A new journey began for me late last year after 22 years spent pursuing a career in advertising and technology. It started with a pause after I moved to Bali to reflect on my past and also to ponder what I wanted and needed to do in order to enrich my life. Ubud, where I now live, provided an ideal environment in which to contemplate and to seek some answers.

I immersed myself in the cultural diversity of Indonesia’s vast archipelago and slowly I came to realize that within this diversity, and from the 17,000 islands which comprise this great nation, there is a role for me to play. Not to write, nor to screen, but to bring Indonesia’s heritage in tangible forms to be enjoyed and appreciated by the outside world. There is an industry here of little-known craftsmen, living in remote villages, who continue to make with their hands objects that are of importance to them, to their daily lives. Objects of significance at birth of a new child, at death of a dearly departed, at marriage of a beloved relative, or at religious ceremonies which mark the calendar year. I want to introduce them in a way in which this cultural heritage can be seen and appreciated through modern artefacts. I also want to introduce the dexterity of their workmanship with modern Western items made from their skilled hands.