In Search of Identity: Rethinking Balinese Product Design through Cultural History

Abstract

Balinese product design is often recognized through visual signs such as ornament, material, craft technique, and references to tradition. Yet these signs do not fully explain how a design identity is formed or maintained. This paper revisits the history of Balinese product design through a cultural-historical perspective to examine identity as a process rather than a fixed style. Using literature, historical documents, manuscripts, colonial records, and visual documentation, the study traces recurring relations among local knowledge, patronage, external influence, tourism, and professional design practice. The findings suggest that Balinese design identity has developed through continuity and adaptation: new functions, materials, technologies, and markets have been incorporated without entirely displacing established systems of making and cultural reference. Balinese product design is therefore better understood as a historically negotiated design tradition than as a stable collection of visual attributes.