Drawings Of Balinese Sorcery

An Artist's Journey to Bali is much more than your usual travel guide to the beautiful and mysterious Indonesian island of Bali. Written and illustrated by renowned artist Betty Reynolds, this Bali travel guide contains the author's original watercolor art depicting the wonderful island whose inhabitants are known to adhere to daily rituals that, although unfamiliar to foreigners, give the island and its people a distinct aura of mystery and magic. In this beautifully illustrated artist's sketchbook, the author shares her good fortune of meeting many Balinese who allowed her to witness important aspects of their lives and culture, and to participate in the religious rituals that mark their passage through the major stages of life. If Bali travel is in your future, this is a great book to have. It takes you right into the Balinese culture, exploring Balinese art, unveiling the traditions and spirituality in that part of the world. Take a rare journey to a beautiful place, as Betty invites you to experience it with An Artist's Journey to Bali.

Balinese Art is the first comprehensive survey of Balinese painting from its origins in the traditional Balinese village to its present position at the forefront of the high-priced Asian art scene. Balinese art has been popular and widely collected around the world for many decades. In fact, the contemporary painter who commands the highest prices in Southeast Asia's hot art market is Bali-born Nyoman Masriadi (1973–). This book demonstrates that his work draws on a long and deeply-rooted tradition of the Bali art scene. Balinese painting has deep local roots and has followed its own distinctive trajectory, yet has been heavily influenced by outsiders. Indian artistic and religious traditions were introduced to Bali over a thousand years ago through the prism of ancient Javanese culture. Beyond the world of Indonesian art, Balinese artists and craftsmen have also interacted with other Asian artists, particularly those of China, and later Western artists. From these sources, an aesthetic tradition developed that depicts stories from the ancient Indian epics as well as themes from Javanese mythology and the religious and communal life of the Balinese themselves. Starting with a discussion of the island's aesthetic traditions and how Balinese art should be viewed and understood, this book goes on to present pre-colonial painting traditions, some of which are still practiced in the village of Kamasan—the home of "classical" Balinese art. However, the main focus is the development of new styles starting in the 1930s and how these gradually evolved in response to the tourist industry that has come to dominate the island. Balinese Art acquaints readers with the masterpieces and master artists of Bali, and the final chapter presents the most important artists who are active today and serves as an introduction to their work.

In Storytelling in Bali, Hildred Geertz analyzes over 200 texts of popular stories dictated in 1936 by the painters of Batuan, Bali. The tales reveal strong ambivalences in the tellers regarding the magical powers of kings, priests and healers.

Indonesian Manuscripts from the Islands of Java, Madura, Bali and Lombok is an original, pioneering, and richly illustrated work that discusses hitherto unaddressed features of manuscript traditions of these islands. The extensive description of palm-leaf manuscripts in particular opens up avenues for further study.

Tales from a Charmed Life is the last in a trilogy of works by Hildred Geertz exploring the complexity of Balinese history, religion, and society. A landmark study by one of the most distinguished anthropologists of Indonesia, it centers around the stories and paintings of Ida Bagus Madé Togog (1913–1989), an artist and ritual specialist who played a significant role in the history of Balinese ethnography. In the 1930s, Togog was central to Mead and Bateson’s pioneering studies of "Balinese character" and came under the influence of expatriate artists Walter Spies and Rudolf Bonnet to emerge as a major representative of the Batuan style of painting. Togog’s art and anecdotal stories of his most memorable life experiences are here interwoven with Geertz’s illuminating commentary to construct an innovative framework for understanding Balinese culture. Togog shares stories of his early life, relating dilemmas from his childhood and youth. Growing up in the wake of Dutch colonization, he came into contact with new languages, customs, and economic opportunities that presented him with puzzling and poignant experiences. He tells of his association with Spies and Bonnet and later Mead and Bateson and his role in the creation of a genre of painting for which Bali is now famous. This is a view of Bali from the inside—a vivid, highly personal look at a world where spirits, ancestors, and sorcerers have the power to intervene in one’s life. According to Togog, who narrowly escaped death numerous times, his was indeed a "charmed life." The other volumes in the trilogy are The Life of a Balinese Temple: Artistry, Imagination, and History in a Peasant Village (2004) and Images of Power: Balinese Paintings Made for Gregory Bateson and Margaret Mead (1994).