The year is 1937. The forty-two year old Hungarian sculptor Arthur Fleischmann stepped ashore onto Balinese soil from a small sailing boat that brought him across the Straits of Bali from Java. A new and exotic chapter in his life was about to open up in front of him. Armed with little more than a 35 mm Dolina camera and the sensitive eye of an artist, he recorded in over 1800 photographs the life, customs and beauty of the Balinese people.
Had it not been for the threat of the War in the Pacific, he would have remained there the rest of his life amongst the beauty, poise and calm of this exquisit paradise - sculpting and photographing the graceful young temple dancers that became his muses. Instead he escaped to Australia where he compiled a manuscript to accompany the Balinese photographs. In this book parts of that original manuscript are presented together with the best photographs from his collection.