The Other Side of Tropical Paradise: Traces of Modernism within the Vernacular Landscapes of Early Twentieth-Century Bali

Abstract

The island of Bali is arguably one of the most enigmatic locations to observe the lasting legacy of colonialism within the historiography of vernacular architecture in Asia. Despite Edward Said’s seminal thesis on orientalism and the subsequent production of postcolonial scholarship, architectural and traveling discourses on Bali carry through the hegemonic notion of otherness, with little resistance, far beyond the colonial era. The Orientalist notion of a traditional and authentic Bali is a powerful conception that has produced its own realities and governed the production of cultural and architectural markers on the island throughout the twentieth century. Outside the established tourist path of the island’s southern coastline and its hilly hinterland, however, we are confronted with a multifaceted and cosmopolitan urban landscape. This other side of Bali challenges the established architectural categories, such as “traditional Balinese,” that have long governed the world’s interaction with and perception of the island’s built landscape. Unsurprisingly, most architectural and travel accounts have labeled these dynamic landscapes as inauthentic, culturally polluted, or insignificant. They are nonetheless conceived, built, and inhabited by the island’s diverse local population, unlike the architectural simulacra of Bali that dominate the island’s key tourist destinations, such as Ubud, Legian and Sanur, and were built for tourists. This article is an exploration of the forgotten facets of Bali’s architectural landscape. It showcases hybrid and modern architectural traces left behind as diverse localities on the island repositioned themselves within the changing time of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the arrival of the tourist gaze. Focusing on the former capitals of three royal kingdoms of nineteenth century Bali—Badung, Klungkung, and Karangasem—it will examine how the vernacular, cosmopolitanism, and modernism interacted. Ranging from an insertion of modern architectural forms within the vernacular setting to a hybrid configuration of multiple cultural references, the case studies featured here illustrate a shifting vernacular landscape molded by the island’s dynamic power relations. They destabilize the notion of an authentic, autonomous, and real Bali that is championed not only by colonial and traveling discourses, but also by the majority of the island’s population today.