Do not accept Bali for what it is.

[Tommy]

BB1,
Your initial post was an intresting read and there's some i agree with and other i strongly disagree with. I'm too lazy to go into details (oops..) as i'm in an internet-cafe soon to become very smoky so i'm off for home... If you could have one paragraph per complaint it would be easier for those who wish to reply. I think your "aggitation" with Bali or Indonesia comes from your personal experiences and does not reflect the majority of foreigners who are possibly more balanced and less sensitive. There are goods and bads everywhere. If one wish to live anywhere on this earth one will have to accept a certain amount of "bads" but balance it out with the goods. If you truly care about the asbestos-issue etc etc why not do something valuable instead of just complaining. You could either start your own organisation to inform people of the dangers of asbestos or join an international organisation to become their representative. I'm mean, complaining will get none of us anywhere except "spice up" the forum for a week or two. If you're truly concerned for the well-being of Indonesians, Balinese, Expats or Tourists then there are other options that will most likely be more benificial for everyone.. no? :roll:

 

[made marko]

OMG's! :shock: I can smoke @ internet cafes in Bali?
Resturants? :evil:
Bars? :twisted:
Corruption, pollution AND the Asbestos gods be damned,
:!: Freedom to smoke :!:
Now I am certain Bali is the place for me! :lol:

 

[Jimbo]

Made

When I get there I will campaign vigorously against that right to smoke

 

[smusdar]

well, there is no indonesian here who drop by for giving a comment on BB1's posting..

OK, I'll try to be obejective..

First, I wonder why u, BB1 can have such bad experience and comment about bali..I guess, most foreigners Love Bali..and some of them adore Bali..

at my own experience, at my 1st trip to bali..(i always wonder why people that carzy about this island, what is the great thing from this island? ) so I did my trip..Unfortunately, it is not like I expected..
I dont know, maybe i am wrong, but we think that Balinese or people who deal with Bali tourism act more hospitable only to foreigners rather to local tourists..(maybe they do not care about custimer satisfaction )

not to mention the bad experience when change money in money changer in Kuta..

Then I came (2 times) again around 2005.. this time not as tourist only few days for job, and i live not in hotel, but in my cousin's house in denpasar.. feeling welcome at like home..cause the balinese seems so nice to me..

BB1, about bargaining, i think it's hard for you since you have "USD" face to get cheaper price..most indo assume ALL foreigners especially the white ones are rich, so they think why you must waste your time and energy for bargaining ? (i know it's defintely wrong, but they thought like that)

as everyone knows, if you want to get the right price, try to be looked as if you know very well about the stuff you want to buy, and maybe you can ask a friend of yours who can speak Bali ?
as I always accompanied by my cousin's wife and ask her to talk with the seller..

I read a book written by Jamie james a couple years ago (a writer and colomnist on art in NY times, now live in Bali) namely ANdrew & Joe.
It talked about 2 US gay (one is dance coreographer) and culture collision in bali. THis book published by kensington, NY, in Indonesia published bu Godown Lontar Foundation in English. (may be you can get it in QB Book store). You will know about bali from the author's prespective..that will never found in any tourism brochures (though he just comment some part of life in bali, the rest, you should find it by your self, and try not give prejudice judgement)

 

[Roy]

Jimbo writes:

When I get there I will campaign vigorously against that right to smoke

Jimbo, as a word of friendly advice, I wouldn't start that campaign with either the immigration or customs officers at the airport!

 

[made marko]

I am 'rich' by ID standards...
While I am considered to be poor here in the states.
I pay aprox. Rp2,515,425 per month for horrible living conditions.
& Rp41,161.5 for a pack of cigarettes here.
If I hear anyone complain that they paid too much for the crappy mask they bought, or the bed frame they paid twice as much as the purchase price to have shipped home,
I am gonna freek right out!
See what the price is back home at the pier1 store, and tell me you got a bad deal in Bali.

Do you think I sell a painting to a friend at the same rate I would someone I do not know?
What kind of friend would that be?

I have recieved permission from the city here to sell "magic" along with my paintings this summer.
Consider this scenario:

Made is sitting on the ground at his market stall surrounded by cheap watercolours.
At his right is one bunch of bananas,
another to his left (the hand that wears rather long nails).
Early that morning he had scored the peels of them with 'spooky looking' inscriptions, and drawings.
There is a sign that reads: "magic bananas go on sale no earlier than 2:00".
By the time 2:00 rolls around, the banana skin has become wonderfully bruised, making the inscised drawings real neat looking, almost 'shaded'.
Of course a crowd has gathered.
Now the bidding starts, as there are only 2 bunches of the enchanted fruit.
Most customers will wish for 'love magik'.
This request; being something against another's will is from the left. The price for left-hand magic is at least twice that of the right-hand variety.
Ka-Ching$$$!
Would I sell a friend a magic banana?
My friends are not stupid.
Will the regular market go-ers fall for this more than once?
Probably not.(well....?)
Do you consider me a 'con-artist' or simply enterprising?

 

[mimpimanis]

enterprising.....

But this reminds me of a story I heard last year.

