Bird’s eye view of Fort Mason during the SF Tribal & Textiles Show 2009 The San Francisco Tribal Art & Textiles Fair is normally the most lively fixture on the tribal/textiles circuit. Held every year in February, the show draws over 100 dealers from around the world and buyers from … Continue reading
I guess February was a very busy month for me, because I notice there were no posts in February. The blog archives column looks rather sad as a result, with the month of February 2009 not listed at all. Therefore, I feel obliged to post this post-dated post, just so … Continue reading
OK here we go, a bit late. The best gallery opening of the winter holiday high season in Bali was just before Christmas at Biasa Artspace. Indieguerillas were the artists, a husband and wife team out of Central Java, who hail from the worlds of interior and graphic design and … Continue reading
We’ve found once again an extraordinary line of furniture that just works. Comfortable, stylish, elegant, confidently irreverant. It’s Gervasoni’s Ghost collection, a semi-spooky, seams-out fog of soft seating. When you have a space containing art and artefacts worthy of attention, you can either go museum-bench rigid with the upholstered pieces, … Continue reading
Does Bali need a reboot? Or a new operating system? 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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
One of the blogs I cherish most is Curious Expeditions, an extraordinary emporium of the esoteric and ancient. I adore the esoteric, and the ancient, as a general rule. Today I was hypnotised by their report on the architectural oddities of Cappadocia.
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. … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
I have always been a big fan of small containers. They imply the concealment and protection of something precious, something treasured – – or treacherous. The tribal cultures of Southeast Asia have produced some of the most beautiful and enigmatic small containers ever. Apparently I’m not the only one who … Continue reading
Have you got an eye for textiles? Test your textile memory with the Maharam Memory Game, a beautiful, enjoyable and relevant freebie on Maharam’s marvelous website. The game involves remembering the location of textile swatches and pairing them up on screen. Be warned: it’s compulsive. Maharam is a fourth-generation family … Continue reading
Been looking for alternatives to hard-edged modern-minimalist rectilinearity? Alternatives suited to a non-urban, natural island lifestyle? Here’s one – – furniture, lighting and accessories by Bleu Nature. This is rustic primitive minimalism without apology. Driftwood and hairballs against icy white set the tone of their new 2008-2009 collection. It’s beachy and … Continue reading
Searching for simple outdoor furniture to work with a modern tropical house. It’s harder than you might think. Most wood collections are too heavy, and conflict with existing woodwork in the house. Most collections made of modern materials look more like weapons than furniture. I can feel their sharp metal … Continue reading
Found this firm by chance, having stumbled on a credit in a book on modern garden design. Munkenbeck’s bio goes like this: Dartmouth Harvard Foster Associates James Stirling, and he’s worked for a wealth of aristrocrats, including designing four palaces for Saudi royals. The stunning visitors centre for the Earl … Continue reading
WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG FOR AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE Apologies to readers of my blog for the past two weeks’ outpouring on (over)development in Bali. I started out hoping to get a general overview of the state of real estate development on the island, and one thing led to another and … Continue reading
It’s seven big houses on the shore, several with wild multi-level pools. With so much development out on the east coast, I expect they will need a fancy supermarket-deli soon. And maybe a branch of Ace Hardware?
Dubai hotel group Jumeirah will be creating 188 five-star-diamond hotel rooms in eight four-storey blocks, plus sixteen penhouses and thirty pool villas, on a 12.7 hectare site in the Nusa Dua area, with an estimated investment of $43.5 million. With Jumeirah, at least we know they won’t be cutting any … Continue reading
Look out, Bali, here come 26 apartments with wiggly walls. How are you supposed to arrange your furniture? It’s going up on the beach in Legian. It’s a wiggly, wiggly world. Even the interior staircases are wiggly. I think I’ll just take the lift instead.
This four-storey development is under constuction in Seminyak. It’s a 100-unit condotel right on Jalan Laksmana (“Eat Street”). Each unit will offer 50 square meters of location location location. But not enough room to swing a cat. Probably not pets allowed anyhow, so perhaps that’s not a big concern.
How about this? An apartment development in East Bali. It’s a 32-unit, four-storey complex, right on the water near Padang Bai. Hmmm.
In popular Umalas, this four-storey apartment block with 53 suites is nearing completion. Hmmm.
Here’s the master plan for the New Kuta mega multi-use development taking place on the Bukit Peninsula, which includes residential, hospitality, commercial, education and leisure components at various market levels. Don’t ask what else it includes. It’s probably better to ask, “What doesn’t it include?”
This one’s a clump of twelve mini-villas in Canggu, with mini-gardens just big enough to swing a cat. Of course, no self-respecting Buddhist of Buddha Garden Villas would ever be caught dead or alive swinging cats.
This is a residential and resort property with nine villas for sale. The other units are hotel suites. Alila is a great hotel brand, with a commitment to quality, value and good design. They already have two properties in Bali, the Alila Ubud, and Alila Manggis. So naturally I was … Continue reading