CAPITALISM PITFALLS TO WOODEN SCULPTURE CRAFTS IN BALI PJAEE, 17 (2) (2020)

CAPITALISM PITFALLS TO WOODEN SCULPTURE CRAFTS IN BALI

I Made Mardika1, Nyoman Sujaya2, Anak Agung Rai Sita Laksmi3, Ni Ketut Sukiani4

1,2,3,4
Universitas Warmadewa, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

1
[email protected]

I Made Mardika, Nyoman Sujaya, Anak Agung Rai Sita Laksmi, Ni Ketut Sukiani. Capitalism Pitfalls to
Wooden Sculpture Crafts in Bali. – Palarch’s Journal of Archaralogy of Egypt/Egyptogy 17(2), 303-314.
ISSN 1567-214X

Keywords: Traditional sculptures, Mass sculptures, Capitalism, Industrial implications, Sculptor

development.

ABSTRACT
This research discusses about wooden sculpture crafts in Kemenuh village. It focusses on the development of
traditional sculptors into mass sculpture industries. The aim of this research is to describe the process that made the
sculptors shackled in the arena of capitalism, to identify the factors triggering the traditional crafts into mass cultural
industry, and to know its implications for the lives of the sculptors in economic, social, and cultural field. This
research used the sculptors and the businessmen of the sculpture crafts as the data source and applied the qualitative
methods with the approach of cultural studies. The data collection was done by using participatory observation,
interview, and documentation. The collected data were analyzed qualitatively by using descriptive method and
supported by images, photographs, and tables. The result of the research shows that the sculptors from Kemenuh
village were trapped into capitalism. This happened when artists changed the way of producing sculptures from
traditional sculptures to mass production that began in the 1970s. The change was also influenced by internal and
external. The internal factors were about the sculptors’ habitués and natural environment, while the external factors
involved the development of tourism, government encouragement through infrastructure development and
regulations. The implication of mass sculpture crafts for the lives of the sculptors in Kemenuh village is that
economically the income of the sculptors was decreasing. In this case their income was determined by the
capitalists. Socially, the social structure which was before basically based on clan religion changed into social
structure that was based on materials or patron clients. There was also women marginalization and discrimination.
Culturally, cultural value decreased and there was no more freedom of expression in sculpturing.

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INTRODUCTION
Bali, a province of Indonesia located in the east of Java island and west of Lombok is a
popular island for tourism due to its nature, culture, nightlife and religious thing
(Tajeddini, Ratten, & Denisa, 2017). Bali has its own features with its natural beauty and
cultural uniqueness. It is due to these two potentials that make Bali grow fast for its
tourism sector. It is considered that the two potentials are the basis of Bali's development.

The tourism sector is then considered a way out of becoming the foundation for the
economy of the Balinese people. The type of tourism chosen for the development by the
Bali government is cultural tourism. The beauty of the natural view and the peculiarities
of Balinese ethnic culture are used as an attraction to stimulate the interest of foreign
tourists. That’s why Bali becomes one of the world famous cultural tourist destinations
(Pichard, 2006).

Tourism development is a fairly complex activity. This service industry requires various
supporting facilities, especially Bali which relies on authentic cultural uniqueness. At this
point, local handicraft products become an important factor in smoothing cultural tourism
activities. The handicraft industry is a determining element for the sustainability of the
cultural tourism industry based on 'indigenous tourism', in addition to habitat, history and
heritage (Smith, 1996: 304; Colton, 2005: 187-188). At this point, local handicraft
products are an important factor in smoothing tourism activities.

According to Rodenburg (1980), tourism in Bali have three scales such as: small
industrial, large industrial and craft industrial. At this point local handicraft products are
important factors in smoothing cultural tourism activities. Craft industries have
significant role in social economy. Based on the development of the craft industries, we
have to respect the dimension of traditional and contemporary art crafting to promote the
culture (Elina, Maria & Timo, 2018). Crafts have two important roles in realizing
cultural tourism development. First, the existence of a craft center at tourist destinations
can also function as a tourist attraction. In this case, crafts are served to meet the interests
of tourists who want to see the first hand the work activities and the life of the artists
(Pandit, 2003: 81; Kustina et al., 2019; Rinartha & Suryasa, 2017). Second, craft
products play an important role as souvenir items for tourists. Tourists who come
generally want to bring along art products as souvenirs (Ardika, 2007). This fact is in
line with the new phenomenon of global society that has an interest in ethnic cultural
artifacts including Balinese handicrafts (Naisbitt & Aburdene, 1987: 59-60; Susanto,
1998: 10-110).

