Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa

The Balinese Art

The Balinese Art exhibition at the Central Museum of Textile Industry in Łódź showcases some 200 historic and contemporary pieces from the collection of Krzysztof Musiał: paintings, sculptures and textiles from the island of Bali. Our visitors have a rare opportunity to explore and admire the exotic and fascinating art of Bali reflecting the island’s unique cultural mix of influences and inspirations.

Balinese art is animated by the fusion of vernacular traditions, Indian influences which had reached the island concurrently with Buddhism and Hinduism, and Chinese inspirations first in the form of Chinese ceramic wares imported to the island and then transplanted by the Chinese artisans who had settled there. It is closely connected to the traditional religious practices of Balinese people and its works decorate numerous temples during annual festivals.

Among 114 paintings featured at the exhibition, some represent the so-called classical style associated with Kamasan in the district of Klungklung in eastern Bali which was its center from the 16^th through the 20^th century. Alongside paintings intended to furnish the interiors of royal palaces, the Kamasan rtists rendered motifs inspired by the heroes and deities depicted in the Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Batuan and Ubud in central Bali became the hub of modern Balinese art in the 1920s, its emergence inspired by the local artists getting access to new materials and techniques and as a result developing a new visual language expressing the dramatic vision of the natural and supernatural world rendered in the characteristic monochromatic scheme of black and white. An important factor contributing to the development of modern Balinese art was the interest in vernacular traditions spurred by Western artists and visitors arriving in Bali. The coastal village of Sanur became another important center of modern Balinese art. In the 1970s, the new young artists’ style was developed in the village of Penestanan near Ubud and recently the village of Keliki on the outskirts of Ubud saw the emergence of the eponymous style of painting.

The majority of the 28 sculptures on show are small stylized, anthropological and zoomorphic figures, usually of sandalwood, dating to the 1930s and 1940s, their style clearly inspired by Art Deco. On another hand, the monumental temple gate is an unusually expressive specimen of profuse decoration featuring traditional ornaments.

The textiles for the gods and people – as Maria Wrońska-Friend calls them in the accompanying catalogue– testify to the collector’s long-time fascination with the art of dyeing and weaving. The majority are ceremonial textiles used in annual religious festivals to mediate between the people and the realm of gods and spirits and also in family rituals and celebrations. Others are splendid status items. The exhibition will showcase some 60 specimens of cotton and silk double ikats, weft ikats and batiks dyed using natural colorants (historic textiles) or synthetic dyes (contemporary specimens). They come from northern and western Bali and also from the Chinese workshops operating in northern Java and producing batiks for the Balinese market. Of textile types used in sacred rituals in Bali, particularly worthy of note are the patola silks imported from India and cotton geringsing double ikats (woven exclusively in the village of Tenganan in eastern Bali), which are vested with magical healing powers. The traditional protective red kamben cepuk cloth which is still produced in Bali today, is used in connection with sacrifices to the gods. Other textiles vested with supernatural powers and central to the spiritual activity of Balinese people are the horizontally-striped bebali and the poleng, whose black-and-white checkered patterns reflect the duality of the universe: they are used to clothe the stone figures of temple guardians and monumental statues of demons, as sacred banners, altar coverlets, and also during funeral rituals. The rich court textiles used to make ceremonial costumes are represented by specimens of the silk endek, the brocaded gold and silver songket, and the prada cloth with gold leaf or gold powder applied. Today, cheaper synthetic fibers and chemical dyes have made ceremonial textiles more affordable also to common people in Bali.    

Balinese Art runs at the Central Museum of Textile Industry in Łódź from 21 May through 23 August 2015.

Exhibition curator Jolanta Piwońska