Bali

November 1982. Gilles Clément had been building his house-garden at La Vallée for five years when he decided to take a break and travel around the world. While the itinerary shown on the airline tickets he purchased did indeed correspond to the goal of circumnavigating the globe (Amsterdam, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Denpasar, Perth, Melbourne, Christchurch, Auckland, Sydney, Papeete, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, New York, Paris), his main objective was to discover Southeast Asia and the countries on the opposite side of the world from France.

Although Gilles was initially reluctant to devote part of his journey to visiting Bali, which he considered an overly touristy destination, he followed a friend’s advice and scheduled a three-day stay. He arrived on the Indonesian island at the end of 1982 and ended up staying for just over two months. This change of attitude was due to the profound impression made on him by the Balinese landscapes, the inhabitants, and their way of life.

He immersed himself fully in the Balinese lifestyle. In the town of Ubud, he met a couple, Ketut and Wayan Krinting, who offered him accommodation in a small, still unfinished granary (called a lumbung in Balinese). This simple two-story structure, made of bricks, bamboo, and palm leaves, stood in the middle of the rice fields. For him, it was the ideal place to stay.

His time in Bali became a moment of personal recentring, a period of reflection that he described as gentle and surprising—an experience that left such a deep mark on him that he would return regularly to the island over the following twelve years.

Locations of large trees (Ficus) recorded during one of his stays in Bali. Road map with the author’s annotations. 1983.
Balinese family who hosted Gilles Clément during his stays in Bali. Framed photograph in sepia tones. Undated.
Color photographs of the lumbung where he stayed and of the Balinese landscape. 1983.