Daily Art Fix – Lontar Baskets

“There is no limit to creativity” – these cliched words come alive with these palm leaf baskets that have been decorated with beads …

When the first artist created this the thought flow might have been as follows:

“So what should I do next? Let me embroider …What shall I use as a medium?  Cloth? Nah – instead, let me use the palm leaf basket there. Oh – look what I found in the needlework box … some beads!! Let me use those as well in the art.”

So someone produced a work of new art once upon a time. As diffusion of this innovation occurred, it gained popularity and came to be adopted by the entire Hindu community of Bali.

And as it is in countless examples,  this art came to be associated with religion and these decorated bowls became the  offering bowl for the gods. Maybe it is the fact that associating any activity with religion justifies and ratifies the extensive investment of time, effort, money and soul that is required in creating artworks.

The Medium:

The inner side of the basket reveals the medium that is used as the base for the bead-embroidery.

The Craft & the Beadwork:

The stitches that are laid have two purposes 1) to connect the lontar strips 2) to attach the beads and other embellishments to the lontar strips in an artistic manner.

Finally after the struggles that must have been faced in executing the craft, we finally have the art!

Old Offering Baskets worthy of the Gods!!

jm

May 2016

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