Q Most of the Southeast Asian art I've seen has been very Buddhist in nature - lots of monks and beautiful women holding lotus flowers. Are there any artworks that come from Southeast Asia's Hindu population? I am looking for fine workmanship and rare pieces.
WHAT THE EXPERT SAYS
Koos Groot of Arch Angel Antiques, who first moved to Indonesia in 1981, recommends Bali's highly detailed and very rare traditional paintings. He is offering a limited selection to benefit the South China Morning Post's Christmas charity appeal, Operation Santa Claus.
'The earliest examples of permanent visual arts in Bali are sculptural relief and religious statuary, dating back to 300BC,' he says. 'They link back to the Dong-Son culture, which arose in the area now known as Vietnam.
'Hinduism was introduced to this area via trade with India and East Java in the 8th and 9th centuries. But within this vast archipelago, it was only on Bali that Hinduism ultimately survived. Most of the remainder of the country as we know it today turned to Islam, as it was introduced in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
'On Bali, the great Indian Hindu epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, demonstrating the continuous interplay between good and evil forces, have been a constant source of inspiration to Balinese artists,' says Groot.