After we visited Thailand last month, we headed over to Bali to visit some of our suppliers there. We spent a couple of days in Legian and Seminyak, districts of the touristy town of Kuta, visiting some of our regular suppliers and perusing the multitude of shops in search of new products.

Just before we left Thailand we heard news reports from worried vulcanologists stating that Mount Agung was about to blow for the first time since 1963! We also heard that many people were cancelling their holidays for fear of being stranded by cancelled flights. The areas we visited near Kuta however, seemed to be conducting the usual noisy, bustling business as normal.

Fabrics Galore!

We used our time in Kuta to pick out some new fabric designs from an amazing textile warehouse. Each room of the place is crammed full with rolls and rolls of every conceivable colour and pattern, all heaped in increasingly imaginative and precarious stacks.

After picking out your desired fabric it is measured, cut and folded in the blink of an eye and is then ready to be made into new clothing samples.

Onto Ubud...

After we had finished in busy Kuta we moved inland to the quieter town of Ubud, a world-renowned centre for arts and crafts. Whenever we visit Bali we send out ideas for new products to our suppliers before we arrive. This means that we are able to tweak the products to how we like them with the tailors and wood carvers whilst we are there.

On this trip, whilst visiting our woodcarvers for alterations we were able to take some photos of the traditional carving methods of the island. 

In Bali, many of the wood carving areas have sadly been seeing lots of shops closing down in recent years. As the tourist industry continues to develop on the island, a large number of young carvers have been hanging up their chisels to instead work in construction jobs. This makes us feel particularly privileged to still be able to work with the excellent carvers that we see each time we visit.

The Men of Many Masks!

In fact, one of our mask carvers was the first supplier we found when we visited over twenty years ago. This time when we went to see him we were surprised to find he had converted his street-side mask shop into a petrol stop and dry store!

After some Bali coffee and a quick tour of the new shop, he took us off to the workshop in his village. As well as making masks and owning a shop he is also the head of his village and had to rush off briefly during our visit to discuss fundraising for the other villages that had been displaced by Mount Agung’s rumbling. Whilst we were there, his cheerful team of carvers allowed us to take some photos of them working in the time-honoured style of the island.

These young carvers are in charge of making our long masks, for example, our zebra, giraffe and eagle designs. We looked at getting some new masks made with different animal designs.

Below you can see our highly skilled Raksassa mask carver at work. Each mask is crafted from a single solid piece of fast-growing albesia wood and is carved in the traditional Balinese style from memory. 

It's a great experience to be able to go and visit our suppliers and see them still conducting their work and living life in traditional ways. It also opens a door to a side of Bali that not everyone gets to see anymore, a side that finds you away from the tourist trap resorts and traffic jams and instead grants a fascinating peek at the parts of the island that remain steeped in tradition and beautiful green countryside. Thanks for reading!