Maurizio Rosenberg Colorni has been searching for old Balinese photographs in museums, archives and private collections throughout Europe and Indonesia. His collection clearly reveals to us the evolution of photography in Bali. This evolution is inseparable from the development of its tool: the camera. In fact, in the wake of the 20th century, the mobility of the camera and its technical progress (celluloid’s negative replaced the glass ones) allowed photographers to capture moments of real life. Previous this era, objects or persons posed for hours in the studio.

The contribution of photography in making Bali renowned in the world was immense.

Thephotographs taken by the German Doctor Gregor Krause, published in 1920, portraying young Balinese women whose chest was customary unclothed, or the one showcased at the Paris Colonial Exhibition in 1931, considered by the Dutch Government as the most evocative image of its outpost, played a great role in the arising of tourism. These images stimulated influx of visitors and tourists seeking for the untamed, from all around the world, to Bali. In 1924, weekly cruises on Dutch ships from the major ports of Indonesia began to transport tourists to the northern shores of Bali. In 1928, the Dutch opened the Bali Hotel (now called the Inna Bali on Jl. Veteran, Denpasar), a decade later almost three flights a week landed near Denpasar.

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Last weeek I read a book which is entitled “ The Last Gentleman of War” which gives accounts on daring actions of German cruiser Emden in World War I combined with gallant and honorable conduct of her captain, Karl Friedrich Max von Müller. What impress me much are not the daring actions of the cruisers but the humane and honorable treatments that were given by Captain Müller and his crew to their prisoners of war (PoW). A question arose in my mind “how Balinese treat their PoW?”

I did a hasty research to find some information on how Balinese treat their PoW, my research was not in vain, I found some information in the public library, some good, some bad, but mostly interesting. It surprised that Balinese treat their PoW especially their fellow Balinese in a cruel way. They sold their Balinese PoW to foreign merchants as slaves (before the slave trade was abolished), served as slaves to winning party or assigned to hard labor. However, the fate of European PoW was much better. Here is an account on Balinese treatment on their European PoW given by Gregor Krause in his book Bali 1912.

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7 September – 23 November 2007
QUIDZY Showroom
Jalan Kunti II/No. 20
Seminyak

23 September – 1 October 2007
Campuhan College
Jalan Raya Sanggingan
Ubud

The photographs displayed in these two exhibitions are from the collection of Maurizio Rosenberg Colorni, who has been searching for old Balinese photographs since 2003.

They are mostly from anonymous sources with a few exceptions. These are the first of many exhibitions of early Bali photographs to be shown on Bali by Rosenberg Colorni.

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