BALINESE MASKS: MASTER CARVERS STILL LIVE BY THE PAST

By: Christopher Baker
The Balinese language has no separate word for art. To create is an integral part of existence; an activity as natural as planting and harvesting rice. Painting is everywhere, everywhere sculpture. As Noel Coward observed: "it appears that each Balinese native from the womb to the tomb is creative." Around Ubud and Mas, in Gianyar province, the shortest walk becomes a magical mystery tour of homegrown art, flourishing in courtyards where chickens scratch in the dirt and titiran birds coo-coo from their cages.