Bali Does Not Stop Being Creative to Rise from Pandemic
The Denpasar Dharma Negara Alaya Building in the Lumintang area of North Denpasar district, Denpasar city, on Sunday (22/8/2021), looked deserted from the outside.
By
Cokorda Yudhisthira
·5 minutes read
It seems as though artistic creativity and small businesses in Bali are eternal and will never die. Under the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, local administrations, artists and business players have worked hand in hand to produce innovations to adapt and maintain their existence.
The Denpasar Dharma Negara Alaya Building in the Lumintang area of North Denpasar district, Denpasar city, on Sunday (22/8/2021), looked deserted from the outside. However, inside, from the audio visual room of the DNA Building, people show enthusiasm to keep moving even though they are in a very limited situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In that room, the chairman of Denpasar Creative Agency (Bekraf), I Putu Yuliartha, explained the steps taken by the Denpasar city administration in making innovative and creative breakthroughs to support economic recovery in Denpasar and Bali in general. He introduced the Baliola.com marketplace, a start-up developed by the developer of the Kepeng.io app, which was incubated by Bekraf.
Baliola.com utilizes blockchain-based technology to support Balinese artists and creators to stay creative and productive. Blockchain technology enables digital transactions connecting buyers and sellers.
This effort starts from anxiety over the pandemic that has greatly affected the lives of Balinese people. At the same time, technology develops and expands to digital marketing methods.
"We at Denpasar Bekraf are trying to find supporting resources for creators, one of which is through blockchain-based technology," said Yuliartha.
The development of the Baliola.com marketplace is a creative leap for Denpasar in the digital era. This is also an effort to continue the spirit of the Denpasar city administration, which has launched a vision as a creative city with cultural insight.
The developer of Baliola.com, who is also the CEO of Kepeng.io, I Gede Putu Rahman Desyanta, said Baliola.com was a promising alternative for monetizing creative works or art products from Balinese artists and creators using a non-fungible token (NFT) system.
This artwork digital asset has a digital token that can be considered a certificate of ownership.
The NFT system allows people to own digital assets from a work of art that can be traded. This artwork digital asset has a digital token that can be considered a certificate of ownership.
Desyanta believes that the NFT system has prospects for development, although currently it is still not widely known.
Separately, creative activist Abdes Prestaka, who is also the director of Kita Satu Bali, said his party was also using advances in digital technology to bring the artworks of artists in the country closer to the younger generation.
When organizing Kita Art Friend (KAF) paintings and visual artworks exhibition entitled Hopes, Abdes incorporated augmented reality (AR) technology in several paintings and used the NFT system to provide new experiences for art connoisseurs and collectors.
Virtual exhibitions are an alternative and at the same time an effort to maintain the creative power of people, including artists and creative people in Bali. This was revealed by the chairperson of the Bali Regional Crafts Council (Dekranasda), Ni Putu Putri Suastini Koster, at the opening of a virtual art exhibition entitled Merajut Asa Menilik Rupa (Weaving Hope Seeing Visual), on Monday (7/6/2021). The exhibition is available at the virtual gallery at Balimall.id.
"Ready or not, like it or not, artists have to follow the development of information technology in order to survive," said Suastini, who is also the wife of the Bali governor.
A form of creativity was also presented by the management of Bali United Football Club in the team’s jersey for the 2021-2022 League 1 football competition. Bali United used the tie-dye motif for its newest jersey.
Tie-dye motifs are produced from dyeing by tying cloth with string and dipping it in dye. The area of the fabric that is in contact with the rope is not touched by the dye, giving rise to a unique motif. The tie-dye motif has long been known in the clothing industry in Bali, namely as a motif for barong clothes. The Bali United jersey was produced by an Indonesian garment company, namely PT Mitra Kreasi Garmen (Mills Sport).
Starting business
The Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the tourism sector in Bali to decline, also affected workers in the tourism sector. This was admitted by I Made Oka Wijaya (42), the manager of the Bali Arak Semeton Consumer Cooperative, a Balinese arak cooperative located in Denpasar.
Made Oka said the majority of the approximately 720 members of the Arak Semeton Bali Consumer Cooperative were tourism sector workers who had been laid off or furloughed due to the sluggish tourism activity in Bali.
"Not a few of our cooperative members have bartender skills," said Made Oka, who has also worked in the tourism sector.
Through the cooperative, they channel the expertise of its members, including for organizing events, making graphic designs, shipping goods and also producing Balinese alcoholic beverages.
Known since 1968 as the maker of Dewi Sri arak and brem (traditional liquor), the family company now produces wine.
Business players in Bali also need to adapt to the situation. The owner of Hatten Wines, Ida Bagus Rai Budarsa (56), said his company had adapted and innovated in order to survive and thrive. Known since 1968 as the maker of Dewi Sri arak and brem (traditional liquor), the family company now produces wine.
"Although currently it is difficult due to the pandemic, we are still trying to maintain production," said the man who is familiarly called Gus Rai.
The Covid-19 pandemic does bring pressure that is not easy. However, Bali continues to struggle to rise.
(This article was translated byKurniawan Siswoko).