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