Paper long abstract:

This paper, based on ethnographic fieldwork among Balinese migrants in the Netherlands, analyses various forms of visual and performing art forms, and aims to explore the Balinese notion of aesthetics by examining how contemporary encounters inform the performance of cultural identity both in artistic expression and in the (individual) experience of everyday life of Balinese individuals living in the Netherlands.

Throughout history performing and visual arts in Bali have played a significant role, not only in religious ceremonies but also in defining and creating relationships with outsiders - other islands, the Indonesian nation state and tourists from various parts of the world. These displays of various forms of art, which are not necessarily 'traditional', are also performed and exhibited both in the contemporary Netherlands and at different cultural festivals and exhibitions around Europe. They are spaces in which the relations between selves and others are played out, but also occasions on which Balinese assert and negotiate what it means to be Balinese outside of Bali. I scrutinise not only how visual and performing practices play an important role in the realm of personal passions in performance and popular culture, but also how they distinguish Balinese from other foreigners in a socio-political environment which stresses the integration of foreigners who reside in the Netherlands.