A Master Maskmaker in Mas

On Thursday, we visited the village of Mas, which borders Ubud.  Mas is the center of woodworking on Bali.

The output of the village is prodigious, with dozens of galleries overflowing with wood carvings.  We stopped by one of the largest galleries which had huge showrooms filled with towering carvings.  The gallery employed a dozen or so woodcarvers on site.  The work ranged from very fine, almost filigreed, detailed carving, to large chimps, a Komodo dragon, and nude figures, to enormous demonic characters out of the Hindu epic tales.  They clearly hoped to satisfy every taste.  One display had large statues of Buddha, a Hindu deity, and Jesus side-by-side.

We then went in search of a well-known mask maker, Ida Bagus Anom Suryawan.  Thanks to Lynn who had saved a clipping from a Washington Post travel piece from last year, we had read a short profile of Anom which spoke glowingly of his work.  After some searching we located his gallery.

Anom is an ebullient, outgoing man of around 40 years old.  He welcomed us in, invited us to have tea and rice crackers, and chatted with us for over an hour.  He had recently returned from Santa Fe and San Francisco where he had been invited to participate in arts and crafts shows.   He had left behind a dozen masks which had been selected by local museums for their collections.

Anom is a Brahmin, a member of the highest caste, and one of the leaders of his village.  His father and uncle were also famous master craftsmen.  He started carving wood at nine, even though he protested because he preferred to be running around playing soccer.  He became a skilled Balinese dancer, performing in roles that required the traditional masks, because his uncle told him he could not successfully carve the masks until he understood the characters they expressed.

Outside a young Briton was sitting cross-legged carving his first mask under Anom's tutelage.  He was an art major back in the UK, had seen Anom's work, and had decided to apprentice himself to Anom to learn mask-making from the master.  It was his third day and he already was showing a lot of talent.

It was somewhat awkward to turn a charming social call to business.  The Washington Post reporter hadn't managed it:

[A]fter an afternoon drinking tea with Anom, I couldn’t find a graceful way to turn our conversation to business. I was even more daunted by the fact that I’d have to bargain with him, arguing over what the hundreds of hours he’d spent carving the mask and applying 40 layers of paint was worth in dollars. So I bade goodbye to my new friend and left without buying the Garuda mask.

But I was covetous of some of the masks, and Anom had dropped some hints that although money isn't the most important thing in life, one still needs money to live.  He didn't take offense when I brazenly asked about the possibility of purchasing his masks.  He quoted prices that seemed quite reasonable, and which he said were much cheaper than the masks had sold for in Santa Fe, so I didn't feel the need to make an awkward attempt at bargaining.

We eventually settled on three rather plain masks (above Lynn's head in the photo below), which although unadorned were quite expressive, and a painted half mask of a monkey face decorated with a horsehair fringe (Anom is removing the mask in a photo below).  We also agreed to return for a matched pair of masks representing the sisters Onion and Garlic from a Balinese folk tale, that Anom had finished carving but still wanted to paint.

Lynn with Anom

Obama in a Balinese headdress.  A commission from a Canadian, who is three years late in paying for and retrieving it.

A fine example of Anom's work, with gold overlaid leather ornamentation.

Anom removing the Monkey face half-mask from the displays of his work.

The British student's first attempt at a mask (top) and Anom's work (below)

Anom's gallery is located in his family compound.  Outside his gallery other family members were working at a large table assembling mass quantities of offerings for the Kuningan festivities.  Kuningan is one of the most important of the Balinese holidays, and Mas was hosting a large festival that weekend.  Anom would be performing the traditional dances wearing masks he had created.

Dishes for the Kuningan festival

Preparing the offerings

Showing the bags of flowers and other items needed to assemble the offerings

Masks hanging on the entrance way to Anom's family compound

We felt fortunate to have been able to get to know the gracious and charming Anom, and to see his wonderful masks.  Anom is a highly talented man producing beautiful works of art.  I had no such talent, but had some rupiah in my wallet.  It seems wrong that masks that required so much talent and effort to produce can be acquired for an amount of money that on my part required so little talent and effort to obtain.

I asked Anom if he ever becomes attached to his masks and regrets selling them.  He said he occasionally grows attached to a mask that he had made, but that he is usually happy to sell them.   I left feeling somewhat less guilty, and with the pleased feeling of now being in possession of works of such high quality craftsmanship.

Photos by Lynn and Nat