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Bali Art Ritual Performance
Catalog of an exhibition held at the Asian Art Museum--Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture, San Francisco, Calif., Feb. 25-Sept. 11, 2011.
- GenresArt
361 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 31, 2011
Overall, I found this exhibit a bit troubling. It seemed to be trying to summarize a culture, as if a culture could be known from the outside, like the history of an object. In that sense, it seemed like the epitome of "orientalism". I enjoyed the show, but felt like writing a letter of apology to Edward Said afterwards.
There were a few objects of spectacular aesthetic beauty. I think the one that struck me most was a book carved into intertwined panels of wood, cut like a venetian blind with word and images carved and painted into them. It was like an Balinese equivalent of an illuminated manuscript. There were also two very impressive wood panel paintings, detailing scenes from Hindu epics.
But overall, the exhibit tells of a depressing history. I'm glad, at least, it brought to light for me the history of Dutch atrocities in Indonesia. Bali was the last of the islands to be conquered. When the Dutch finally made clear they would resort to any level of brutality to take it, the rulers and their armies collectively voluntarily walked into the colonialists' gun-fire in a gesture that became known (translated into English) as "the Finish."
Rather sickeningly, the majority of works on display were on lown from someplace called the "National Museum of Ethnology" in the Netherlands, or from private DUTCH collections. I couldn't help but feel that in wandering through the exhibit, I was partaking in the rape of a culture.
There were a few objects of spectacular aesthetic beauty. I think the one that struck me most was a book carved into intertwined panels of wood, cut like a venetian blind with word and images carved and painted into them. It was like an Balinese equivalent of an illuminated manuscript. There were also two very impressive wood panel paintings, detailing scenes from Hindu epics.
But overall, the exhibit tells of a depressing history. I'm glad, at least, it brought to light for me the history of Dutch atrocities in Indonesia. Bali was the last of the islands to be conquered. When the Dutch finally made clear they would resort to any level of brutality to take it, the rulers and their armies collectively voluntarily walked into the colonialists' gun-fire in a gesture that became known (translated into English) as "the Finish."
Rather sickeningly, the majority of works on display were on lown from someplace called the "National Museum of Ethnology" in the Netherlands, or from private DUTCH collections. I couldn't help but feel that in wandering through the exhibit, I was partaking in the rape of a culture.
November 14, 2011
Great plates, good essays. I wanna give it more than 3 starts, put couldn't bring myself to give 4.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews