Nirvana Magazine, January 2003

MADE WIJAYA
(No longer a) stranger in paradise
Rachel Greaves meets a man with many talents who has made Bali his home
‘Made Wijaya’ is a famous name in Bali. Long before I met him, I’d heard stories about this flamboyant, “free-range radical”’. A multi-talented, redhead bohemian with a Balinese name. I had even read his diaries.

Photo by Tim Street-Porter

But his name is not just famous in Bali: Made Wijaya is a world-celebrated, tropical garden designer with over 600 gardens to his credit, in locations as diverse as Morocco, Hawaii, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Palo Alto, Belize, Mustique and Spain.
His company, PT. Wijaya, is an architectural consultancy, also prominent in designing interiors, courtyards and pools. Through the Wijaya Classics outlet in Bali – one of the prettiest shops on the bypass – the company retails artworks, garden decorations, textiles and furniture. Made, meanwhile, threads the five continents for the inspiration and material that so enchants the admires of his works, and is supported by a very specials ‘family’ of artists and designer – a resourceful team of 500 staff.
Wijaya is also accomplished writer. His expertise in Balinese culture, tropical landscape design and Balinese architecture has led to the publications of several books, including Strange in Paradise – the diary of an expatriate in Bali 1979-80 (the compilation of a column that was originally published in the Sunday Bali Post) and Balinese Architecture: Towards an encyclopaedia (hand-type, in the Photocopy series, and published by Wijaya Words 1982).
He has also written Tropical Garden Design (published by Archipelago Press & Wijaya Word 1999), At Home in Bali (Abbeville Press) and the new Architecture of Bali – A source book of traditional and modern forms (published by Archipelago Press & Wijaya Words), which has been 25 years in the making and was launched in November at Bali’s prestigious Neka gallery.

The colourful Stranger in Paradise was taken up again in the late 90’s and now is documented monthly in Hello Bali magazine. Moreover, it has been further commented by Jakarta publisher who wants to produce a second volume.
Determined not to be daunted at the prospect of writing about another writer – and a very clever, satirical one at that – I went to meet Made at his haven in Sanur …..

Photo by Made Wijaya

Villa Bebek, Made’s home and office, which he designed and built in 1990, has been created along the concept of a Balinese family compound, blending colonial ambience with the many traditional styles that are to be found in many Balinese palaces.
A delightful and intimate tropical garden behind high, brick walls, and entered through ornate hand-carved Balinese gates, encompasses a complex of 12 separate pavilions. These are woven together with secret pathways, courtyards, lotus ponds and terraces – and concealed by bougainvillea hedges, coconut palms and scarlet hibiscus.
Drunken terracotta pots, hidden lanterns, mellow fountains, moss-encrusted statue, pergolas dripping with cascading thunbergia, and an alluring swimming pool complete the picture ... the very essence of the romantic ‘hide-and-seek’ gardens that Made is so famous for.
Each pavilion has a different function, and several of them are part of the pulsating design laboratory that is the work place for 90 of his staff – and Made runs a tight ship with ‘ceremonial hourly triumphs!” His home also displays his passions: The interior is vibrant, visual, whimsical and busy.

Balinese paintings, cartoon pictures and poster-sized photographs adorn the walls; his love of travel is evident from his collections of rustic antique furniture, enigmatic Indonesia artefacts and fiery Berber rugs from Marrakech. I half expected to see Bedoin tents and flying carpets!
Made is entertaining, theatrical, funny and charming, with an irrepressible creative energy. Actually he’s hilarious, but you have to be quick to catch and digest all of his quips. Born in Sydney, Australia, the 20-year-old student of architecture came to Bali in 1973 as Michael White – a Bondi boy from a typical, ordinary family.
He arrived as a passenger on a 35-foot ketch, and impulsively chose to jump ship and swim ashore, knowing immediately that he was destined to stay. Having already fallen in love with the island and its people, he was ‘adopted’ by a Brahman family (the descendants of Hindu Javanese priests) who he met at Bali’s Turtle Island, after being enticed by the spectacle of a lavish Hindu procession and festival.
He lived with his Balinese family for 10 years, and was given his new name in Sydney by visiting Brahman priest. Made slept in lowly place, swept the courtyard and learnt about teamwork and humility. Nowadays, PT Wijaya employs many of the younger members of the same family.

After a period of coaching tennis and teaching English, Made worked as a film adviser and guide to travellers as prestigious as Sir David Attenborough and Sir Hardy Amies. Later he became a photo journalist and writer before making his name as garden designer with projects such as Bali’s FourSeasons resort in Jimbaran, The Amandari, Bali Hyatt, The Bali Oberoi, David Bowie’s retreat in Mustique and Francis Ford Coppola’s hotel in Belize.

Photo by Made Wijaya

PT. Wijaya’s latest project, Lamak Restaurant in Ubud, is a runaway success and was recently published in Asian Architecture magazine. He has a gift for languages, born out of his fluency in Balinese. Meanwhile, his love of tennis led to his founding the Pandawa Tennis Club in Denpasar.
An early spotter of trends with the expatriate scene, Made has always been fuelled, and often enraged, by stories of the “super-bules” – arrogant expatriates, indifferent to the customs and disrespectful of the religion – who, “belive that Bali is a place to make a quick buck and therefore it owes them a lifestyles.” His Stranger in Paradise reveals many of his notions and emotions, not least his sincere enthusiasm for the traditions, people and nature of this island.

The diary can also be read in Made’s own, innovative and amusing, tri-monthly magazine Poleng. The style of Poleng is maverick, satirical, mischievous, shrewd and captivating . He describes it as “pricking the bubbles of pomposity and bullshit.” He teases his readers with his droll observation on life, but is also outspoken, critical and intolerant of anyone who shows lack of sensitivity toward Balinese culture.
He entertains us with stories about weddings, funerals, Balinese society, new fads and comic scenarios, and illustrates them with his own striking photographs, deformations of silly ads, and tongue in cheek cartoons. He plans to produces a calendar, each year, of the best of Poleng, and next year’s theme will pay homage to the Indonesian workers in Malaysia.
He calls himself an “avant-gardener”, and claims that any success came from his urge to “dabble in erotica”. He laments the destruction of so many Balinese architectural monuments. He feels that modern Balinese design has lost its way and he is both saddened and infuriated by trends such as “veneer architecture, ribbed stone, and raised planters filled with horsehair.”

‘Why?” he rants, “with such a wealth of natural tropical material, would anyone choose to use that trendy horsehair stuffed in planter pots?” But, he’s not always judgmental; occasionally he chastises himself for his cynicism. Having just learned that ‘a cynic is a disappointed romantic,’ Made has decided that he has no wish to apply that label to himself!
He modestly says that he was lucky at the start of his career because he had the opportunity to work alongside acclaimed architects and designers such as Geoffrey Bawa, Peter Muller and Dale Keller, all of whom understood the real Bali and were great to work with. “The new generations all think that plants are old-fashioned and that everything should be stiff, clean and crisp, with boring gardens!”
I asked Made if he would ever leave Bali and, with his captivating smile, he told me that he would be here for the duration … “ Bali delivers a special magic that makes us so lucky to be alive”.
Made Wijaya arrived in Bali as a ‘stranger in paradise’, was spellbound by the magic and then worked more, dynamic magic, of his own.