Whilst in Bali, I visited several homes as part of my research, and gained a great insight into how people from differing social classes live in this society. Here are some annotated photo-collages of what I saw. The first home belonged to a lower income family, but what surprised me was that their home complex included an impressive private family temple, despite the kitchen and bathroom being very basic by western standards. Here I learnt that the sense of seeking harmony that ultimately drives Balinese life, even applies to the design of the Home. A Balinese version of FENG SHUI ascribes different rooms and places in the Home complex to different people and functions. For example, I saw how the kitchen's place is situated to the South, the family temple North East, bedrooms for adults in the North and for younger people in the West. Ceremonies are held in the central part of the complex.
My second visit was to a home in the countryside whose extended family have land on which they grow rice for their own consumption and several cash crops such as marigolds (used in offerings) and soya beans, as well as a large flock of ducks that are reared for their eggs and meat. This certainly was a Home from Home for me, and the family made a comfortable living from their crops and animals and had created a beautiful residence in the verdant Balinese landscape.
The third visit was to the affluent home of a well-known Balinese artist, which included a richly ornate private family temple and western style home comforts like running water, drainage, electricity and a television.
The final home I visited was in the remote village of TENGANAN, where I met a local woman in her home to learn about the double ikat weaving process that is so rare and famous. She is one of the few practitioners in Asia who can still create the special woven fabric using this ancient method. She sells it for a lot of money by local standards, but I appreciated that the small sample I bought took her a month to weave and is a very time-consuming craft. Her home where she ran her business from was typical of the village which has remained relatively unchanged for 700 years.
I will reveal more of the fascinating context of this unique and mysterious fabric in a special lecture on my return, during which you will be able to handle the sample that I purchased for the Understanding Art Studio....if you dare!
It was extremely interesting reading and learning about the way people live in Bali. It is very different to how we live back in Britain, but I suppose it is interesting to see that what some people don’t have, we take for granted. Saying that, it seems the people in Bali appreciate the more precious things in life whereas we are more concerned about the domestic aspects. I feel that it is important to learn about how different cultures live as it shows a good comparison and could potentially give us a mindset on how we view our everyday home life.
ReplyDeleteIt was also interesting to read about the family in the Country side who rely on the natural surroundings and things that they grow to keep well. I feel that it would be interesting to experience how other people live, for the benefits such as understanding that everybody lives differently in order to survive.
I found the home and private temple of a well-known Balinese artist absolutely magnificent. I imagine living there, in the serene, beautiful environment, worrying about nothing other than the filled decorated rooms around me. The artist home is extremely different to the homes in Britain- it is not often you see housing back home with design elements like the one Julia visited. The outside bodywork is so intricate and detailed it makes me wonder how someone has achieved it!
The final home Julia visited was in the small village of Tenganan, where a local woman still uses ancient weaving methods to create woven fabric. The material is very highly priced, however if you take into consideration how much time and effort it takes, it works out fairly. It is amazing to see that people are still using ancient arts to create wonderful pieces of work, and it also goes to show that old techniques are still around. Even though they are quite rare, people are more inclined to using them. I feel it adds a very personal touch using ancient techniques and this is something you can’t gain by a material that has been made using a more well-known process.
Balanise farmhouse
ReplyDeleteI found this post very interesting to me because of the lovely scenery and differences in architecture from my hometown, Wrexham. It was nice reading about how people live in different cultures as they are more independent on their own in their families. As we know in richer countries like Britain we always count on supermarkets and shops instead of home growing and handmade crafts which is quite sad. As we are suffering from the recession in Britain I think reading this brings you back to reality that some people could be surviving of home grown food like this certain family but are experiencing more difficult times. I would love to visit the Balanise farmhouse as it seems very interesting and would be lovely to experience their ways of living and offerings in their culture.
Wow! You are so lucky having travelled to Bali and experiencing first hand the many different ways that local people work and live on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this wonderful experience with us - it has really opened my mind to study the lives of other social classes and indeed, compare them to my own! The photo-collages helped me expand my knowledge and tell a story without the need for words.
