Book Review

Ni Wayan Murni
Kabar Magazine

Travel, Experience, Taste, June-July 2006

Treasures of Bali, A Guide to Museums in Bali
written and edited by Richard Mann
Gateway Books International, 2006

I witnessed this book’s strange birth. The quintessentially English publisher Richard Mann stayed at my Villa a couple of years ago, researching and writing ‘Bali off the Beaten Track’. He came up to me at breakfast one morning and said, ‘Murni, I’ve woken up with the idea of writing the first ever guide book to all the museums of Bali. It’s never been done before.’

Shortly afterwards Richard met Nyoman Gunarsa, probably Bali’s most famous living artist, who is also chairman of the Bali Museums Association. That evening Richard caught up with me in my restaurant and reported his evident excitement, ‘Murni, do you remember my museums guide book idea? You won’t believe it, but Nyoman Gunarsa supports it and wants me to publish it.’ It was a curious coincidence that that both men, from opposite sides of the world, had the same wish at the same time.

That was a year ago. It has been a lot of work, but the book has now appeared and is glorious. There are twenty-one museums in Bali, some are private, like the most popular one, Neka Art Museum in Ubud, which is encyclopaedic in its range of paintings, and others are government run, like the little known Museum Gedong Kirtya in Singaraja, which houses a collection of 6,753 traditional lontar palm leaf manuscripts. The museums are all over the island, although most are concentrated in the Ubud area, which is not surprising as Ubud is the cultural heart of Bali. The major museums have twelve pages each and the smaller ones have one page each.

I am not aware of any guide book that even mentions the wide range of museums that exist here. It is a great contribution. There is a helpful list of details for each one: address, telephone, fax, e-mail, web site, opening hours, facilities and how to get there. Every museum has a floor plan and there are useful maps at the end of the book showing how to find all the places featured. The cover is a beautiful painting from the Kerta Gosa Museum.

Richard has visited all of them several times and has composed a narrative describing their collections. Numerous stunning photographs illustrate examples from the collections. In some cases there are interviews with the museums’ owners, which outline their various philosophies, perspectives and aims.

Of course, most, if not all, of the museums do not sell their art works. With your appetites whetted by seeing all this beauty and wanting to own a piece of Balinese culture yourself, it is great that the book also contains details and descriptions of Bali’s leading galleries, which sell antiques, paintings, textiles, sculptures, masks and other treasures. I am very proud that this book features my own shop in Ubud among them.

Treasures of Bali

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From Tattoos to Textiles, Murni’s Guide to Asian Textiles, All You Need to Know … And More
by Ni Wayan Murni
and
Jonathan Copeland 

From Tattoos to Textiles, Murni’s Guide to Asian Textiles, All You Need to Know … And More unravels the mysteries inherent in the ancient culture of textile making in an easy to read narrative from one of Bali’s most famous textile collectors.

• 357 pages
• Over 270 colour photographs
• Glossary
• Bibliography

Ni Wayan Murni

Jonathan Copeland

“From Tattoos to Textiles binds together the colourful threads of an extraordinary human story.”

Dr Fiona Kerlogue
Deputy Keeper of Anthropology with responsibility for the Asian and European collections at the Horniman Museum, London, Author of Arts of Southeast Asia and Batik: Design, Style and History

“What a treat to read such a beautiful, flowing, informative and passionate treatise on Indonesian textiles.”

Peter O’Neill OAM
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

“From Tattoos to Textiles is both easy-to-read and informative.”

Professor Michael Hitchcock
Dean, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Author of Indonesian Textiles

“This extraordinary book will not only enthral and enlighten readers but also energize the tradition of hand-woven textiles in Southeast Asia.”

Dr Linda McIntosh
Curator for The Jim Thompson House, Bangkok and Curator of The Tilleke & Gibbins Southeast Asian Textile Collection, Bangkok, Author of Ritual Thai Textiles, Status, Myth and the Supernatural and Art of Southeast Asian Textiles: The Tilleke and Gibbins Collection

“From Tattoos to Textiles tells a tale as old as Adam and Eve, as mysterious as Neith the Egyptian goddess, as intriguing as General George Washington, the first President of the United States, making his own clothes, and certainly a great deal more colourful than Chairman Mao’s cotton boiler suits.”

Stephanie Brookes
Travel Writer

“The 357 page eBook From Tattoos to Textiles with 270 color photos, is an informative guide to identifying hand woven ethnic textiles of Indonesia and how to tell the authentic from the fake.”

Bill Dalton
The Frugal Balinist, Bali Advertiser
23 July 2014

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