linkage of Handicraft Art and Tourism in Bali

Why Interdependency of Handicraft Art and Tourism in Bali?  Bali is not only known for its alluring nature surrounded by vast oceans, but also for the uniqueness of its art and culture including handicraft. Wherever you go in Bali, you will easily encounter a variety of art crafts displayed along the way and even up to the street sides.

Ubud and Kamasan Village have made a name for themself all over the world due to the art of painting implemented by their community. Batubulan comes in the centre of stone carvings, Celuk Village the centre of goldsmith and silversmith and Belega Village the centre of bamboo handicraft. Today, all regencies and city throughout Bali has competed one another to established handicraft centres in harmony with their respective potency.

When tourism has grown rapidly since 1970, many craftsmen or artists from outside Bali hawked their goods in Bali. Even, some openly utilized the label Made in Bali whereas those goods were produced in Java, Lombok or other regions.

If you intentionally make a visit to Sukawati or Kumbasari Art Market in Denpasar for instance, miscellaneous works of arts can easily be found. Even, their price is moderately affordable, if you are good in bargaining.  the secure and convenient environment when doing the shopping will make it easier for the customers to concentrate their attention on the goods they want. When you are hungry or thirsty, this market has provided you with various kinds of Balinese typical food and drink.

The phenomena have become a clue that Balinese art and culture experience a very rapid development following the velocity of mass tourism development. In all regencies in Bali, mainly the Gianyar, Badung and Denpasar can easily be found in-home handicraft industry and most inhabitants make their lives from the dynamic of tourism sector.

As implied by the name ‘industry’, several kinds of works of arts are produced in large scale to cater the needs of tourists. People that are involved in the handicraft sector are no more based on descendant line, but more determined by braveness and having sufficient capital. Do not be surprised if you see that the centre of handicraft industry producing a wide range of artistic items now crowds every single inch of this Bali island. Balinese people get down to make their life dependent on the activity of tourism industry. Art shops flourish everywhere offering products with competitive price along the road, just like at Jalan Raya Batubulan, Celuk, Sukawati, Ubud and so on including Jalan Prof. Ida Bagus Mantra (Bypass Tohpati-Kusamba) of which construction has not been completed yet but already overwhelmed by craftsmen of artistic works. In addition, the hawkers struggling for livelihood by offering their goods of art to tourists at the objects may have slightly disturbed your convenience please do apologize. Or if you do not put interest on theirs, you need not regard their presence, just avoid them immediately when being offered any kinds of art crafts.

Within the Bali tourism, the pattern of art creativity for Balinese people has indeed headed for business orientation, namely profit and loss. Balinese people, too, have got down to make art creativity by management system that has been in contradiction to the concept of performing art creativity in the past that was purely intended for ngayah and without expecting rewards. Tourism has changed the Balinese into a figure having full of dynamic. On the contrary, every time people talk about tourism both at national and international forum, Bali for good and all made into reference, discussed, analysed and taken as an example of case study.

There are also foreign tourists spending holidays in Bali while doing handicraft business. They make cooperation with the craftsmen in Bali and many have got success. Model of this cooperation mostly founded on mutual confidence and rarely completed with written legal procedures. As a result, should there be any disputes later within the agreement of this handicraft business, the case could not be resolved before the court. For instance, there is a case about some craftsmen that have dispatched their goods overseas, but their foreign counterparts did not settle the payment and never came to Bali. Their addresses are difficult to be traced so the craftsmen finally feel disappointed and suffered from a loss worth millions of rupiahs.

Bali is indeed unique and at all times draws people’s interest to know more, including in the domain of handicraft. After the twice bomb tragedies engulfed Bali and the world economy turns sluggish, many artists and craftsmen today find difficulties to market their products as the number of tourist visit drops and order from foreign partner decreases. Prices of materials are getting more expensive and difficult to obtain as well as the buying power of the consumers diminishes so the artists and craftsmen deeply engaged in handicraft industry, particularly those having small capital and no foreign partner, then gradually difficulty of life.