A Visit to Bambu Indah in Bali with John Hardy
Photo credits Alessandro Luppi
With its gorgeous beaches, luxury resorts, rice paddies and ancient temples Indonesia has far more to offer than just a destination as a vacation hot spot. Bali is one of the world’s best resources for global sourcing. Their antiques scene and the abundance of offerings is reminiscent of the Paris Flea Market – but Indonesia offers more than just antiques. Whether you’re seeking a source for manufacturing your furniture line, wood and stone carvers, weavers, painters or gold and silversmiths Bali alone has the world’s greatest repository of high-level artisans in the world and at The Antiques Diva® & Co we give you access to the best of them.
Furniture – whether new or old – ranges from rustic and folk art to refined or cutting edge and contemporary in design. Textiles reign with batiks and ikats in heartbreakingly beautiful patterns. Fashion, jewelry and art de la table give island chic a new audience making the tribal mainstream.
On a recent visit to Bali I had lunch at John Hardy’s Bandu Indah and took a private tour of the property with its owner.
Bali has its fair share of expats – one of the most well-known is John Hardy. Canadian-born jewelry designer John Hardy moved to Bali 40 years ago and launched his Asian-inspired designs using traditional handmade jewelry techniques. Having recently sold his eponymously named jewelry line, Hardy now devotes his life to educating others about sustainable living with his Green School. A great place to begin one’s education – while experiencing luxury Balinese style – is at Bambu Indah, Hardy’s radically distinctive eco-lifestyle boutique hotel in Ubud where guests commune with nature in their open format huts.
Hardy – a huge proponent of using architectural salvage in his designs – transplanted a series of 19th C teak Javanese bridal homes to Bali and then restored and decorated them offering his guests a once in a lifetime experience.
“Our charming Javanese teak wood houses are historic traditional homes built by native Indonesians over 100 years ago. Each served as bridal houses to a Javanese nobleman whose duty it was to provide a home for his new bride. These antique homes were hand picked by John Hardy before being carefully dismantled, relocated to Bambu Indah, lovingly restored and made available to you.”
The interior design ranges from rustic to chic, featuring décor from Hardy’s personal travels such as Moroccan rugs, Burmese lacquerware and Ethiopian woodwork.
If you’re visiting Bali, I strongly recommend you include Bambu Indah on your itinerary. My lunch with John Hardy was definitely a highlight of my last trip to Bali!
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Indonesia Antiques Tours
After assessing your antique, design or fashion sourcing needs, The Antiques Diva & Co will custom plan your private Indonesia antiques tours and buying trip. We can combine your Indonesia antiques tour with other Asian country itineraries to create antiques buying and design inspiration tours to meet our all your sourcing needs. Our local expert Indonesia Diva Guide negotiates on your behalf as we have relationships with vendors, getting you the best deals possible. We also liaise you with a preferred shipper to get your purchases home.
Selamat tinggal,
Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva