ID :
29811
Wed, 11/12/2008 - 21:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/29811
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BALINESE SANDSTONE SCULPTURES ENTER SOUTH AFRICAN MARKET
Denpasar, Nov 12 (ANTARA) - Balinese sandstone sculptures have penetrated overseas markets to as far as South Africa , according to a local trade official.
"In South Africa, I saw a residential area where many houses were adorned with Balinese sandstone handicraft products," said Ngurah Sutedja, head of Bali's trade and industry office, here Wednesday.
He said what he had seen in South Africa was most likely related with the fact that the number of African tourists coming to the "island of gods" was increasing. The African visitors witnessed the locals' cultural life and products, and liked what they had seen so much that they eventually decorated their homes with Balinese handicraft articles, he said.
The emerging markets of Balinese sculptures in the US, Europe and Asia were generating an increasing amount of foreign exchange earnings for Bali, Sutedja said.
In the January-September period in 2008, Bali's foreign exchange income from handicraft exports totaled US$17.5 million or up 75 percent from US$ 10 million in the same period last year, he said.
Buddha sculptures made by craftsmen in Gianyar district were in hiigh demand among tourists visiting Bali, he added.
Meanwhile, Made Oka, a craftsman in a sandstone sculpture workshop in Batbulan (10 km southeast of Denpasar) said , "sandstone sculptures are selling well abroad because sculptors are able to adjust their creations to consumers' tastes."
He said he believed Balinese sandstone handicraft products had bright prospects in the future. Oka was speaking while packing sculptures for despatch to buyers in the US, Japan, EU and Australia.
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"In South Africa, I saw a residential area where many houses were adorned with Balinese sandstone handicraft products," said Ngurah Sutedja, head of Bali's trade and industry office, here Wednesday.
He said what he had seen in South Africa was most likely related with the fact that the number of African tourists coming to the "island of gods" was increasing. The African visitors witnessed the locals' cultural life and products, and liked what they had seen so much that they eventually decorated their homes with Balinese handicraft articles, he said.
The emerging markets of Balinese sculptures in the US, Europe and Asia were generating an increasing amount of foreign exchange earnings for Bali, Sutedja said.
In the January-September period in 2008, Bali's foreign exchange income from handicraft exports totaled US$17.5 million or up 75 percent from US$ 10 million in the same period last year, he said.
Buddha sculptures made by craftsmen in Gianyar district were in hiigh demand among tourists visiting Bali, he added.
Meanwhile, Made Oka, a craftsman in a sandstone sculpture workshop in Batbulan (10 km southeast of Denpasar) said , "sandstone sculptures are selling well abroad because sculptors are able to adjust their creations to consumers' tastes."
He said he believed Balinese sandstone handicraft products had bright prospects in the future. Oka was speaking while packing sculptures for despatch to buyers in the US, Japan, EU and Australia.
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