Woodcarving

One could say that modern Balinese woodcarving had its origins in Mas. Formerly, carvings were done only by priests for religious purposes and featured exclusively characters from the Mahabarata and Ramayana.

During the 1930s, the themes became more realistic and commercialized, depicting such mundane subjects as animals, farmers, villages. Several old masters who made Balinese woodcarving famous throughout the world in the 1930s are still alive and working today in Mas. Their work is carried on by their families in traditional family compounds with carved doors and pillars, impeccably decorated and maintained, themselves fine examples of gorgeous Old Bali art and architecture.

They carve everything in Mas-weeping Buddhas, fishermen, Vishnu and Garuda figures, rice goddesses, yogi, roosters, herons, deer, prancing horses, key rings, chess pieces, and fruit trees (pulusan). Most master carvers are in fact designers, who make the original model or motif, which is then copied by a young team of apprentices. Pieces don't leave the studio without approval.

Typically, Mas carvings are smooth, unpainted, and made of the high-quality wood, but carvers also shape gnarly driftwood and tree roots into lizards, turtles, tortoises, abstract faces, fishheads. If you can't find what you're looking for, ask to see the inventory in back.

Look for detail: fingernails, toenails, fingers, muscle delineation, even hair. An artist signs and dates his important pieces. Telling the clerks you want to buy goods for export to America or Europe will drop prices. For the best prices, comb the workshops in the back lanes of Mas and not in the overpriced retail shops along the main road.

Maskmaking

Some of Bali's most famous maskmakers work in home industries down the back lanes of Mas. You'll see the carvers' signs on the compound gates. Most produce wall hangings, not true masks. With some exceptions, the Balinese would seldom buy them for use in performances. Many of the more established maskmakers teach maskmaking lesson.

Each specializes in different kinds of masks. One of the newest phenomena in modern maskmaking are the works of Garfield Pop Art, and Cat and Masks off the main road.