Summary

Gilbert closes her book with a story about Bali. When Western tourism opened up in Bali in the 1960s, tourists became fascinated with sacred Balinese dances. The Balinese began performing their sacred dances in resorts for tourists, happy to share their ritual and earn extra income. Westerners were scandalized that the sacred dances were being profaned by performances outside temples, but the Balinese believe divinity exists everywhere, not just in religious houses. To please the scandalized tourists, the Balinese developed new dances with no religious associations to perform at resorts. However, over time, these new dances became as spiritually significant to the Balinese as the old ones, and they were incorporated into religious practice. The lines between sacred and profane, and high art and low art were completed blurred.

To conclude, Gilbert summarizes the paradoxes of creativity. Art is sacred and...