This paper examines the on-going process of cultural self-reflexivity in Balinese village society by analyzing art performance activities. The field data collected in a village I call P which is a mecca for tourists who enjoy performing arts (performing arts is one of the core representation elements of "Balinese Culture") suggests that the villagers of Bali have never been passive to the development of tourism on the island since the colonial era. On the contrary, they have actively sought to enter into the growing tourist market by organizing themselves as art performance groups-seka. The seka has been organized in accordance with local traditional criteria and engaged in commercial activities. The number of seka has been on rise, especially rapidly since the 1980s, following the increase of tourists. Today's phenomena called "Cultural Involution" or "Balinization" is rather a consequence of the local people's intentional involvement in Capitalism by manipulating "Balinese Culture" in the eyes of tourists for their monetary benefit. In P village, people divide and exe cute their wide-ranging performance activities by using two categories, bisnis (i.e., commercial activities intended for profit making for oneself) and adat (i. e., local customary practices), which are opposed to each other in their everyday discourse on art performance. These two forms of practice show striking contrast, in terms of aesthetic value placed upon, emphasis on individual artistic skills, and the method of money distribution among the members of seka, for instance. Moreover, the practice of art performance by local groups is characterized by conflicts arising from money troubles, where adat has been objectified and redefined as tradition opposed to bisnis. I instantiate this process of reconstructing social practice of art performance, which reflects active incorporation into the capitalist economy, by making reference to seka's social organization, localizing concept of art, and their relations with cultural policies.
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