It is not surprising that until the late 90s Balinese sculptures were sought after by foreign
art collectors. Sculpture industries have a significant effect of economic growth
especially in tourism sector (Pemayun, 2009). Jaya & Yuliarmi (2019), expressed that
sculptures as a small-medium industry, as a safeguard for national economy, give
significant contribution to the development of Indonesia economy. In the 2000s the
government of Bali relied on regional revenues from the export of handicraft
commodities.

Based on data released by the Department of Trade and Industry of Bali Province on the
realization of export of commodity types in 2006-2012, it can be seen that the export of
wooden handicrafts was ranked second after textile crafts. The total export of woodcraft
for the past seven years was Rp. 562,270,025.45 or an average of Rp. 80,324,289.35 a
year. At the national level, the handicraft industry became the second largest contributor
to Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009, which amounted to 29 trillion
rupiah or 27.72% (Zulaikha, 2009: 2; Smith et al., 2018; Brandberg & Amzel, 2017).

Craft sculptures, in the dynamics of Bali tourism as a world-class destination, tend to

bring very good prospects for the welfare of craftsmen. This phenomenon encourages the

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flourishing of sculpture centers in Bali. Many cultural experts provide a positive view
that cultural tourism is able to provide positive effects on the economy of the community
including sculptors. Cultural tourism has been re-affirmed by UNWATO as a major
international tourism consumption element, accounting over 39% of tourism arrival
(Richards, 2018; Stambouli, 2020; Liu & Alley, 2019). Empirically, this tendency has
been responded by the community with the proliferation of centers of sculpture industry
in various regions in Bali, including encouraging handicraft products from various
regions of Indonesia and even neighboring countries to market their products in Bali.
However, in line with the development of tourism in Bali, the craftsmen are trapped in
the arena of capitalization. The sculptors in Kemenuh Village, for example, changed
production modes from traditional statues to mass production (Sukerti, 2005: 5). They
were no longer traditional sculptors who worked for local interests (ngayah). They
became commercial sculptors who made sculptures solely for business (mebayah). At
first, the sculptors worked based on their taste of art, then they became daily workers
(memasuh) who made sculptures based on orders from collectors. This phenomenon
needs to be mapped and understood, namely the factors causing such kind of movement.
Historically, it is important to see the process of cultural commodification by Kemenuh
sculptors and how they produced standardized and mass sculptures.

Based on the background above, the study of such kind of phenomenon need to be done
and the questions raised can be formulated as follows.

1) How did the process of capitalism of sculptors from Kemenuh village happen?
2) What factors trigger the development of the mass sculpture craft industry in
Kemenuh village, Bali?
3) What are the implications for the life of the sculptors?

The general objective of this research is to study, understand, and describe the cultural
processes in the Mass Culture Industry that developed in Bali, especially in Kemenuh
Village. It is also to criticize its tendency of providing a balanced picture of the existence
of the sculpture industry. Particularly, this study is aimed at: (1) describing the process
of the emergence and development of the mass culture industry in mass sculptor
craftsmen in Kemenuh Village of Bali who are trapped in capitalism, (2) identifying the
factors that trigger its development, and (3) interpreting the implications for the lives of
artists in the economic, social and cultural arts dimensions. Careful and in-depth study of
this issue will be able to provide theoretical benefits for the development of socio-
cultural sciences including cultural studies and tourism, practically for emancipatory for
marginalized groups, the mass sculpture craftsmen in Kemenuh Village, Bali.

METHOD
This research was conducted in Kemenuh Village, Sukawati District, Gianyar Regency,
Bali, Indonesia. Kemenuh Village is the center of crafting wooden sculptures that
produces mass statues of both traditional and modern motifs. Kemenuh has developed
into a production site, distribution arena, and sculpture transactions between local
producers and international distributors and consumers. The dynamics and complexity of
the development of wooden sculpture centers in Kemenuh Village is the reason of
choosing the location of this in that place.

