| Bali still has places untouched by modernity An interview with Ni Wayan Murni.
Forever Bali, Gateway Books, 2004
Murni is one of the pioneers of tourism in Ubud, the owner of the famous and atmospheric Murni’s ravine-side restaurant, Murni’s Warung, as well as fabulous shops and nearby villa accommodation. She has also created the leading Bali resource centre as part of her web site: www.murnis.com
Is Bali the kind of place it was 50 years ago when it was the morning of the world? I’ve often wondered exactly what Nehru meant by the expression he used describing Bali as the morning of the world. Perhaps he meant that Bali was still in the condition in which God created it – the original paradise. Since Nehru’s time there have been many changes in Bali, some for the good, some for the bad. But it is still not hard to find places that are untouched by modernity where life is just the same as it was 50 years ago. Recently a village was discovered in the hills which was practically unvisited – there was not even a road leading to it. What can tourists still see of traditional Bali? Visitors can still see as much as they want to of traditional Bali. It sounds paradoxical, but there is more tradition now than there has been in my lifetime. When I was a girl in the 1950s, we did not have the money to carry out the ceremonies, except in a small way and maybe not even then. Shortage of money meant that cremations were sometimes not carried out for years and years. In my own case, my family could not afford to carry out my tooth filing ceremony. Usually that takes place when you are about sixteen years. I was in my forties! The same applies to temple ceremonies. These are now more elaborate and grander than ever before, especially in my village of Ubud, which is very traditional. Visitors seldom have to go far in Ubud before stumbling on a ceremony of some kind. I always invite guests in my accommodation to join in whatever ceremonies I’m involved in at the time. To what extent is Ubud still representative of the art centre of tourists’ imaginations? I’m not sure I know what is in tourists’ imaginations. Ubud is always called the artists’ village and I think they are referring to painters, but it is much more than that. If they are looking for paintings, there are plenty of excellent galleries and museums. New ones are being opened all the time. There are many artists living in Ubud – local and foreign. If visitors are looking for dance, there are performances every night staged specially for tourists, but of very high quality. There are gamelan, dance and shadow puppet performances in many temple ceremonies. Of course, things have progressed since the 1930s when international tourists first arrived in Ubud. At that time there were no women’s gamelan groups – now we have several – I play in one of them. There are also women painters, which used to be unheard of. And there are new art forms, for example, jewelry and fashion. Is combining rice farming, Hinduism and art still a powerful lure to tourists or are they more interested in entertainment and shopping? I think so. I hope so. You can still like culture as well as entertainment and shopping. Putting tradition aside, can Bali compete on the basis of factors other than the traditional culture such as luxury hotels and pampering at spas? Well, it seems to, judging by the new establishments opening all the time and the annual awards luxury hotels and spas get. How important is it to preserve the essence of Bali? It’s
very important to preserve the essence of traditional Bali. Sometimes
I worry that it will be lost but then I see a new gamelan group comprised
of children aged from 6 to 12 (as I did at a temple ceremony at Ubud
last week) or I attend a village dance competition where the young
dancers are my grandchildren and I’m not worried any longer.
Murni
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