DEWA
 NYOMAN BATUAN, founder of PENGOSEKAN COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS , superstar 
spiritualist, entrepreneur, mentor.   During the 1970s and 1980s Dewa 
Nyoman Batuan was the cover boy for mystical Hinduism in Bali. His 
paintings were magnificent mandalas of 
Balinese spiritual and ceremonial life. His art was featured on the 
cover of Victor Mason's "The Haughty Toad" (BAP press, 1975) and in 
Han's Hoefer's/Apa Press' first guidebook "Guide to Bali".  . He was 
ebullient and articulate : his interviews in many  films and 
documentaries  light up the screen --films such as the Blaire brothers' 
RING OF FIRE ( he was their landlord and mentor for many years), "Bali 
--Island of the Gods" (Philip Noyce Director) and  David Attenborough's 
 film on Bali for the BBC. As an entrepreneur he combined the talents of
 his very artistic community with the needs of the tourist industry , 
most famously in a five year collaboration with designer Linda Garland. 
From this dynamic duo came many iconic items of the Balinese handicraft 
world -- the carved banana tree, the banana leaf plate and the very 
depressed naked woman coffee table base. Dewa Nyoman Batuan's painted 
umbrellas and decorative ceilings were the 'must have' items for the 
fashionistas of the 1990s. He collaborated with all the great ex-pat. 
designers of his generation. He helped launch the career of his cousin 
Dewa Mokoh and a battalion of other balinese beauty warriors and 
international artists. He was a great contributor to his community and 
to the image of Bali as a magical, spiritual island and was rewarded for
 this with a magnificent cremation attended by many greats of the 
Balinese art world. He is survived by six siblings , his wife , his 
three children and many grandchildren.
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