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Ketut Murdantha

Ketut Murdantha was born in Sukawati village, in the Gelumpang region of Bali. He had a dream of becoming a dentist - he believes it was so because he often had problems with his own teeth when he was child. Unfortunately his parents couldn't pay for his studies in University. As carvers, his parents had to take care of six children and could give them only a basic education, merely until Elementary School. Murdantha's older brother went to another city to study and had to work hard to earn money for his own school fee. He became a schoolteacher and returned to his village and rather than marrying as expected by tradition, he decided to "sacrifice" his life in order to provide for his brothers' and sisters' education. The older brother wanted his siblings to prepare well for the future. He made Murdantha study and go to the University in order to have his dream come true. Unfortunately during his last semester at University he had no money to pay for his final test, so he had to drop out and give up his dream of becoming a dentist.

During these desperate times, Murdantha's father wisely told him such hard times were not the end of the world and that he could still do valuable things to continue with his life. This brought his confidence back and Murdantha decided to carry on his father’s work of carving and his works have been exhibited at Denpasar Art Center, Bali, in 2001.