Abstract (eng)
The present research is based on empirical and narrative conversations conducted on site with Balinese wood carvers during a research trip on Bali. Their subjective views and opinions re-garding the research topic were evaluated, and treated and interpreted in terms of the research question, applying pertinent literature.
Beginning with a short outline of the significance of wood carving in Balinese society in the context of Hindu faith, the organization, the forms of expression, and the importance of spiri-tuality and the materials in the work process in traditional wood carving are briefly sketched.
The thesis further describes the social and economic phenomena of the mass tourism that set in about 60 years ago, and which affected the Balinese way of life. The problems and the im-pact on the ‚island paradise’, which are connected to the marketing strategies of the interna-tional tourist industry, are detailed. Finally, it deals in depth with the observed change in the structure, the modes of operation, and in the qualities of Balinese wood carving.
The results of the thesis demonstrate that the question of change or loss of values in Balinese wood carving does not allow for a categorical answer; the influence of the tourist industry has rather generated ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in the occupational image and the work of wood carv-ers, whose views and opinions are critically examined and challenged in the thesis.
The development of mass tourism has, according to the predominant opinion of those con-cerned, caused a change of values with consistently visible profits for Balinese wood carving: the global market transcending the cultural boundaries of Bali offers economic and artistic chances, which stimulates the creativity, inventiveness, and originality of the bearers of Bali-nese wood carving, without the traditional values being lost or abandoned.
The ‘losses’, however, are globally observable phenomena, which always appear when ‘hot-spots’ are being marketed by the international tourist industry. These are painful, but do not only apply to Bali and are apparently the price that must be paid when Western consumer be-havior meets artistic work rooted in traditions.