “buttons” seem vaguely (but not entirely) reminiscent of the appended balls on ancient bronze bracelets from Alor and Pantar Islands. Or perhaps reminiscent of certain types of African bronzes? I have sent a link to my good friend Ambra Calo, who is an archaeologist specialising in Southeast Asian bronze age artefacts. If her response is interesting, of course I’ll post it here.
(Postscript: Ambra says it looks “strange,” meaning it seems more likely to be an invention than a discovery. If it were an invention, then an invention inspired by what? Pure whimsy? If it is a discovery, then what kind of a discovery is it? I can’t shake the whiff of Africa myself . . . )