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This essay addresses the commodification of culture in Bali, Indonesia from its historical roots to the present-day obstacles that music and cultural tourism face – all through the lens of my own encounters with the island in an autoethnography of sorts. Tourism in Bali serves simultaneously as a means of essentializing Balinese culture (standardizing performance and experiences) and of widening the scope of Balinese performance. Here, cultural tourism shapes Balinese identity. With cultural tou