Where bamboo and wood grow everywhere
This is the story of a small village in Bangli, Bali, and a family workshop that never stopped making things by hand. Today we supply exporters and also sell directly to customers.
A father’s hands
In Kayubihi, a village in the cool hills of Bangli, bamboo grows along every path and strong trees stand behind every house. Our founder, I Nyoman Tuwi, grew up turning bamboo and wood into baskets, tools, carvings and small crafts for the family and the temple.
In 1995 he decided to make it his living. He built his first bamboo crafts to sell from our family home, and learned, slowly and with many mistakes, what it takes to run a small craft workshop.
“Bamboo teaches patience. It grows slowly, bends without breaking, and gives back everything you put into it.”
I Nyoman Tuwi, founder
A crisis, and the sound of a wind chime
1998 was one of the hardest years Indonesia has known. Prices rose, businesses closed, and many families in our village worried about tomorrow.
In that same year our workshop began supplying bamboo wind chimes to a Bali-based exporter. Since then we have cut, tuned and assembled every chime in our own family workshop. The soft, hollow sound of bamboo became the sound of our work.
How a piece is born
Before anything reaches you, it passes through many hands. Scroll through the four steps.
- 01
Harvest
We choose mature bamboo and wood from farmers around Bangli, cut at the right season so it stays strong and does not crack.
- 02
Shape and carve
Each piece is cut, carved and smoothed by hand. For wind chimes, every tube is tuned by ear until it rings clearly.
- 03
Weave and paint
Weavers, painters and assemblers bring the parts together, adding Balinese motifs like butterflies, mandalas, the moon and the sun.
- 04
Finish and pack
Every order is checked by hand, packed with care and sent from our village to your home.
When the world stood still
In 2021 the global crisis stopped almost every order for a year. The workshop went quiet for the first time in more than twenty years.
Instead of only waiting for orders, we built baliamerta.com. Today we supply exporters and also sell directly, so customers can find us and order from our village.
Bamboo and wood, with more to come
We started with bamboo wind chimes. Today we make bamboo and wooden crafts, and we are preparing rattan, seagrass and woven fabric pieces for the future.
Many hands, one village
More than 10 craftsmen and craftswomen from Kayubihi work together in our family workshop: farmers who harvest, carvers who shape, painters who finish and family members who pack and ship.
Photos of our team and workshop are coming soon.
From craft to coffee and spices
Bangli is also home to Kintamani coffee and rich spice gardens. Our next chapter is to bring these flavours of Bali to you, working directly with local farmers, just as we do with our artisans.
Come and see where it all begins
You are always welcome to visit our workshop in Gebagan, Kayubihi, Bangli. Or bring a piece of our village home, whether it is one wind chime or a larger order for your shop.
- AddressGebagan, Kayubihi, Bangli, Bali, Indonesia
- WhatsApp+62 812 377 1461
- Emailnyomantuwi@yahoo.co.id