| Balinese Art is rightly famous the world over for its | | | | Don't forget to ask for a receipt if you are importing |
| colour and boldness of design. The particular strength | | | | goods like this. When you are asked for import duty |
| of the Balinese artist is, to my humble and untrained | | | | on your purchases, the Customs officer will guess |
| eye, the ability to capture the mood of a landscape | | | | (and probably grossly overestimate) the value of |
| or the colours and vibrancy of the exotic Balinese | | | | each painting and calculate the tax accordingly. If you |
| wildlife. We first encountered Balinese Art when we | | | | have a receipt for your Balinese Art, he or she will be |
| spent ten days in Bali as part of a split destination | | | | obliged to base the tax on that. Don't forget import |
| holiday. We did the typical tourist thing of taking a | | | | duty is payable on what you actually paid, not what |
| coach trip to a gallery but, before leaving, made a | | | | the object is perceived as being worth. |
| note of its location and returned the next day by | | | | Balinese Art has increased in popularity since we |
| hired car. | | | | were in Ubud and it is now possible to choose your |
| The centre of Balinese Art is Ubud and that is where | | | | painting online and get it delivered to your home for |
| we bought our paintings. We chose one acrylic | | | | a modest courier's fee. The range of Balinese Art |
| painting of a pair of birds of paradise and another | | | | available now includes imitation masterpieces as well |
| acrylic of a tree full of exotic birds. We also bought | | | | as all the traditional and contemporary paintings that |
| three batik pictures that were unframed. We were | | | | Bali is famous for. Nowadays, there seems to be |
| lucky enough to meet the two young artists whose | | | | more oil paintings available alongside the acrylic |
| work we particularly liked. Buying Balinese Art like this, | | | | collection. |
| it was good to see that the money was going to be | | | | Because of the bright vivid colours and high contrast |
| largely into their pockets and not into the bank | | | | used, it may be best to display your collection on a |
| account of a Western European dealer. | | | | wall painted in a bold-coloured emulsion. Wallpaper, |
| The frames for the main pictures were hand-carved | | | | unless of the plainest design is likely to clash with |
| and a piece of art in themselves. Unfortunately I had | | | | your Balinese Art so it is best to avoid that. |
| not considered the implications of getting the frames | | | | Make sure that each acrylic and batik is well-lit - |
| back and, although each painting was presented to us | | | | celebrate the vibrancy of the colours; don't hide them |
| in a roll, the frames formed a package which made | | | | away in the shadows. Your collection is unlikely to |
| me look like an inexperienced terrorist. Rather than | | | | increase in value so don't buy it as an investment - |
| risk someone at the airport going into panic mode, I | | | | its true worth is the everyday enjoyment of its |
| made sure that the package of frame pieces was | | | | cheerful exuberance. That said, you guests are |
| thoroughly inspected by Airport Security and some | | | | certain to admire your pictures. |
| of their special tape applied to indicate that they had | | | | Good luck choosing your Balinese Art! |
| seen and approved the package's contents. | | | | |