Of great interest to me is how the population in this area of Bali displays their religious beliefs. Seeking harmony appears to be a huge motive in their lives, and striving to achieve this through the image and design of their home appears to be a step forward in the right direction. It is intriguing to see that a private temple takes pride of place in a home, and how families live in the most basic of kitchens and bathrooms. Here in the UK we take so much for granted like chairs at a dining table and clean indoor toilets. These are essentials to our way of life - modern necessities that we probably would struggle to live without in our everyday lives.
The visit to the countryside has helped broaden my horizon. I was amazed to see how the habitants grew food for their own consumption; sometimes I wish that we could be less reliant on Supermarkets and concentrate on the growth of our food so maintaining the environment and its landscape.
The trip to the home of the Balinese artist seemed to differ so much from the first experience and certainly exhibited another way of life by someone from a very different social class. I feel that this house is the one that I can relate to in terms of the facilities and home comforts such as running water and electricity.
It is the final place of visit to Tenganan that I find most exciting. I especially liked your story about the traditional way of life, learning about the processes and techniques that the local women used to create the rare and famous weaving artwork and to top this, you met one of the few people to practice this – superb! I can only hope that an opportunity like this, for me to travel the world and learn the values of other cultures, comes about in the not too distant future!
Hello Julia, I came across your blog from a friend. I found your blog very interesting and educated me a lot about Bali and their culture .It as influenced me to travel there myself. I found the fact that even though the people were poor they were still giving three offerings a day and this show the strong feeling towards religion and they’re dedication to religion and it is shown by strongly. When I was reading though I found that only a few people know the ancient weave and that is takes so long. I was wondering why not many people are able to weave? And how people learn it? are there certain people that can only learn the weave?.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I am very interested in weaving, and when I had read this I found it very fascinating. I wish you could have taken me there so that I could learn the double ikat weaving process. Thank you for mentioning that you teach a student who loves weaving and would love to learn the unique weaving process that they use. It would be a honour to be taught how to use the Back Strap Loom that they use in their OWN HOME. I am very jealous of you, Julia, because you own one of the most unique pieces of woven fabric ever made. It is something I will never be able to own, so if you lose it, don’t blame me as I won’t have it (honest). As you mentioned, it is a very time consuming craft, I will agree with you on that. But it is a craft I love doing, it would be my dream to be able to weave every day in my own home. I would love to visit different places around the world to learn the techniques that they use in weaving. The designs are dyed into the warp and weft threads before they are woven into the final textile piece. Double ikat is a technique in which both warp and the weft are resist-dyed prior to warping the loom. It is only produced in three countries, India, Japan and Indonesia. The fabric that they produce is for protection of the family and members of the village. One of the symbols in the fabric is the god’s all-seeing eye. This would take very precise workmanship and technical skills which are required to make the natural dye cloths that are closely guarded by the Tenganan families. Julia, on your next holiday, you’re taking me to the village of Tenganan and I will love you forever, Julia!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading up on your thoughts about Dewa Putu Toris the famous Balinese artist, I was so excited to find out more about him that I had to go away and do my own research on his work. Sadly I found it extremely difficult to do this as his most recent website has been shut down; however I did find out that the area which is home to his studio ‘Ubud’ is packed full of culture, and that each tiny village has a special art, craft or interesting skill that they specialise in. Dewa Putu Toris houses the work of numerous local painters and craftsmen, and is decorated exquisitely.
ReplyDeleteThere is a photograph on this link that was taken by someone else that was lucky enough to visit the studio home to this artist. from http://www.thestyletraveller.com/2011/10/bali-sight-seeing-and-day-in-ubud.html. It shows the elaborate detail in the art of the building.
Hi Julia. It is really interesting to see how ornate the Balinese people make their surroundings. From the over-sized statues of their gods to the carvings on temple structures and even their own homes. Their use of bright colours is such a contrast to the way we live in Britain, where you would think colour should be used to brighten our often dull days. It seems to me that art in its various forms is very much a part of their way of life rather than maybe an interest or career as it is in Europe.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed by how the common link between all of the homes in this blog meant such a lot to each of the families no matter what their social standing was. The family temple was central to each home, allowing them to pay their respects to family and God. The only way they really varied was down to how much income they had available to spend.