Capitalism Pitfalls to Wooden Sculpture Crafts in Bali

Abstract

This research discusses about wooden sculpture crafts in Kemenuh village. It focusses on the development of traditional sculptors into mass sculpture industries. The aim of this research is to describe the process that made the sculptors shackled in the arena of capitalism, to identify the factors triggering the traditional crafts into mass cultural industry, and to know its implications for the lives of the sculptors in economic, social, and cultural field. This research used the sculptors and the businessmen of the sculpture crafts as the data source and applied the qualitative methods with the approach of cultural studies. The data collection was done by using participatory observation, interview, and documentation. The collected data were analyzed qualitatively by using descriptive method and supported by images, photographs, and tables. The result of the research shows that the sculptors from Kemenuh village were trapped into capitalism. This happened when artists changed the way of producing sculptures from traditional sculptures to mass production that began in the 1970s. The change was also influenced by internal and external. The internal factors were about the sculptors’ habitués and natural environment, while the external factors involved the development of tourism, government encouragement through infrastructure development and regulations. The implication of mass sculpture crafts for the lives of the sculptors in Kemenuh village is that economically the income of the sculptors was decreasing. In this case their income was determined by the capitalists. Socially, the social structure which was before basically based on clan religion changed into social structure that was based on materials or patron clients. There was also women marginalization and discrimination. Culturally, cultural value decreased and there was no more freedom of expression in sculpturing.