Bali: a creative home base

Since long before it became an international tourist destination, Bali has fascinated artists and ethnographers for being unlike anywhere else in the world. This small island has its own language, music, calendar, and architecture, all tied into its own religion—a heady blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and ancient animism expressed in elaborate handmade offerings—which governs daily life in Bali even today.

In Bali’s ‘age of kings’ (which began a thousand years ago and endured into the 20th century), traditional arts flourished in a uniquely Balinese character. Royal courts employed clans of artisans as carvers of wood and stone to adorn their temples and palaces. The art of the goldsmith reached levels of virtuosity. These skills were passed down through generations and still occupy entire villages of artisans. Dexterity is in the DNA of Balinese.

The Balinese craftsmen at JFF come from this tradition. They bring deep knowledge of the techniques and materials of jewelry-making and a peculiarly Balinese genius for ornamentation.