BALI CARVINGS

In Bali carvings were usually placed at temples and palaces. For centuries statues of Gods and demons together with mythological creatures both decorated and served as a protection according to Balinese beliefs. When western influences arrived to the island new themes and styles were adopted while maintaining the more detailed and intricate religious and myth-based traditional carvings.
Bali is the home of incredibly talented wood carvers and exports thousands of wooden figures and carved furniture to the rest of the world. These balinese carvings can be divided into different themes: Balinese mythology (Barong, Rangda…), Hindu and Buddhist (Buddha, Ganesa, Saraswati…), Ramayana and Mahabarata epic-based carvings (Garuda Wisnu, Rama Sita, Hanoman…) and daily life in Bali carvings (Fisherman, Legong and Janger dancers…)
There are different kinds of wood that can be used for this purpose. Crocodile (satin) wood is one of the most used ones because it provides carvings with a smooth finish and it’s not as hard as ebony or suar. Satin wood is white and grows in Bali. Suar and Mahogany are similar looking red-brown woods. Mahogany is more expensive as it is imported from other Indonesian islands while Suar grows in Bali. Ebony is also brought from outside and it’s very appreciated for the beautiful black color of the inner layer of the tree, different in color from the outer layer. It shares this two-tone characteristic with the Hibiscus wood. Among the less important we have Coconut wood which is difficult to carve and has a rough finish and Albesia which is a white soft wood used for wooden handicrafts.
Nowadays, Mas and Tegallalang are some of the villages specialized in producing the wood carvings Bali offers to the tourist industry.

 

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