This research applies qualitative method with a multidisciplinary cultural study approach,
combining with ethical and emotional approaches. It uses qualitative data supported by
quantitative ones. The data source consists of primary and secondary data. The main
informants of this study were sculptors from the Kemenuh village. The technique of
determining informants was done by combining snow ball techniques and purposive
techniques. The researcher was the main instrument in data collection supported by an
interview guide. Data collection was carried out by participatory observation techniques,
deep interviews, and documentation techniques (Moleong, 1989). The collected data was

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analyzed inductively by using cultural study methods namely genealogy method,

deconstruction, semiotics, and qualitative descriptive analysis. The result of the analysis
is presented in the form of narrative descriptions supported by pictures, photographs and
tables.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The process of capitalism trapping of balinese sculptors

Historically, the origins of the emergence of Kemenuh sculpture craft centers can be
traced from the development of sculptures in Ubud village, Bali. Ubud began to get
western influence in the 1930s and developed rapidly in the 1960s. Since 1930 Ubud has
attracted many foreign artists to live and work there. Foreign artists who come not only
live and work in Ubud, but also interact and hang out with local artists. In these
interactions, foreign artists such as Rodulf Bonet and Walter Spices have given 'new
colors' to local artists. The immigrant artists acted as agents of renewal for the Balinese
sculpture styles by touching on the three important elements, namely the perspective
techniques, colouring, and sculpture themes. Previously, traditional Balinese art did not
take into account the far-reaching perspective in casting objects of images of such
characters. The touch of Western style in the form of perspective techniques was given to
the traditional Balinese artists by considering the forms or objects seen from far and near.
In the field of colouring, Balinese color materials are replaced with more modern colour
materials, including variety of new media to produce artworks.

The themes of Balinese sculpture initially revolved around puppet story characters, then
introduced new themes about everyday lives, or statues in the form of deities or statues in
the form of animals, trees and fruits. Regarding to the renewal of Bali's arts, it is stated:

"... a new view of mastery of anatomical-realistic painting with a simplified composition

can help create a renewal for Balinese artists. Renewal also appears in the disclosure of
the themes of everyday life, and the addition of non-primary colours. This mastery
became an element of forming new painting and sculpture in Bali (Kusnadi, et al., 1979:
156)

The purpose of the renewal of art by foreign agents was to make the work of local
Balinese artists acceptable to Western art lovers. Not only that, foreign agents cooperated
with the local elite (Puri Ubud) to form the art group "Pitha Maha", which in addition, to
collect works by local artists and to promote the artwork on the international market.
Through this effort the work of Balinese artists became known in the western world and
began to be sought after by foreign art consumers.

When the works of Balinese artists were in great demand and needed by foreign people,
art works have become a commercial commodity. This process also resulted a change of
orientation of the work. It tended to meet the tastes of the western consumer market.
Even though at that time, within certain limits, the characteristics of traditional Balinese
style were still maintained, but what tended to occur was a paradigm shift for the work,
namely from art orientation ngayah ‘do job without any payment’ to commercial
orientation mebayah ‘paid’. This moment can be said as the starting point of the
commercialization of sculpture or the trap of capitalism towards Balinese sculpture artists
or craftsmen (Mulyanto, 2012; Mardika & Laksmi, 2017).

The trap of capitalism in the process of commodification of Balinese art provided the
space for the development of art as commodities. In line with the increasing number of
foreign tourists visiting Ubud, there was also growing demand for artworks needed by the
tourists. The increased demand for artistic goods has made art production centers grew
and developed rapidly, not only in some places in Ubud, but also in other villages in Bali,
including in Kemenuh Village.

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In 1960s, Ubud truly became the crafts and souvenir sales centre for tourists. Villages
such as Peliatan, Pengosekan, and Teges were known as sculpture centers. They
produced animals and flora-fauna forms such as eagles, horses, lions and fish, while Mas
village produced traditional sculptures in the forms of puppet figures. The development
of the statue craft centers in Ubud attracted the people of Kemenuh village to participate
in craft business. Kemenuh people then studied and worked at the nearest craft centers.
People who lived in South Kemenuh area like Sumampan, Batu Sepih and Kemenuh
conducted apprenticeships to sculpture craftsmen in Mas village, while those who lived
in North Kemenuh (Tengkulak) chose the nearest neighbouring villages to learn, they
learned them from the artists living in Teges Kangin, Penestanan, and Peliatan. I Wayan
Jawi (77 years old), for example, in 1959-1960 had learned from I Made Resep living in
Teges Kangin. The types of statues made were the statues of animals such as tigers
(macan), horses (jaran), crab (yuyu), and swan (angsa) (interview, November 16, 2013).
Ida Bagus Suwela, an eighty-year-old craft man stated that: "Since childhood I have
learned sculpturing from Ida Bagus Nik (deceased). Ida Bagus Nik was a good sculptor
from Kemenuh who studied sculpturing at Geria Mas in 1950s” (interview, October 10,
2013). According to I Wayan Sudika (52 years), his father Ketut Tulak and Jero Mangku
Jedeng were two figures of sculptors of Kemenuh who also studied sculpturing from the
artists living at Geria (priest's house), Mas village (Interview on October 18, 2013).

Because of the learning process, it is not surprising that artists’ sculptures in the southern
Kemenuh followed the style of the statues from Mas in the form of traditional puppet
motifs, and the sculptors from the northern Kemenuh followed the style of Ubud
sculptures in the form of motifs of various types of animals. This period can be seen as
the time of gaining the knowledge for artists from Kemenuh village, and they generally
acted as hired labours.

After the artists from Kemenuh had enough skills to do the process of sculpturing, they
began to take part in sculpting with wholesale system. With the contract system, it was
possible for the artists from Kemenuh not to go back and forth every day to work, they
only went to Mas or Ubud then they worked from their homes. When they had finished
they handed over to the collectors in Mas or Ubud.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s there were new developments in the field of sculpture
works by Kemenuh artists. Some of Kemenuh's artists no longer belonged to crafters or
hired workers, but they became independent sculptors. These artists bought materials and
made sculptures by themselves and sold them to collectors or other customers.

As independent sculptors, it was possible for Kemenuh artists to develop different forms
or styles of sculptures from where they learned from. Thus, beside maintaining their
traditional motifs, they also developed their own styles of sculptures until they were
known as Kemenuh sculptors. At a glance, the style of the statues of Mas and Kemenuh
almost have the same character so that it is difficult to see the difference. However, if
examined carefully there are several distinguishing features, especially when viewed
from their size, anatomy and engraving, including the price.

Table 1: Comparison of the Style of the Mas Ubud Statue with Kemenuh
No Element Mas Ubud Style Statue Kemenuh Style Statue
1 Motive Variative Relatively monotonous
2 Size Average small size Tends to be bigger
3 Anatomy Good and clear More rigid and vague
4 Carvings Soft, detailed / small Rougher, simpler / bigger
5 Price More expensive Relatively cheaper
Source: Processed from interviews and observations (2016).

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Some famous sculptors from southern Kemenuh like Ida Bagus Nik, Ketut Tulak,
Mangku Jedeng (all of them are deceased) were known as Kemenuh sculptors who
produced high quality art statues (master pieces). Now, very few sculptors in Kemenuh
make quality sculptures. However, there are only two sculpture artists from Kemenuh
who maintain the traditional statues, namely Ida Bagus Lasem and I Wayan Siman.
Almost all sculptors in Kemenuh today have turned into sculptors of 'production' (making
mass sculptures). In this case, the artists make sculptures based on existing models or
they make them to order both in terms of quantity and forms. Thus, the process of making
sculptures by the sculptors from Kemenuh can be said as the form of 'reproduction',
making sculptures based on a pre-existing model.

The same case happens to the sculptors from North Kemenuh. In the 1970s they still
made traditional statues such as garuda ‘eagles’, fish, crabs and other animal species,
then in the 1980s they developed distinctive new forms of duck, chicken and other bird
species. In this period, the sculpting system was carried out entirely by the sculptors from
north Kemenuh (total production), starting from making the statues to the painting
process. This process became the turning point of the capitalization of the full-scale
sculpture sculptors who then truly entered the realm of the mass sculpture crafts industry
(Mardika, 2017).

Trigger factors of the mass sculpture crafts industry in kemenuh village

Nowadays the sculpture craft centers in Kemenuh village have become a mass culture
industry. This cannot be separated from the supporting factors. In general, the trigger
elements of the development of the mass sculpture industry in Kemenuh village Bali can
be divided into two, namely internal factors and external factors. Internal factors that
encourage traditional craftsmen to develop into mass sculpture craft centres are elements
of culture and the natural environment. As we know, since ancient times Balinese people
are known as farmers as well as artists. Talented artists in Bali come from various
villages, one of them is Kemenuh village. According to I Wayan Jawi (78 years old),
people from Kemenuh have been doing their jobs like colouring ceremonial facilities
such as dulang/wanci, bokor kayu, and lumpian since a long time ago. This condition
makes them capable in cultivating wood sculptures. This expertise was honed through an
apprenticeship process to artists in Teges (interview dated 10 October 2016). The same
thing was also mentioned by I Gusti Ngurah Umum (58 years old). It was said that
hereditary parents were known as natural artists who used to make statues for the sake of
temples’ needs, or types of garuda and other animals for house decoration" (date
interview October 16, 2016).

In addition to the talents and habits of the community in the field of sculpturing, the
development of the Mass Culture Industry in Bali was also supported by natural
conditions. The physical environment of Bali, especially in the vicinity of Kemenuh
village there was a stretch of fertile land that is overgrown with trees such as suar,
albesia, pule, waru, and pangkal buaya. These plants were commonly used for the
materials of making sculptures. Ni Made Mari (47 years old) and I Gusti Putu Widana
(39 years old) informed that these raw materials were available abundantly in the
Kemenuh village until the 1990s. The sculptors had no difficulty in obtaining the raw
material for the sculptures. This situation certainly supported a lot for the production of
sculpture crafts (interview, 14 April 2016). Therefore, the availability of natural
resources can be seen as an element that plays an important role in the growth of mass
sculpture production in Kemenuh village.

There were also external factors that supported the development of Kemenuh sculpture
centers. At least there were 3 external elements that trigger the flourishing of mass
sculpture craft centers in Kemenuh village. First, the development of the tourism

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industry. The progress of Bali tourism industry shown by tourist visits that came to Bali
since 1970-1990 increased significantly, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Direct Tourist Visits to Bali in 1969-1997

Year Number of tourist visits (people)
1969 11.278
1979 120.084
1989 456.358
1999 1.398.594
Source: processed from (Pitana, 1999: 30).

From the table 2, it can be seen that the average number of direct tourist visits to Bali
every ten years is 46,214 people. The significant increase in tourist visits was apparently
related to the change in the tourism development paradigm from the "anti-western", the
Old Order government system to the "pro west" New Order government system.
Modernization of tourism in the New Order influenced the characteristics of tourists
visiting Bali. The tourists who came to Bali were mostly 'high class' tourists, so during
the New Order period they tried hard to increase the number of tourists visit which means
that they emphasized the quantity target of travellers. This trend resulted the change of
type of tourists visit, that was the mass tourism (Pitana, 1999: 15-17). When the tourists
visit increased, the need for more souvenir items increased. This gave opportunity for the
sculptors in Kemenuh village to produce more sculpture industry products. Second, in
1976, the government of Indonesia developed infrastructure project in Kemenuh village,
namely the project of electricity. In this case Kemenuh village was the first village in
Indonesia that became the location of electricity project. The existence of the electricity
resource made the sculptors have chance to work at night to increase the productivity of
the sculptures. Construction of paving roads along Kemenuh village done in 1980 made
the access to reach this village easy. The condition of the road was also good. This also
made Kemenuh village become tourist trail and this condition could increase tourists
visiting art shops and businessmen in the field of sculpture crafts began to come to buy or
order sculptures produced by Kemenuh sculptors.

Third, the trend of mass sculpture production was triggered by the regulation policies
issued by the government. According to Government Regulation No. 3 year 1974 it was
stated that the form of tourism developed in Bali was cultural tourism. This regulation
was later refined to become Government Regulation No. 3 year 1991 specifically article 1
(letter j). In this regulation it is stated that what is meant by cultural tourism in Bali is the
type of tourism which uses Balinese culture (inspired by Hinduism) as the basis of its
development. As part of national culture, Balinese culture plays the role as the most
dominant potential for the growth of the growth of tourism. Balinese culture also involves
a reciprocal relationship between tourism and culture so that both tourism and culture
increase harmoniously, and in a balanced way. Sculptures as cultural art works play very
important role in supporting cultural tourism. Therefore, the type of tourism developed in
Bali provides a wide space for the growth of Kemenuh sculpture craft center as one of
Bali's cultural icons.

Those three external elements bring logical consequences for the increasing market
demand for sculptural products by Kemenuh artists. This tendency also gave
opportunities for Kemenuh people to strive in the field of sculpture crafts such as
collectors, selling agents, sculptors, providers of raw materials (wood) and other types of
supporting businesses. Then, craft market agents in the form of the establishment of art
shops such as art stalls, art shops and galleries appeared along the main road of Kemenuh
village. These art shops, beside as suppliers or absorbers, also sell sculptures retail to
tourists. Before, the art shops did the sculpture sales system in retail and since the number
of orders or sales increased gradually, so they acted as wholesalers. Thus, in the years

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1980s - 1990s Kemenuh village became the center of Balinese handicrafts as well as the
center of transactions of handicraft art goods that developed rapidly in the year 2000s.

Implications

The development of the mass culture industry in Kemenuh village gave implication for
the lives of the sculptors both in the economic, social and cultural fields. In the economic
field, the mass sculpture industry could improve the economy of the people in the year
1970s-2000s. The improvement of the economy of the community could be seen from the
increasing income of the sculptors, where handicrafts were the main source of income.
This condition certainly created new jobs. However, the improvement caused the emerge
of marginalization for the lives of the sculptors of the village. Meanwhile, the
marginalization of the sculptors made them received low wages. Besides, there was no
employment guarantee. Sculptors became alienated due to the limited access to the
economy, employment opportunities, and there was lack of economic capital ownership.

The condition of the economy of Kemenuh village in the past, when Kemenuh
experienced a golden age in the sculpture craft Industry, was very different from it was
now. Those who had businesses in galleries, art shops, collectors, let alone hired
craftsmen, assumed that the sculpture industry was no longer a job that provides
economic benefits. This could be seen through the decline of tourist visits and consumer
interest in buying sculpture. This then made most galleries and art shops in Kemenuh
Village survive only, they were not able to run normally like ten years in the past.

The condition experienced by sculpture artists in Kemenuh village could not be separated
from the characteristics of the development of the capitalistic mass sculpture industry.
The capitalist economic model let capital owners and production facilities such as
importers, exporters, intermediary agents and sculptors dominate and exploit workers
who did not have production facilities, namely waged artists. Therefore, only few people
of Kemenuh got economic benefit from the development of the sculpture industry.
Meanwhile, most hired craftsmen groups still suffered from the domination of capitalism.
Low wages and the absence of job security from investors made the sculptors remain
poor and become the marginalized group.

Marginalization experienced by the sculptors in Kemenuh village was caused by the

limitation the access of economic resources, employment opportunities, and ownership of
financial capital. The mass culture industry employed limited sculptors to participate in
managing economic resources. So, job opportunities for the sculptors to produce and
market sculpture crafts became narrow. In addition, the sculptors themselves did not have
financial capital. They only relied on cultural capital and skills to work for the
entrepreneurs as the owner of capital and production facilities. These three limitations
caused the sculptors economically marginalized (impoverishment), and politically
subordinated so that they could not play the role in making decision in the public sphere.

The development of the mass sculpture craft industry in Kemenuh village has risen a new
middle class of industry that did not exist before. The emergence of mass sculpture
production shifted the characteristics of Balinese culture which has the core values of
communalism, aesthetics, and religion (Geria, 2000: 48) to a pragmatic individual based
on material domination. This tendency was identical with the ideology of the mass
culture industry in the frame of the capitalistic economic system with the material benefit
orientation. This materialist system influenced new developments in determining social
stratification. It was not solely determined by heredity or birth, but rather determined by
economic factors. Before, the mass sculpture crafts Industry that developed social
structures was determined by the national system so that traditional elites occupied the
upper class hierarchy. After the industry has developed rapidly, new middle classes
emerged, they were groups of middle income, educated, and had a new lifestyle like the

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new rich (Raharjo, 2016: 1). People who were successful in the field of sculpture crafts
business had high prestige and were highly respected by the Kemenuh people.

It was realized that the shift from cultural value system of traditional sculpture crafts
which were communal to mass cultural value systems which were pragmatically
individual broke the traditional social structures. There were three elements involved by
the shift: (1) there were no more boundaries of patriarchal culture, (2) the pattern of
patron relationships of new clients emerges, (3) the socio-economic value system
changed.

The disappearance of the boundaries of patriarchal culture was signaled by the increase
of women's access in playing the role in the field of productivity. The job opportunities in
the industry of sculpture crafts provided options for women to participate in earning
income independently and play the role in political decision making. This signaled that
the dominance of the patriarchal culture became weak it came into a more egalitarian
culture. Men and women gained access and a more balanced role both in the productive
domain and in policy making, either in their family or in the public sphere.

In addition to the gender sector, the shift from traditional social structures to service
culture patterns for the mass sculpture crafts in Kemenuh village has led to new patron
client relationships. If the traditional social structure of the Kaula Gusti relationship
occurs in the nodes of Puri and Geria, then the development of the mass sculpture crafts
industry in Kemenuh village raised a new connection, namely the relationship between
employers and the sculptors. The pattern of relationships that occur in the mass cultural
industry system at the local level shows a patron client relationship (Scott, 1993: 7-8).

The change from traditional craftsmen to mass production was seen as a source of
destruction of the social order. The market economic system that characterized the mass
culture industry triggered the destruction of the community into independent atoms as
individual humans (Benjamin, 2010: 2) As a result, traditional craft patterns that were
loaded with values of solidarity, esthetics and religion became broken and shifted by
progressive culture which contains individual, secular, and material values as the
characteristic value of the mass sculpture industry. This means expressive human
relationships were transformed into commercialism and materialism. Thus, the mass
culture industry raised a shift in socio-economic values in society which led to
individualism and pragmatism. The community generally performed sculpting work
when they considered financially profitable and left it was not. Now, being a sculptor is
not economically profitable and less socially prestigious in the society.

Viewed from an aesthetic perspective, it seems the mass sculpture industry belongs a new
trend of industry which is controversial. On one hand it is categorized as a culture of low-
contoured masses, on the other hand it is considered as an industry with a high-level
culture of virtue. The mass sculpture is also widely appreciated as an export-oriented
craft art product that has its own artistic logic (Bourdieu, 1984: 483; Johnson, 2010: ix-
xiv). That’s why the mass sculpture industry brings implication for considering it
ethically and emicly.

Ethically, the internal struggle of art discourse can be seen from the canonical art
categorization which views mass culture industry as a lower class culture or a kind of
imitation of a noble culture. Even, extreme works of mass sculpture are categorized as
damned lowly cultures. Mass cultural products are positioned inferior to fine art (Strinati,
1995). Externally, the mass culture industry, especially the sculptor, must deal with the
strong wave of capital as a penetration in the advanced industrial culture of capitalism.
Mass production is greatly influenced by capitalist pro-capital penetration by oppressing
sculptors.

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Emicly, there was different understanding between fine art, mass cultures, and wood
painting. Even, the sculptors themselves considered their works different in terms of
naming and quality. First, a group of sculptors were considered as those producing mass
production. The sculptures produced were called patung kodian ‘market goods’ the were
also called papulasan or statues of mass production. Secondly, there was a group of
sculptors produced their product based on quality, art as fine art. Sculptures produced by
the Kemenuh sculptors were based on artistic creativity, especially art, which involved
painting skills on wood, called ‘wood painting’. Third, there was a group of sculptors
who categorized their works full of features, wooden sculpture products consisting of
mass sculptures and quality sculpture. In this case, the products were made to suit the
tastes of the consumers whether ordered mass statues or quality sculptures. Thus, there
was still a debate among the sculptors in giving the terms Kemenuh sculptures, whether
art-value sculptures or high-quality art sculptures.

CONCLUSION
Kemenuh sculptors were trapped in capitalism when they changed the way of producing
sculptures from traditional to mass. This phenomenon began in the late 1970s and
developed rapidly in the 2000s. The trapping began with the process of imitating (mental
templates) on the products of Mas Ubud statues by Kemenuh sculptors till they could
create their products for the market tastes.

Factors that triggered the development of the mass craft industry in Kemenuh village Bali
could be categorized into internal and external factors. Internal factors included the
habitus of people who have long lived as farmers and traditional sculptors. In this case
they were supported by the natural environment that gave the availability of wood for the
raw material of sculptures. External factors included the progress of Balinese cultural
tourism, infrastructure development, and legislative support from the government.
Internal factors were the basic capital of sculptors. This condition was supported by
external factors so that Kemenuh mass sculpture crafts industry could grow rapidly.

The mass culture industry in Kemenuh village brought implication on the lives of the
sculptors in the economic, social and cultural fields which were ambivalent. On one hand,
the mass sculpture craft industry was able to improve the economy of the community,
create a new middle class based on the economy, and strengthen gender equality.
However, on the other hand, the mass sculpture craft industry brought the effect of
marginalization of sculptors, destabilizing traditional social structures, and led to a
struggle for discourse on mass sculpture.

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