{"id":1502,"date":"2021-12-12T14:58:19","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T14:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cushcushgallery.com\/ccg\/?page_id=1502"},"modified":"2023-11-21T12:12:53","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T12:12:53","slug":"colors-of-bali","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cushcushgallery.com\/ccg\/colors-of-bali\/","title":{"rendered":"Colors Of Bali"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ABOUT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLORS OF BALI
Rediscovering natural pigments & dyes in Balinese traditional crafts <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhibition opening  7pm, Saturday, 4th December 2021 at CushCush Gallery
Opening address by Anthea Griffin, Australian Consul General Bali
Launching of Colors Of Bali short film documentary
Performance by HMJ Pedalangan, Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Denpasar <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhibition \/ Public program
4th December \u2013 19th December 2021 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Celebrating Crafts
Kamasan Painting (Kamasan) | Topeng (Singapadu) | Wayang Kulit (Sukawati) | Gringsing (Tenganan) | Cepuk (Tanglad) | Songket (Sidemen)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The six traditional crafts that we are investigating in the Colors Of Bali program are divided into two streams: one is the wayang stream, containing the crafts of Wayang Kulit, Topeng, and Kamasan painting, which all share the same narratives from ancient epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana. Colors are applied through painting and pigment in these crafts, and through our research we found that many of the pigments used in Wayang, Kamasan Painting and Topeng are very similar in terms of process and color scheme. On the other hand, the textile stream encompasses the crafts of Gringsing, Cepuk and Songket, which all have roots or have been influenced by the ancient Indian textile, the Patola. Historically, all three textiles also were woven with hand spun cotton yarn locally produced in Bali, using a cag-cag (backstrap loom). Although the colors and motifs of Gringsing, Cepuk, and Songket are not the same, it is interesting to see the connections and relationships between these three different textiles and their purpose within Balinese ritual context.
Evidence of usage of natural dyes and pigments has been traced back to 2500 BC in India 1<\/sup>, with records of the usage of Indigofera (Indigo) as a coloring substance. In China, there were records of Indigo being used in households all the way from 4000 BC 2<\/sup>. The roots of how these natural pigments and dyes developed within these ancient Balinese crafts are unknown, but perhaps the knowledge of the natural dyes and pigments came to Indonesia and to Bali through trade between these countries, or perhaps the people of Bali developed their own methods. However, we do know that Bali has a deep history of these crafts, with evidence of Wayang Kulit and Topeng written in scriptures dating back to the 9th Century 3<\/sup>. As synthetic dyes were only created in the late 19th Century 4<\/sup>, any preceding color in these traditional crafts had to be achieved through natural dyes and pigments. It is interesting to see the transition from natural to synthetic pigments and dyes in more recent times, and to investigate the potential reasons behind this change.<\/p>\n\n\n