392 book reviews

and scantily dressed surfing tourists is sometimes hilarious, and Granquist

rightfully notes that fun is part of the Batuan style as well.
The book is (apparently) an exhibition guide and we have ample opportu-
nity to evaluate the many pictures of Batuan paintings in the catalogue which
starts on page 138. The table of contents organises the exhibition catalogue
around four clusters of paintings: The Built Worlds. Village Life, Ritual Life,
Tantric Beliefs, Erotica; The Natural World. Stories from the Wild Places; Lit-
erary Traditions. Mahabharata, Ramayana, Sutasoma, Malat; and Social Com-
mentary. (In the actual catalogue, however, these subjects are not presented as
such but grouped under many more headings.) As paintings are shown from
the 1930 until very recently, they give a clear overview of the transformations
of the Batuan style over the past 80 or so years. It does not become clear what
exhibition it actually was and perhaps we should see the book as a catalogue of
its own printed exhibition. It is a pity that it is also unclear where the pictures
are housed or who owns them. The image credits page (p. 341), however, may
lead us to think that the bulk is part of the Singapore Batuan Collection but
where that is located remains, unfortunately, a puzzle.
The last part of the book looks at meaning and purpose. It looks at paintings
in two different ways, one within the original social and cultural context and in
terms of their formal characteristics. Looking at, ‘Niwatakawaca’ by Ida Bagus
Putu Padma from 2010 he explains that the idea is that there are two distinct
types of meaning in a piece of art. A representative aspect pointing to meaning
that may or may not be understood. For instance, an outsider would not know
what or who ‘Niwatakawaca’ is whereas anyone in Bali would know that the
title of the painting points to the demon central to the Arjunawiwaha story.
However, this lack of meaning is compensated by the shapes which point to
what the picture actually shows. In this case, the dangerous position of the
heavenly nymph Suprabha, who sits quite unhappily on the demon’s lap, is
indicated by the shapes of the foliage and other elements in the painting,
which takes us to the painting’s hidden message. This divide may explain why
a Batuan painting may be enjoyed by someone who has no understanding of
Balinese culture.
The book is a pleasure to read, the illustrations are sharp and informative,
and the technical details to understand the paintings are also clearly presented
and well-structured. It is a serious and in my view successful attempt to explain
the intrinsic elements of this particular style of Balinese paintings and the
book thus adds to our appreciation of them. Because today many paintings
are almost mechanically produced for the tourist industry, some insights into
differences in quality would have helped. As it stands, the notion of quality is
absent.

Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 170 (2014) 379–421