Where to find finely crafted wood carvings?

[Mickey_Sg]

Hi all,

We will be back in Bali for the 5th time in 25 years, and will be staying in Seminyak for the first time. We want to look for some nice wood carvings, the frieze type that are designed to hang on the wall.

The last time we were here, our driver took us to some villages where almost every house was churning out identical wooden ducks, and other cheap looking stuff. We couldnt find anything beautifully made or finely crafted. I guess I'm looking for the kind of things you might see in the 5-star hotel, gallery-cum-gift type shops, but they are always overpriced. :(

Any clues on where I should start looking, or recommendations of good galleries with sensible pricing?

Kind regards to all

Mick

[Sanurian]

Try the village of Mas, near Ubud, for starters.

...I guess I'm looking for the kind of things you might see in the 5-star hotel, gallery-cum-gift type shops, but they are always overpriced...

If you like something you've seen in a 5-star hotel, why not ask them where they bought them from? (Just a thought.)

Never forget that we usually get what we pay for. "Overpriced" might only be a relative term. You've seen some cheap wooden ducks and they're not what you were searching for. What about some exquisitely carved wooden ducks, for a "realistic" price?

Maybe change your "driver", next time.

:D

[tintin]

The best place to go for fine wood carvings are the villages of Mas and also Kemenuh (where all the woodcarving gallery owners are multi-millionaires, in US$, mind you!).

First, I suggest you go to the Ida Bagus Tilem Gallery, in Mas. It's on Jl Raya (main road) across from Pura Taman Pule. There, you will see an extraordinary collection of the finest sculptures made from all kinds of woods. Of course, Ida Bagus Tilem died in 1993, but his tradition of excellence continues (maybe he had a son that took over, I don't know?). You may or may not buy anything there, but it will set your standards for what fine carvings should look like.

Across from the shop is the studio of Ida Bagus Anom, renowned for his topeng masks (sorry, I just wrote "masks" masks, but that's how we, Westerners, speak!). He is pricey, but his masks are "serious" top qualities, with a humongous number of layers of paint. Tell him Daniel sent you and he'll be sure to charge you double... :lol:

Next to him, his cousin, my old friend Ida Bagus Oka (how's that for name-dropping!) has his shop, Astina. Great variety of fine sculptures at better (cheaper) prices.

Wayan Muka, a little bit further north, right on a side street. Beautiful topeng and much cheaper than at Anom's.

Anyway, there are so many excellent galleries in Mas village and Kemenuh village, I hope you have either a substantial bank account or much self-restraint. And remember: know how to bargain. :lol: :lol:

Selamat berbelanja.

PS. Bert, I hope that the above recommendations do not qualify as advertizing: it was written in the spirit of helping Mickey_Sg get started. And No, I don't get any bakshis from these guys.

[Thorsten]

Yes a real dilemma,

you like Balinese fine arts, but you don’t like to pay the artist and indeed it can be pretty pricy, on the other hand this tourist crap produced in row is not what you are looking for –right?

So you stroll through some expensive galleries, where you will probably find what you are looking for and get frustrated due to your wallet has not the right size for this, or you spend hours and hours to try to explore something in these tourist traps and get frustrated about the endless returning same, poor motives.

There is another solution.
You take your camera and shoot some frames of something you really like, print the images, then you need to find a real good, but nameless wood carver to do the job.
There are quite a couple of good carvers around Ubud, but you will hardly find one them on the street.

I know a very good one from a wood carver dynasty, he can do everything from a photo, it will depend on the subject how long does it take to carve and finish, price will depend on amount of work for him, so you will only pay for the work, not for the design, not for a gallery and no other commissions.
You will get a fair price which is not negotiatable and you will get good, solid work – how about that?

Contact details can be forwarded by PM

Best regards
Thorsten

[Roy]

Thorsten! I'm :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

But seriously, the best place to start is with the Museum Pendet in Nyuh Kuning, Ubud, which was founded by I Wayan Pendet, who many regard as Bali’s most brilliant wood sculptor. This museum is home to BIASA, The Bali Indonesia Art Sculpture Association (where I serve as a consultant). BIASA was founded, on January 22 in 2004 with 40 member sculptors like Ketut Muja, Made Sukarta Wahyu, Made Bratayasa, etc. Many of its members are graduates of ISI (Art Institute of Indonesia) in Yogyakarta and ISI in Denpasar. The majority of the artist members do not have their own galleries, are not millionaires, and work out of their family compounds. For me, this is the way to buy art in Bali…directly from the artist and in his or her compound.

These artists are brilliant, and it was a most memorable distinction for me to be among the five judges to award the prizes for best works in their first exhibition at the Museum Pendet in February of 2005.

[Mickey_Sg]

Hi all

Thanks for all the replies. I hope I have enough time to track down all the leads you guys have given me, as we are only in Bali this time for 5 days. Probably not long enough to have anything custom-made, as Thorsten suggested, so I will start with some of Tintin's and Roys recommendations.

To echo Roy, I am also happiest buying directly from the artists. Roy, if I went to Museum Pendet, would I be able to contact the artists who's work i like? I also came across your thread on the Keliki Kawan miniatures, so I hope i get to visit there. Do you have any particular favourite artists in KK that I should not miss?

Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions
Cheers
Mick

[Roy]

Mick, you would be best off to hire a Balinese driver in Ubud to take you to Keliki Kawan. Once there, have the driver ask around to find Wayan’s compound, explaining that he is the man who acts as an “agent” for most of the Keliki artists. A building in his compound acts as a modest gallery for the Keliki artists, and his brother is one of those artists who also lives in this compound. There are no signs but he is not hard to find.

You can tell Wayan that I referred you to him, and he can take you to visit the artists. As for me, I like them all!

You’ll have a great time, and Keliki Kawan is a PERFECT example of a very traditional Balinese village…and beautiful at that.

You'll have a great time! Cheers!

[SteffandShaz]

Now I will expose myself as a cheap shopper, which I am and not ashamed to save a few $ here and there. :wink:

There is a wood carving shop on the gang that between Jln Melasti & Jln Padma; there is a mini mart on the corner of Melasti and the Losari Hotel on the corner in Jln Padma. The carving shop is opposite a cafe named "Ours" and they have a lot of frieze type wall carvings as well as the run of the mill statues. The quality of a lot of the frieze work was rather good (in my opinion, may not be to everyones' tastes though), but they were far from cheap looking and are a good price if you bargain well.

If the shaop don't have what you are looking for, describe it to their staff and if it is available, they will go get it for you.

Have fun shopping Mickey_Sg, hope you have fun while you are here.

Cheers,
Shaz

[mimpimanis]

That would be Jalan Sahadewa or Garlic Lane as it is known to Australians.....which made it nigh on impossible for me to find out where it was for ages!

[Roy]

To echo Roy, I am also happiest buying directly from the artists. Roy, if I went to Museum Pendet, would I be able to contact the artists who's work i like?

Sorry, I missed this question on first reading. Yes, they will freely provide the names and locations to find all the artist members of BIASA.

BTW, if you’re looking for some top notch antique (and I don’t mean antiques made to order) wood sculptures including frieze carvings from temples, you can send me a PM.

These are “bread and butter” sources for me, so I hope you can understand that I’m not so willing to broadcast sources.

A piece like this for example can still occasionally be found for a good price: