Foreign Affairs Home Decor

Quite a few of our products are from Bali, Indonesia, especially the beautiful mirrors, side tables, handmade candleholders, and eggshell and glazed vases. Many of our Buddha images - the Buddha wall panels both in wood and in terracotta - and some of the wood Buddha sculptures and Buddha statues are created by Bali artisans. All of these items are handcrafted by small local producers.

The reason for our love affair with Balinese products is due to two intermingling sources: the long Balinese artistic tradition and the influence of Western modernist thought on these.

Bali has a long artitistic and artisanal tradition and the workmanship is excellent. For centuries the Balinese have created artifacts and art objects both for home use and for religious use in temples and in religious ceremonies. In the last few decades Bali was discovered by Western artists and travelers who not only brought Balinese culture and art to the attention of the Western world but also subtly influenced Balinese art and culture to include Western traditions, especially modernist influences on painting and art objects.

In recent decades the rise of tourism in Bali, starting with the first hippies (I must admit here that I was one of them early on, although I came as a student in Cultural Anthropology and Indonesian studies) and surfers to find the island in the sixties and seventies, has led to more of a recognition of the Balinese "art of living" and culture in Western societies. With this came the rise of a "Balinese" aesthetic in consumer goods and contemporary ethnic design.

In my recent visits to Bali I noticed more design elements that tended towards a more modern look (although of course there are still the more touristic and kitschy products being sold - there still is a market for those). But given the wonderful workmanship and traditional use of materials in new ways the artisans of Bali have been able to create new and very exiting products that appeals to more modern way of designing and living in your environment. These new designs have the additional something that you will not find in the mass-produced products coming out of China and other countries: they are handcrafted by artisans, have that "authentic" look and are truly each one "one-of-a-kind" because even though they follow a model they are each an individual piece created by the artisan. This makes our Bali products truly unique and a different addition to your home decor.