Just a note...
some of you might be interested in a comparison to Balinese handicrafts and elsewhere in the world.
Barb and I have just returned from 3 weeks in Bali, 2 days at home and 3 weeks off to Hawaii, the west coast of the states and finally Mexico, arriving home Saturday.
One of the reasons we went to the states and Mexico was to see what handicrafts are available, as we import same into West Australia, from Bali, as many readers would know.
While the trip was amazing, and this is a Bali forum, so wont bore you with details of a great trip, everywhere we went...from Hawaii to Las Angeles,to Los Vegas and the Grand Canyon, San Diego, and finally Mexico,we were amazed at the lack of locally made handicrafts.
At every one of the afore mentioned places, many of the souvenirs were imported from Bali and overlaid with the local name.Most items we sell in our shops at well under half the price..haha!, but it was eye opening to see just how far the Balinese handicrafts have spread.
One of the great pities of the spread of tourism,worldwide, is the lack of local hand made products all over the world, with a lot of garbage coming into the west from places like China which is all molded and plastic, with little links to the local artists and talented craftsmen that seems to be a dying art.
We are very lucky that we in Australia have a unique link to the artistic and wonderful Balinese people who, unfortunately, do not realise the talents they do have and the spread of their wares all over the world by unscrupulous dealers who do not give credit to the creators of this art.To see items being sold under false origins, at inflated prices, which,profits, we are sure, are not passed on to the Balinese craftsmen who made them,is sad and a little annoying, and reeks of expoitation.
In fact, many of the items we saw on sale at famous tourist locations, with the local name on them, were made at the villages we have bought off for some 15 years, and we are sure they are unaware of the destination of their products, and the prices being charged.
Thought provoking perhaps to some readers, so maybe we all will be a little less aggressive in bartering for prices to save a few cents and realise that handicrafts will be a dying art if we dont support these people who are being exploited to satisfy major tourist markets until they can buy something from China that will cost less and make more profits.
For anyone interested, importing into the states is not a great deal more costly than to Australia, so it is interesting as to why artefacts we all buy in Bali,at very reasonable prices are sold at ridiculous prices with false place of origin labels, in the states.