I Made ada Garuda — Attraction in Bali

Story has it that Made Ada once exchanged a piece of his art for a new car. He has received awards from Indonesian Presidents past and present and is touted as the best woodcarving artist in Indonesia. His home is a museum of his work, some of which have taken years to create. We were invited to carve😳, and wipe clean a work in progress - I cleaned; did not dare carve his partially created piece of art 😳😳😳.. but it was great fun to see how the process unfolded. We were blessed that he was in town today, but if he’s not, the museum is still quite fantastic and showcases Balinese carvings from not only Hinduism, but also Christianity and Greek Mythology.. really...

Never seen its equal, the skill of the craftspeople is something else. The guide that showed us around was very knowledgeable of the art too. Some cheeky old bloke sits out the front (I'm joking, he's the master) and is good for a laugh. The massive frangipani carving and sandalwood statuette were some of my favorites. An update - Our guide and the gallery said that it was ok to bring into Australia as the wood was registered with the Balinese government. We bought a statue and it came home to Perth Australia in my hand luggage. We declared it to customs, they inspected it and it didn't get taken away for fumigation....

This was an incredible display of a life spent creating art. We were able to meet I Made and although he had recently broke a leg he guided us verbally through the gallery making sure we saw and noticed all the most interesting pieces. I would imagine, if he was mobile, he would have happily shown us around. There is so much carving and painting on display here highlighting classic and contemporary Balinese art. A little ways out of town but worth the trip. Plenty of smaller wood carving shops to stop and see...