Luh’De Gita
Our Animal Spirit: Kintamani Dog, 2026
Oil on Linen
80 x 52 cm
IDR 19,800,000.00
'This painting brings together the Balinese dog, or Kintamani, with an archival image of a gamelan player to think about the double life of being Balinese. The Balinese dog, often...
"This painting brings together the Balinese dog, or Kintamani, with an archival image of a gamelan player to think about the double life of being Balinese. The Balinese dog, often considered one of the oldest dog populations in the world, becomes a figure of continuity and survival, having existed alongside Balinese society through generations of change. In contrast, the gamelan player represents a cultural practice that is constantly maintained through human participation, discipline and repetition. Bringing these two images together, I see them as two bodies carrying the memory of the island in different ways.
As a Balinese person, I often think about how our lives are divided between what we might call ordinary work and cultural or religious obligations. We work nine to five jobs, earn a living and participate in the contemporary economy, but outside those hours we may also be expected to serve the gods, participate in ceremonies, contribute to the banjar, prepare offerings or maintain family and communal traditions. This creates a kind of second shift, a form of labour that is rarely understood as labour because it is associated with devotion and cultural responsibility. The gamelan player becomes a representation of this invisible work, while the dog becomes a witness to a much older continuity of Balinese life.
I want to highlight how these forms of labour become increasingly complicated within contemporary Bali. Traditions that require time, discipline and collective effort can also become part of the image of Bali consumed by tourists. The gamelan that once belonged primarily to communal and ritual life can become a spectacle, while the people maintaining these traditions continue to navigate the demands of modern employment and economic survival. Through the relationship between the dog and the gamelan player, I want to ask what it means to continuously serve, perform and maintain a culture while also trying to make a living within it. The painting becomes a reflection on the unseen labour behind the image of Bali, and on the bodies that continue to carry its traditions forward."
As a Balinese person, I often think about how our lives are divided between what we might call ordinary work and cultural or religious obligations. We work nine to five jobs, earn a living and participate in the contemporary economy, but outside those hours we may also be expected to serve the gods, participate in ceremonies, contribute to the banjar, prepare offerings or maintain family and communal traditions. This creates a kind of second shift, a form of labour that is rarely understood as labour because it is associated with devotion and cultural responsibility. The gamelan player becomes a representation of this invisible work, while the dog becomes a witness to a much older continuity of Balinese life.
I want to highlight how these forms of labour become increasingly complicated within contemporary Bali. Traditions that require time, discipline and collective effort can also become part of the image of Bali consumed by tourists. The gamelan that once belonged primarily to communal and ritual life can become a spectacle, while the people maintaining these traditions continue to navigate the demands of modern employment and economic survival. Through the relationship between the dog and the gamelan player, I want to ask what it means to continuously serve, perform and maintain a culture while also trying to make a living within it. The painting becomes a reflection on the unseen labour behind the image of Bali, and on the bodies that continue to carry its traditions forward."
