NEW STORE LOCATION!!!
38 N. Court St.
Athens, Ohio 45701
740-594-KARMA(5276)
About Bali Karma and What we Carry
Bali Karma, based in Athens Ohio, was started as a social-purpose business. We have three objectives:
- Helping Balinese artists, and producers of other Indonesian art, attire, gifts, and jewelry, make a good living.
- Educate customers and the public about environment, culture, and trade issues.
- Raise money to help important social and environmental conservation efforts in Indonesia.
The main reason to shop with us, though, is that we have Unique Gifts at Affordable Prices!
Bali Karma has a wide variety of unique gifts for any occasion…
Including gifts for the person you know best…. you!
Some of the items we have include:
Wood Carvings
From traditional Balinese carvings to abstract couple and family carvings to wood animal carvings we offer a variety of statues hand carved by artists and craftspeople in Bali, Indonesia. These make unique wedding gifts, housewarming gifts, and home décor. We take special care to work with artists to source wood from sustainable forest sources, mostly private lands in East Bali. We pay producers a fair price and seek to help them develop their livelihoods in other ways, making our carvings unique fair trade gifts.
We try to offer traditional Balinese carvings of Barong, Rangda, and Dewi Sri, Jangar, and Oleg dancers which "keep the traditions alive" in Bali. Many contemporary Balinese carvings are influenced by other South Asian and Southeast Asian art and Hindu religion. Carvings of Rama and Sita, Ganesha (Gonesh/Ganesa), Garuda, and other Hindu gods are common. We also have wood Buddha statues from the prosperity Buddha or laughing Buddha to the meditative Buddhas, including meditative a Buddha sitting on a lotus flower. We hope to get statues of Kwan Yin (also known as Quan Lin, Kuan Yin, Quan Lee, etc)
Other abstract carvings include yoga poses, couples in love, dancing couples, families, women, and other themes.
We also have a variety of wood animal carvings from wood cobra statues to komodo dragons, iguanas, eagles, wood elephants, dolphins, fish, and other themes.
Djembe drums and musical instruments
We carry a variety of djemebe drums from Bali. Drum body "blanks" are from Java but the carving, painting, and heads are put on in Bali by people in my friend Ketut’s village. We use jackfruit wood instead of mahogany as jackfruit drums have a better sound and mahogany drums can contribute to over-harvesting of mahogany. We can have drums custom carved with designs of your choice, and have existing styles from dragons to barongs. Drums can be painted or hand carved.
Balinese Kites
We purchase Balinese kites directly from someone in Ketut’s village that founded a business making dragon kites, butterfly kites, eagle kites, and a variety of other designs from giant kites 15 feet in diameter to beautiful "art kites" of a few feet in wingspan. The larger kites fly and the smaller ones are great for decoration
Bamboo Wind Chimes
We carry a variety of bamboo wind chimes, from simple chimes to more elaborate. They come in natural bamboo color, and with a variety of colors and painted designs. Bamboo chimes make great housewarming gifts and are a great addition to home and garden décor. The sound of bamboo chimes is very relaxing and bamboo is a very sustainable resource, making them very environmentally sound. "They make a great sound for your home environment and are environmentally sound" .
Again, we work directly with people making the chimes.
Clothing
We work with a family in Bali to make our unique fair trade clothing. From sarongs, beach wear and scarves to silk shirts and silk dresses we have a variety of contemporary and exotic clothing. The garment making takes place in a comfortable family setting in a small shop, unlike most other clothing which often comes from Indonesian sweatshops. While the largest selection of our unique fair trade clothing is in our store in Athens Ohio, we have a selection on-line as well. In addition to what is on the site we also sell clothing wholesale and can make custom clothing of unique design.
Bali Silver Jewelry
The village of Celuk, in Bali, is known around the world for the quality of its silver jewelry. From unique "woven silver" chain necklaces to abalone, mother of pearl, amber, amethyst, garnet rings, pendants, and bracelets we offer a variety of unique jewelry for every style.
Fair Trade and Balinese Art and Artists
There is no "certification" for fair trade clothing and art as there is for coffee, chocolate, sugar, and some other commodities. Transfair certifies fair trade commodities, but such a system is not yet in place for non-food items.
We describe Bali Karma as a "fair trade" store because we are committed to the values of fair trade and started Bali Karma with the purpose of having a positive impact in the world. Profit is not the point of Bali Karma. Being able to support producers in Bali and Indonesia and to be able to eventually support indigenous and environmental conservation efforts in Indonesia is the reason we exist.
The summer of 2006 I spent two months in Bali and Lombok, spending my own money to meet with producers we work with, identify sources of wood from more sustainable forestry sources, and identify ways we could have a positive impact.
One can always do more, but our use of the term "fair trade" expresses our commitment to relationships with producers in the developing world that are based on a desire for all to be able to prosper and support their families and communities. In this era of globalization we are all "neighbors" and need to support each other.
We have been approved by Co-op America as a "green business" and have applied for Fair Trade Federation membership as further testimony to our social and ecological commitments.
The Shop
Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains is the small college town of Athens Ohio. A unique place with brick-paved streets, beautiful hills all around and wonderful people Athens is a great place to visit on vacation. The nearby Hocking Hills and different Ohio State Parks such as Burr Oak, Strouds Run and Lake Hope, combined with plentiful cabins, bed and breakfasts, and tourism attractions draw people from all across Ohio and beyond.
Halloween in Athens Ohio is the big attraction for many students, coming for its exotic costumes and, sometimes excessive, party, but visitors to Athens County have been coming, more and more, for its arts and music.
Visitors to Nelsonville Ohio, down the road from Athens, come for great music at Stuart’s Opera House and to visit the numerous art shops and artist studios in Nelsonville. Only 15 minutes drive from Athens a trip to Nelsonville can be combined with a visit to the Bali Karma store in Athens, and visits to the other Hidden Treasures in our neighborhood.
Athens, especially, is known for its great food, with wonderful restaurants including Casa Nueva, Purple Chopstix, the Blue Gator, Seven Sauces, Stephens, Toscano’s, Lui Lui’s, and more. Just off route 33 from Columbus is Zoe’s restaurant in the old mining town of Eclipse. Call for directions as Zoe’s has no sign. They don’t have to…
The Bali Karma shop has been especially popular for unique Christmas gifts, Chanukah gifts, wedding presents, house warming gifts, and baby showers, and is considered by many to be one of the best Ohio unique gift destinations. The silver jewelry has been popular among students, visitors, and local residents, and the unique Balinese art from weavings to wood carvings are mostly found no where else in Ohio. For people looking for Ohio fair trade gifts Bali Karma is one of the top destinations in the state.
The store is at 22 E State St., Athens, OH 45701 and is part of the Hidden Treasures neighborhood of Athens.
It is located in Uptown Athens, just off of Court St. in the historic downtown area with brick paved streets. (Note- we call downtown "uptown" here. Go figure!).
Bali Karma was voted "Best New Business in Athens Ohio" by the Athens News, and we have also been recognized as one of the top gift shops in Athens for our unique gifts for all occasions. Stop on in, you’ll be glad you did!
Fair Trade Photos
In my travels to Bali and Lombok I also have accumulated a portfolio of fair trade photos. A few are on the web site here under Bali Photographs, but I also have many more.