S

span class="caption" style="width: 398px;">Saved: Boedi Mranata (left) with Anak Agung Made Rama, a descendant of the king of Bangli, holds photo documentation of the rescued antique door. Courtesy of Beodi Mranata Boedi is a historian, in every sense of the word. He collects things that many people will consider as nothing more than trash, such as old doors ' 'One man's junk, is another man's treasure' holds a truth for antique collectors and historians.

Among Boedi's precious items is a beautiful Chinese-style antique door. Judging by its current condition, it is hard to believe that this exquisite artifact was once in a very bad condition. Initially, an experienced antique trader (who saw its potential beauty) found that particular wooden door at a flea market; the door originally was a part of debris from the legendary 19th century Candra Naya mansion.

There are beautiful paintings on the door, but they were initially completely covered in black paint, thus, when it was on offer at the flea market, nobody saw the exquisiteness of the thing. After being cleaned immaculately and the black paint was peeled off delicately, the impressive artwork was restored to its former grandeur, and was immediately purchased by Boedi.

'Nobody realized that this door, which was found among wooden junk, was actually a beautiful and historically significant artifact,' says Boedi. For him, buying that door has been a gratifying act of preserving art and history.

For the love of history as well, he will go the extra mile to get to know the story of his artworks. When his antique Balinese door (18th or 19th century) piqued his curiosity, Boedi went to Bali alone to search thoroughly for information or stories about his possession, which previously belonged to a royal Balinese family in Bangli, Bali.

That Balinese wooden door is uniquely decorated in high relief (shapes carved on a surface, so they stick out from the background) with Chinese symbols ' in other words, an artifact combines Balinese art and Chinese art perfectly. For Boedi, it is a proof that Chinese has interacted with the local community in Bali for hundreds of years.

Boedi made an effort to track down the history as well as story of that door and its previous proprietor (if possible, the story of the craftsman as well) by visiting the descendants of the royal family in Bali. For him, antiques have thousands of interesting stories to tell.

' Susanna Tjokro