Author Archives: Geoff Vivian

About Geoff Vivian

Geoff Vivian is a freelance journalist based in Perth, Western Australia with a particular interest in the Kimberley and Australia's north. He has worked at various times as an art and theatre reviewer, science writer, and general rounds journalist for several local newspapers. He has managed an Indigenous radio station where he was breakfast announcer, and more recently completed a university degree with a journalism major. He is a regular contributor to Science Network WA and The Koori Mail, and maintains the news digest KimberleyPage.com.au

Cultural centre Bedulu

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Another draft chapter from my guide to Lempad’s Art and Buildings in Bali

Getting there:

Lempad's wall at the abandoned cultural centre in Bedulu, Bali.

Lempad’s wall at the abandoned cultural centre in Bedulu, Bali.

If you are staying in Ubud, go south down Jl Hanoman or Jl Cok Gde Rai for about two kilometres until you reach Jl Made Lebah/Jl Raya Teges and turn left.Travel east along a road that then changes its name from Jalan Raya Goa Gajah to Jalan Raya Bedulu and then Jalan Pura Samuan Tiga. Pass through an ornately carved stone gateway and travel along a dual carriageway to a paved car park. Pura Samuan Tiga temple is on the left and Lempad’s art is part of the neglected cultural centre on the right, just before the road narrows. As all of Lempad’s art is on the outside of this building there is no need to go inside and consequently no entry fee.

Several excellent but neglected examples of Lempad’s art can be seen at this now abandoned cultural centre. Lempad was commissioned to carve a bas relief into clay bricks for this Suharto-era building used by visiting politicians to address meetings. It has been reproduced in full colour in Gaspar, Casannovas and Couteau’s book “Lempad”. Continue reading →

Yeh Puluh carvings

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This is a draft chapter from my guide Lempad’s Art and Buildings in Bali.

Yeh Puluh temple ticket office, Jl Yeh Puluh, Bedulu, Bali.

Yeh Puluh temple ticket office, Jl Yeh Puluh, Bedulu, Bali.

This chapter does not direct you to any of Lempad’s own work, but to some much older art which is said to have had a life-long influence on him.

Getting there:

The Yeh Puluh carvings are on the way to Beduluh’s Yeh Puluh temple and you need to be reasonably steady on your feet to see them. At the end of Jalan Yeh Puluh is a car park and a little kiosk where you need buy a Rp 15,000 ticket unless you are Balinese and dressed in temple clothes. Continue reading →

Pura Desa Pengastulan temple, Bedulu

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Directions: Jl Yeh Pulu, Pengastulan, Bedulu.

Boma above a gate at Pura Pengastulan in Bedulu.

Boma above a gate at Pura Pengastulan in Bedulu.

Lempad built this temple in 1962-63, soon after he had completed the Saraswati temple in Ubud. If the Saraswati temple was lavish this one is flamboyant.

While he must have been working with a much smaller budget Lempad was able to express himself with great abandon in his home town. Look at the fingernails on the Boma (guardian spirit) masks above the gates. They look more as though they were rapidly drawn with a pen than carved in stone. You might like to contrast these with his earlier drawings in the Neka and Puri Lukisan museums which are almost as though they were made with a chisel. Continue reading →

Pura Taman Kemuda Saraswati

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This is a draft chapter from my Guide to Lempad’s art and buildings in Bali.

Directions:

Stay on the north side of Jl Raya Ubud and continue to walk west until you get to a hotel called Saraswati Bungalows. Go to reception and ask for permission to visit the temple.

IMG_1235 copyBuilt in 1952, this was Lempad’s second major Ubud project. The beautifully-maintained complex shows how much his style had developed almost four decades after he built the Peliatan royal palace. It is also unusual for Lempad in that it appears to contain no unfinished sculptures.

The temple took the form of the cosmic mountain being churned in the middle of the celestial sea (the milky way). Much of the present paved areas were originally lily ponds Lempad filled in after Mount Agung erupted in 1963. The earthquake also damaged the original central tower which he had to replace. Continue reading →

The Lempad house in Bedulu

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Address: Desa Bedulu, Banjar Legas, Jalan Yeh Pulu(?)

Part of a bas relief with scenes from the Tantri cycle at the base of a building in Lempad's Bedulu house.

Part of a bas relief with scenes from the Tantri cycle at the base of a building in Lempad’s Bedulu house.

Getting there: Walk up Jl Yeh Puluh past Pura Pengastulan temple and the school and turn left. Then look for two unfinished monkey carvings on either side of a house entrance on the left.

Born in 1862, Lempad lived for his first 11 years in this modest dwelling in a village that was part of the Blahbatuh Kingdom.

He then fled to Ubud with his father who had suddenly become the Blahbatuh king’s political enemy. Continue reading →

Ubud Royal Palace – Lempad’s first big commission

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This is a draft chapter from my guide Lempad’s Art and Buildings in Bali.

A Boma mask Lempad carved into the lintel of a gate in the outer courtyard. As you can see the outline and features stand out clearly against the intricate background.

A Boma mask Lempad carved into the lintel of a gate in the outer courtyard. As you can see the outline and features stand out clearly against the intricate background.

Getting there: Ubud’s Royal Palace is on the corner of Jl Raya Ubud and Jl Suweta. It is opposite the Ubud traditional markets and diagonally opposite the Monkey Forest Road and the police station.

This is another private home and for this reason many parts of the palace are not open to the public. However we are all welcome to visit two large courtyards that tend to fill up with dozens of tourists taking selfies by mid-morning. It is a good idea to get here early if you can.

Lempad was the architect and chief sculptor for this palace complex. All of the art you can see here was either made by Lempad himself or under his direction. It was probably his first major work after his father retired. Continue reading →

New bandicoot species among museum treasures 3/7/2016

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Queensland has a “new” species of bandicoot.

Courtesy Queensland Museum.

Courtesy Queensland Museum.

After carefully examining about 100 specimens’ teeth and skulls in six museum collections Kenny Travouillon realised the northern long-nosed bandicoot was a separate species and may require more effort to conserve it.

Dr Travouillon says not every museum in Australia has a mammals curator, and many research collections in museums are not being worked on.

Science Network WA [read this story]

Puri Lempad Bali – Lempad’s house in Ubud

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The entrance to Lempad’s house in Ubud.

This is a draft chapter from my guide Lempad’s Art and Buildings in Bali.

Lempad was the Ubud king’s principal artist and architect. The King gave him land a short walk from the Royal Palace to build this house.

Although there is art to see here it is not a museum or a shop but a private residence where Lempad’s descendants still live. Just inside the gate you will be greeted by a Lempad statue of the Pied Piper of Hamlyn which he is said to have made after hearing the tale from expatriate European artists. Continue reading →