Author: Adriana Williams & Yu-Chee Chong, 2005. 144pgs. (English) Hardcover
Publisher: Editions Didier Millet, Singapore
Covarrubias in Bali constitutes a visually compelling retrospective that elucidates how the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias, together with his wife Rose, indelibly reshaped global perceptions of Balinese culture. Published in 2005, this collaborative study functions simultaneously as a biographical homage and a critical stylistic analysis of Covarrubias’s seminal 1930s expedition. It grants readers unprecedented access to long-concealed artworks, field notes, and photographic archives. The authors organize the text into four meticulously researched sections that chart the couple’s profound creative trajectory. The opening section narrates the expedition itself, detailing the couple’s immersive encounters with Bali’s vibrant artistic, musical, and performative traditions. The second section undertakes a stylistic analysis of Covarrubias’s “Bali Period,” tracing how his training in caricature and graphic arts evolved into a distinctive modernist idiom. The third section presents a corpus of Balinese paintings, sketches, and cultural records—many reproduced here for the first time—while the final section integrates a detailed chronology of Covarrubias’s life with his personal notes and Rose’s evocative archival photographs. Williams demonstrates that Covarrubias was not merely a passive observer; he employed diverse media—diagrams, maps, and finely wrought portraiture—to capture dimensions of knowledge that transcended verbal description. The book also addresses, with commendable neutrality, Covarrubias’s entanglement with colonial “Balinization” policies and his collaboration with fellow expatriates such as Walter Spies in constructing the enduring Western image of Bali as an untouched paradise. A notable strength of the volume lies in its emphasis on Rose Covarrubias, whose contributions as a dancer and photographer were indispensable to the production of Island of Bali (1937). Her behind-the-scenes documentation emerges as a foundational element of Miguel’s landmark publication. For art historians, anthropologists, and travelers captivated by Indonesian cultural history, Covarrubias in Bali is an indispensable companion. It brilliantly bridges the divide between raw ethnographic fieldwork and the discourse of fine art history. Ultimately, it honors Covarrubias not merely as a chronicler, but as a modern artist whose creative sensibility was profoundly reshaped by the rhythmic linearity and aesthetic vitality of Balinese life.
Author: Unknown
Publisher: The Supports Arts and Crafts International Centre of Thailand (SACICT), Thailand
Sacict is a prominent organization dedicated to promoting the importance of arts and crafts in Thailand. In this book they actively share and exchange inspiring insights from ASEAN artisans and trendsetters, showcasing the exceptional talent of artists from 10 ASEAN nations along with their innovative ideas and exceptional craftsmanship.
Author: Ernst J. Grube, 2003. 144 pgs. (English). Hardcover.
Publisher: Marshall and Marilyn Wolf
The author commences the essay by articulating his reflections on the study of Central Asian embroidery traditions. The terminology employed in reference to these embroideries does not consistently derive from indigenous usage. Keshte—a designation adopted by collectors Marshall and Marilyn Wolf—appears to be restricted to a highly localized context, signifying “patterned needlework,” and may represent a variant pronunciation of the regional term kashida. In addition, the authors introduce a collection comprising forty-three embroidered works. The volume concludes with an appendix featuring a technical analysis by Arlene C. Cooper, accompanied by scholarly notes contributed by Ernst J. Grube, thereby reinforcing the academic rigor of the study.
Author: Sumru Belger Krody, 2010. 304pgs. (English) Softcover
Publisher: The Textile Museum, Washington DC
Colors of the Oasis, through its peer-reviewed scholarly essays authored by internationally recognized experts, richly illustrated catalogue, public exhibition, and accompanying educational programs, offers a comprehensive documentation of the Megalli Collection for both scholarly and public appreciation. The essays examine, among other subjects, the textiles of Uzbekistan, tracing their historical origins and sources of design, while highlighting the exquisite “Oasis Style” silk garments distinguished by their vibrant chromatic palettes. The catalog further provides detailed visual and structural analyses, including information on yarns, weaving techniques, dyes, and materials.
Author: Walter Spies & Beryl de Zoete, 2002. 343pgs
Publisher: Periplus Editions, Singapore
This volume offers a profoundly firsthand ethnographic account of Bali’s sacred and secular performing arts during a pivotal era preceding the advent of mass tourism. It documents ritual forms and village performances that might otherwise have disappeared, thereby safeguarding a corpus of traditions at risk of historical erasure. The narrative integrates Zoete’s choreographic precision and poetic sensibility with Walter Spies’ insider knowledge of Balinese culture and music, producing a layered text that bridges aesthetic description with cultural immersion. Its distinctive contribution lies in its vivid, quasi‑academic detachment, which reads less like a conventional treatise and more like an impassioned journal of discovery. From an art‑historical perspective, the book situates performance within a broader constellation of Balinese visual and material culture. Costumes, masks, and stage iconography are not merely functional accoutrements but embodiments of symbolic systems that resonate with temple architecture, sculpture, and textile design. The authors’ descriptive passages reveal how the ornamented surfaces of dance regalia echo the carved reliefs of sanctuaries, while the chromatic intensity of costumes parallels the polychromatic palette of ritual painting. In this sense, the performing arts are inseparable from the island’s wider artistic ecology, functioning as kinetic extensions of its visual heritage. The contextual framework reflects the colonial and romanticized European lens of the 1930s, a perspective that modern anthropology and art history now interrogate with critical distance. Yet, the stylistic richness—dense, descriptive, and immersive—remains a testament to the authors’ commitment to capturing the experiential texture of performance. While this intensity may challenge readers seeking brevity, it rewards those pursuing depth and nuance. Ultimately, the book endures as an essential and timeless resource for serious students, dancers, and connoisseurs of Balinese culture. Although contemporary guides provide updated contextualization, this volume retains its stature as the poetic nucleus of performance research, embodying both historical documentation and aesthetic resonance. Its art‑historical insights underscore the interdependence of performance, costume, and visual symbolism, ensuring its continued relevance within the study of Balinese cultural heritage.
Page 36 of 151