Being a prime holiday destination, Bali has for decades presented itself in ways deemed attractive by the tourism industry.
Coca in Bali, an oil on canvas by I Ketut Teler. Exotic images of the island have been created and re-invented. Bali has even been coined the “Island of the Gods” and the “Last Paradise”.
However the darker and much less exotic sides of the island have been swept under the rug to maintain the perfect, elegant images the tourism industry tries to sell to the outer world.
This approach ignores the fact that despite its unforgettable role in bringing economic prosperity to the island, tourism has also given birth to pressing problems.
The ongoing tension between the traditional and modern, the local and global, the shifting in social and moral values are a few of the problems either brought about by tourism or is reinforced by it.
Those tensions are the focus of I Ketut Teler’s ongoing solo exhibition “Welcome to Paradise”.
Held at Matahari beach resort in Pemuteran, Buleleng, the exhibition runs until Sept. 20, featuring 19 paintings and one installation.
Born in 1971 in the small village of Tembuku, Bangli, Teler pursued his education at Denpasar’s Indonesia Institute of Fine Arts (ISI). The Institute bestowed upon him in 1995 the Kamasra Award for his aesthetic achievements.
His past solo exhibitions include “Ideology and Contradiction” in 2008 and “Tolerism Terrorance” in 2009.
“Welcome to Paradise” delves into the changes Teler observed in the world around him.
To some extent, it is also a tribute to the Balinese culture’s ability to adapt to foreign cultural influences and overcome the challenges presented by these cultures. In the past, the Balinese incorporated elements from the Chinese culture, including Chinese coins, making them an integral part of Balinese culture.
Nowadays, Bali is trying to adapt to the Western culture, dominated by the US.
In Teler’s Coca in Bali, the contemporary equivalent of Chinese coins is Coca Cola. In that painting, Teler captured the Balinese’s ability to transform the modern commodity, an icon of the profane world of industrialization, into ritualistic paraphernalia, or a tool of the sacred world of religion.
Teler also paints empty bottles of Coca Cola used to store the holy water of Tirta, a common sight around Bali. The Balinese usually carve a wooden stopper in the form of winged lion.
Nobody knows who or in which region this practice started, but nowadays it is very easy to spot one or two Coca Cola bottles, which contain holy water instead of carbonated soda, in any religious ceremony in Bali.
“In many instances, the influences of globalization are too strong for the local culture to handle, the local traditional values and principles are either sidelined or rendered obsolete by a “global” culture.
This phenomenon has forced individuals to choose pragmatic and practical approaches to life, giving in to the “global” culture to ensure their survival or their opportunity to gain the most profit,” Teler said.
Welcome to Bali, a mixed media installation by I Ketut Teler.
In his other work, Welcome to Paradise, Teler depicts how pragmatic, non-religious interests, often find their way into temple’s festivals and religious ceremonies.
Political interests and addiction to gambling are two aspects that have repeatedly “infiltrated” the sacred ground of Bali’s temples, with the “infiltration” made possible by the pragmatic attitude of the temple’s custodians.
Political candidates make generous contributions during a temple’s ceremony to garner more votes, while the temple’s custodians gladly accept the funds to renovate their temples and turn them into grandiose monuments.
Cock fighting organizers will offer a percentage of their gambling revenue and the temple’s custodians will happily accept the money.
In return, organizers can use the temple’s outer courtyard for the cock fighting, making it much harder for the police to break up the illegal event.
“I believe the Balinese have the ability to filter out these outside influences, these pragmatic values. We must have the ability to reflect and contemplate on the changes we have to cope with, we must find the middle way, between the two extremes of tradition and modernity,” Teler said.
His statement on the middle way and contemplation clearly reflects the philosophy of Vajrayana, a Mahayana Buddhism’s school of thought, which has been Teler’s spiritual path since 2002.
“Through the Middle Way, I want to find out and understand the essence of the duality that has characterized our world and our ways of interpreting that world.”
Despite its unforgettable role in bringing economic prosperity to the island, tourism has also given birth to pressing problems.
— Photos by Wayan Sunarta
