Art Balinese art forms are primarily classified under three major categories of which Batuan Style (distinct from the Ubud Style) which originated in Batuan is one style which has absorbed the traditional art form to the present dynamic art styles; the other two Bali art styles are the Ubud style of Ubed and the Sanur style which have been further supplemented by a "Young Artists" style of 1960s of
Penestanan (the artists village) origin influenced by the
Dutch artists. In the Batuan style of painting, the emphasis is adoption of sombre colour, generally in black and white with preponderance of mystic Balinese religious ethos related to sorcery and witchcraft. They are also famous for the miniature painting with great attention paid to detailing. The artists have an eye for detail as they paint with great patience. Vegetation is drawn in a stylised format, but each leaf is painted and shaded. The patterns, even in
batik sarongs, have the minor figures drawn very carefully. Even the open space is filled with pulsating marks. Scenes emerge from the canvas and retreat into the vegetation such as a dog fight, a love affair, a group of gamblers, all shown in a corner of the canvas. The black and white background was said to evoke the
supernatural. Anthropologists also interpret that the paintings made by artists of Batuan are visual texts which represent the "Balinese Character". Another notable feature is, unlike the Ubud style, the Batuan style also imbued daily life scenes in its depictions, deviating from the traditional. The depiction is of factual scenes but camouflaged in the form of masks. The colours used by the famous artists of Batuan were more bold than those used in Ubud paintings, with green and maroon being the dominant shades used for depicting human beings. Daily life with a complex variety of activities is depicted in great details. However, the painting canvases still adopted the three space formula with the bottom part devoted to daily human activities, with ritual activities in the middle section and with the upper section devoted to the realms of gods. The Batuan painters belonging to the
Pita Maha Painters group also created aesthetically elegant paintings combining
Buddhist mythology with vivacious and inventive
Wayan-style images. These paintings have also been described as "naïve style works – almost caricatures – that depict daily life with humour." The village is now dominated by galleries of various artists. I Wayan Bendi of Batuan created the paintings as "craft for tourist painting" with himself as the central figure surrounded by tourists in various modes of life and this format has now become a flourishing art form.
Dance form One of the popular and ancient dance forms, which is performed in Batuan and many other villages, frequently, is known as the
Gambuh. It is a theatrical dancing art form which reportedly evolved in the 15th century which is a fusion of singing, drama and visual art forms. It is performed during the festivals of
Full Moon day and also on occasions of marriages and other ceremonies, locally known as the
Odalan,
Manusa Yadnya and
Pitra Yadnya (
Ngaben). However, this dance form is stated to be on the decline.
Ethnography studies indicate that tourism has become integral to the economy of Batuan, particularly since the 1930s. So much so, that in the 1970s a frog dance was devised for the tourists which became a part of Balanese social life, as such dances were performed as part of wedding receptions. ==Festivals==