There was a man who lived up in the mountains who got into trouble with his magic.

He could take Rp notes of small denomination & turn them into notes of large denomination.

Many people took their money. The bundles of Rp10,000 turned into bundles of Rp50,000. The Rp50,000 turned into Rp100,000.

People got greedy bringing more & more money until suddenly the magic didnt work any more & the money would vanish.

Some locals (those who lost money, mayb) were calling for the magician to be killed for his black magic.

But you tell me.....





Magician or con man?

 

[Roy]

Mimpi, that is a great story. It is so “Balinese.” Your story also reminded me of one that is published in the book SHADOW AND LIGHT, an autobiography of the first expatriate painter in Bali, the American, Maurice Sterne.

Sterne live in Bali from 1912 to 1914. He lived in Denpasar, and went to the market most every morning to sketch or paint. As he relates in his book, one day in July of 1913, at the market, he saw a young boy with a bird tied by its leg with string to the end of a stick. The boy would make the bird attempt to fly off, and then pull it back, obviously tormenting the bird.

While it was just a game for the boy, Sterne was trouble by this, and called the boy over to him. He offered to buy the bird, and paid a huge price, one guilder. In front of the boy, he untied the string from the bird’s leg, and let the bird go free. In his mind he thought perhaps that had taught the boy a lesson.

The next day, Sterne returned to the market, to sketch and paint as usual. Not long after his arrival, a large group of boys, each with a bird tied by string to a stick approached him. Those birds were all for sale, at one guilder each!

While much has changed in Bali since 1913, clearly much hasn’t.

 

[made marko]

Ha! so that's how the 'free the bird thing' started.
Great stories, both!
I do not intend to practise any true magic at all.
The market I plan to sell 'magik' at must be seen to be believed.
I can only relate it to a combination new-age church basement craft sale/Greatful dead show parking lot.
-Huge drum circle,
-ganja smoked on the court house plaza -aka 'free speach zone',
-stall upon stall of poorly(and some not-so) made jewelry & crafts, -massage, reiki, reflexology and what-not
-fortune telling,
-topless women (legal here).

I could not keep up w/ the demand for my paintings last year, so I have decided to 'branch out'.
I found that when someone asked about a painting, a large crowd would gather as I rose to 'dance' a description, and telling little stories about them.
This place is SO hippie/yuppie that I am sure my bananas will be quite popular.
I like birds too much to shackle them as hostage for profit, :cry:
but any other suggestions that may help me relieve some of these folks of the burden of their wealth would be appreciated,
Maybe another topic could be started? 'popular tourist scams'?
I am sure even the most careful traveler has fallen prey to such things at times. :evil:
The banana thing did well in Madison, Wisconsin a few years back, and this liberal place makes 'Mad-city' look like a GOP convention in comparrison.
I am not out to be a thief or anything...
unless you consider P.T. Barnum to be one

 

[JAMIE]

Made or as Ill refer to you in the future Jack ( of bean stalk fame) ..majic is in the eye of the beholder ,,,

 

[made marko]

Giant killer, I am not.
&It was the butcher who traded mssr. Jack's mothers' cow for a handfull of beans.

~PI PAI PO PUM~

 

[Jimbo]

Roy/Made

Cigarettes in the UK are in excess of $9 per pack of 20 or Rp 80,000 plus. If you had to pay that price it would concentate your mind and every one elses on giving up. The practice of smoking in Indonesia in general rather than Bali in particular kills more Indonesians than any other desease. It really is smothing I think needs a campaign. (Soap Box mode off)

Roy you are not going to tell me this is not so in Paradise are you?


Sweet Dreams that Magic of changing notes of lower to higher value was the biggest scam in Nigeria of 25 years ago.

 

[Jimbo]

Sterne the first expatriate painter in Bali? I do not think so Roy. What about the contempory of Van Gogh? Name excapes me but Anthony Quin played him to Kirk Douglas's Van Gogh. There were many there in the 19th century let alone the 20th.

Have I misread?

 

[Roy]

Jimbo, first things first, on smoking you ask,

Roy you are not going to tell me this is not so in Paradise are you?

Hell no! That's why I wrote the warning to not take up your "crusade" on anti-smoking upon arrival in Bali with either immigration or customs officials.

As for Maurice Sterne, sorry Jimbo, but Maurice Sterne is considered the first expatriate artist on Bali. Some may argue that the first expatriate artist was the Dutchman, W. O. J. Nieuwenkamp who first arrived in Bali in 1903. However, most serious art historians, including Raud Spruit, (and the artist, Arie Smit by the way) would disagree. As Spruit writes in his book, ARTISTS ON BALI,

Nieuwenkamp remained above all an illustrator. He did not participate in contemporary developments in West European paining. At most, the influence of Jugendstil can sometimes be discerned in his drawings. Through his family and his marriage Nieuwnkamp was well-off and was able to devote himself entirely to his great hobby, drawing anything that interested him.

You ask,

What about the contempory of Van Gogh? Name excapes me but Anthony Quin played him to Kirk Douglas's Van Gogh.

