Product Description

Comedian carved and signed by Ida Bagus Anom

Material: Wood, paint
Style: Bali
Size: Height 18 cm, width 13 cm
Order Number: MB8A

Carved and signed by Ida Bagus Anom, the internationally recognized wood carver, mask and puppet maker, dancer and puppeteer.

Anom’s creations are deeply embedded in Balinese spiritual and cultural traditions. He adhered to sacred protocols, viewing masks not merely as artistic expressions but as vessels imbued with spiritual significance. His work often featured characters from traditional Topeng performances.

In addition to being a mask maker, Anom was a masked dancer and shadow puppeteer. His family has lived in the same compound in Bali for about 500 years, practising these traditional Balinese arts.

Anom learned mask making and masked dancing from his uncle and the art of shadow puppetry from his father, both of whom were well-known artists in Bali, and represented the ninth generation of mask makers  in his family .

“I put 40 coats of paint on my masks,” Anom  used to say. “I’ll sandpaper them, put 20 coats on, then sandpaper them again and put another 20 coats on. All of my masks are made from pule, a wood that’s light so the masks won’t be heavy when you put them your face.”

Anom has made masks on commission for drama director Peter Brooke, actor Terence Stark, and Danish drama teacher Peere Brahee and other international performers and directors.

He crafted masks for the Women’s Art Festival in North Carolina in the 1991.

Anom’s masks have been exhibited in the Art Center Denpasar in 1970, in Gianyar in 1985 and at Gedung Pola in Jakarta in 1977.

Photographs of his work have appeared in magazines, including Brutus, January 1990, Tribune Des Uns and Des Autres, 26 April 1989 and Travel and Leisure, July 1987.

In 1989, Anom was featured in National Geographic’s documentary “Bali: Masterpiece of the Gods,” highlighting his pivotal role in preserving Balinese cultural heritage. 

Anon’s masks are in the collection of the Santa Fe Folk Art Museum in New Mexico, and he was a participant in the exhibition Bali: Art, Ritual and Performance at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2011. It was at this exhibition that Anom discovered, to his surprise, wood carvings made by his grandfather.

There is a permanent display at the San Francisco Exploratorium. 

Please ask for the price (or make an offer).