Family Art Workshops

7 February in Insights by joanna  

UCB collaborates with I Komang Adiartha, the Founder of Kulidan who offers 2h long family linocut workshops for AUD 30 per adult and AUD 18 per child. This workshop is suitable for children, beginners, up-skilling art teachers or professional artists wishing to explore their own theme.

So what does an introduction to Balinese linocut techniques workshop look like?

This workshop is based in a cosy artistic space surrounded by nature and provides a platform for linocut skills development. Individuals have an opportunity to embrace a new environment with teachers from Bali. While beginners will be given step-by-step instructions, the more advanced individuals will be encouraged to work on their own ideas. The cultural setting provides a small but intense artistic environment to exchange art, and knowledge and learn more about Southeast Asian wisdom. This experience can be particularly invigorating for artists who are encouraged to further develop their own thematic concerns and to look at their own work in a new way with the benefit of a Balinese perspective.

Workshop Theme

Unless otherwise requested, the workshop theme is linked to Balinese Ornaments. Why Balinese ornaments? This is because of the location of the  Kulidan Art Space. The location is in the Guwang village in the Gianyar Regency. It is a 39 min drive from Ubud, and 29 min from Sanur. The setting is spectacular outside the typical touristy areas and worth the trip.   
Guwang Village is well known for its traditional carving techniques, specifically the Balinese ornaments. On your way, you can witness carved ornaments at the gate of the  Candi Bentar, a gate of a temple in Dalem Temple and Desa Temple. The Guwang village itself has a famous sculptor who is recognised for his artistic skills. The name of the carving artist is Made Ritug who is now 90+ years old and said that he did a lot of carving and sculpting work, either by taking wages or with a yawn. He was involved in many carving projects across the region. For example, other works of the local artist can be seen at the Purnama temple, Sukawati, at Jangkrik Hill, Gianyar. The third piece of evidence is the establishment of the first school of carving decoration in Guwang, this building transformed into a “Craft Industry Middle School” also referred to as SMIK.

The heart of the workshop  

Through many discussions with active stakeholders in the region, the village members identified major issues such as the present lack of focus on carving skills. Carving skills are becoming rare. In the past carving was part of day-to-day life along with farming. To respond to these problems, the Kulidian Arts Space was born to facilitate carving and knowledge sharing about Balinese Ornaments.

First, you will start sketching, as the Balinese say “corroding”. Next, you will explore the light, “aed” –  dark-light –  which is omitted. This knowledge will be very useful when carving, for contouring, overlapping and a better understanding of the texture of carving. After having mastered your drawing skills, the second part of the workshop will focus on linocut and mono print. This is the time to embrace the theme of Balinese Ornaments. Finally, you start carving using “Padas Stones”:) 

The curator and his works

The founder Komang, created Kulidan Art Space to facilitate inclusiveness through various programs. First, he created the Kulidan Art Gallery to support and incubate local artists and to develop international arts exchange. His last art exhibition exchange took place between Cambodian children and his Kulidan Art Gallery. That is, Cambodian children sent their artwork to Bali to express their local stories through various paintings (See image below).

This initiative encouraged international knowledge sharing and cultural exchange between Cambodia and Bali.

Second, Komang designs unique seminars in collaboration with Greenpeace individuals to discuss environmental issues and opportunities to create change. He also offers the earlier-mentioned Linocut workshops that encourage anyone to join. He also works directly with children with autism, and individuals with “different abilities”.