You are referring to the great late French impressionist, Paul Gaugin who first visited Tahiti in the 1890’s. Sorry, but he never set foot in Bali...ever.

I hope this clears things up for you, and with kindness.

 

[Roy]

Jimbo, as a quick follow up to my previous post, you may want to “google” or “yahoo” under the name, Maurice Sterne. Anyway, a little more input about him:

In an article written by the art critic, Harry Salpeter, published in the February, 1941 issue of Esquire Magazine, he wrote, “Maurice Sterne...one of America’s most important modern artists...the man who discovered Bali for the western world...”

Among Sterne’s greatest achievements, he was the first living artist to be given a one man retrospective exhibition at the prestigious and world famous Museum of Modern Art, (MOMA), in New York City. This was in 1933, and the exhibition received many rave reviews, including one by the renown art critic Lewis Mumford, who wrote the following in the May 5, 1934 issue of THE NEW YORKER:

The vital part of that exhibition was the Bali paintings. The fact is that these magnificent little paintings and drawings date from his great period at Bali, between 1911 and 1914 and they have, apparently, been stored in a trunk all these years. The artist has very modestly called these pictures Bali studies, but the fact is it is these studies that one must crown as the very height of Sterne’s work.

Jimbo, last year, in July with our gallery’s grand opening, we were the first to show Sterne’s Bali works in Bali since 1914. It created quite a stir, most notably, and most appreciated, by Arie Smit. Smit recalled Rudolf Bonnet talking to him in the 1950’s about Sterne...the first of them all to live and paint in Bali.

 

[Jimbo]

You are absolutely correct and it was Paul Gaugin I was thinking of. That will teach me to engage brain before letting the fingers do the walking.

 

[Roy]

No problem Jimbo. My first college degree was in art history, so I kind of have this stuff down pat. After all, it's how I make my living, so I had better have it down pat.

Another “fun” artist to check out on the web is the French School of Paris post-impressionist Bernard Lamotte. In the 50’s and 60’s he was very well known, but when he died, his huge estate of art work was stored away, and almost forgotten. Of note of fame for him is that when JFK was President, he painted three murals on the walls of the White House swimming pool that JFK had built for therapeutic reasons...his very bad back. The pool is gone now, in fact, it is currently the press room in the White House. The murals are held by the JFK library/museum in Boston.

In the late 1980’s, his estate of over 3,000 oils and 30,000 works on paper was inherited by his grand nephew who hired me to appraise the estate for the IRS, and then sell it. Eventually I engaged the prestigious Vose Galleries in Boston to sell the best works, which they did over a three year period and multiple shows.

As with Gaugin, Lamotte spent a lot of time in Tahiti painting. As part of my fee, I took the best of those works, and still to this day have two of these hanging in our home in Bali. They are fantastic, and just as easily could have been painted in Bali. Alas, like Gaugin, Lamotte never set foot here.

 

[Bert Vierstra]

Its Gauguin, not Gaugin.

 

[Roy]

It's spelt both ways Bert...just do your homework. But, in the meantime, you can review this bibliography of books on Gaugin/Gauguin:

Amann: Paul Gaugin ()
Becker, Christoph, ed. Paul Gaugin: Tahiti. Hatje, 1998 . 4to. 184pp. Exhibition catalog: Stuttgart.
BOWNESS, A.: GAUGUIN 48 Farbtafeln, 4to, 66 S, 48 ,
Gauguin, Paul. Noa Noa. Musee Gauguin: Tahiti, 1987 . Facsimile of Gauguin's journal in Tahiti.
Gauguin, Paul. Noa Noa: Voyage to Tahiti. Reynal and Company, n.d. . 4to.
: CENT OEUVRES DE GAUGUIN Exposition Galerie Charpentier a Paris, 1960. Ant. 1960, 8vo, 72 p, 49 ill
Hanson, Lawrence: Noble Savage The Life Of Paul Gaugin (Random House)
HOOG, M.: PAUL GAUGUIN LIFE AND WORK 1987,4to,332 p,217 ill
PRATHER, M.: GAUGUIN A RETROSPECTIVE The story of Gauguin through the eyes of the artist's friends, colleagues, critics, etc. 1987, 4to, 386 pp, 250 ill,
REY, R.E.: GAUGUIN De la s rie: Maitres de l'art moderne". 40 Planches hors-text en h liogravure. Biographie, suivie des planches. Ant, 1923, 8vo, 63 p, ill,
RUSSELL, J.: GAUGUIN Small biography and 32 full colour plates. Ant, 1968, 88 pp
Stevenson, Lesley: Gaugin (Magna Books Inc Remainder)
Sykorova, Libuse. Gauguin Woodcuts. Paul Hamlyn, London, 1962 .
Teilhet Fisk, Jehann: Paradise Reviewedaul Gaugin
Walther Ingo: Gauguin (Thunder Bay, 1997)

 

[Bert Vierstra]

Its Gauguin.

That lots of people spell it wrong, doesn't mean "two ways of spelling".

Poor Paul Gauguin. Not only do most undergraduates persist in spelling his name without the second "u" but he is also a victim of what a colleague calls the "Van Gogh's Ear Syndrome"--

read here