Free Wyllie

hamish daud wyllie is a fun-loving, carefree, silly man, but he’s also the creative director of tarita furniture, one of the largest furniture companies on the island, an architect-cum-designer with saka designs, and an art aficionado with a charitable heart at the age of 30.

so who is hamish daud wyllie? How about I give you a brief surface rundown. Currently, I am design director at Saka – which focuses on architecture and design. I am also creative director of Tarita Furniture. My mother was born in Singapore to Boyanese parents (an island north of Madura, Central Java) and my father is Australian. I’ve been based here in Bali since I was a baby but spent time travelling between Jakarta, Singapore and Sydney.

how do you balance out all these businesses, have a life and manage to not burn out? Well, I’ve pretty much mastered the art of looking busy [laughs]. No, I really owe much of my work credit to my partners Novan and Aan and the rest of the team from Saka Designs and Tarita. We all have something to bring to the table and have respect for each other’s visions. Respecting each other at work is very important.

Being in Bali, there are always ways to unwind. But if I see a gap in the schedule, I usually try and head down to Sumba to visit my dad. He usually has his ways of clearing my mind and looking at things differently.

what is your passion in life? Learning, seeing, touching, and tasting new things in life. You need to learn something everyday. So, I guess I love to tell stories about the journey.

I’m currently working very closely with Arief Rabik of Indo Bamboo (Linda Garland) on ways to push sustainability into our industries – both design and architecture. Subjects such as bamboo and other low-emission categorised products and ideas are exciting the possibilities of our future. I pretty much learn something new every time I come over to his house!

you were busy with setting up a new studio, what is that about? Well, the studio is a new chapter for Tarita Furniture. Now, under the same roof, we provide architectural services focusing on both the hospitality industry and private residential projects. The space is a hub for clients and designers to come in with an idea, and we basically execute it for them.

tell me more about blowing smoke, the exhibition/ auction/ fundraiser taking place this month at tarita studio. There are over 30 established artists donating work to this exhibition so we should see some cool things. All proceeds will be donated to the Narayan Seva childrens home in Singaraja. Two women who have dedicated their lives to sheltering built this place, educating and nurturing marginalized and disadvantaged children in an all encompassing approach.

Art has always been a great platform with helping charities. It also allows up and coming artists to get exposure. I think it’s a healthy relationship between everyone involved.

what are your hobbies? Food and laughter. I would have said surfing, but it just gets too crowded here these days.

what are you busy with at the moment? We have a few projects on at the moment in the region and abroad. I have this jinx thing that every time I talk something up before completion, it crumbles. Promise to tell you once I’m done, though!

what do you think about bali’s current wave of spiritual tourism? Well, to me, it’s funny that tourism has only just now tapped into this niche. Spirituality is something most of us grew up with here; I just hope that Bali and its culture don’t get exploited anymore than it has. However, if tastefully done and capturing the right amount of nostalgia and knowledge, it could be a winner.

recently, the tourism industry in bali has exploded and developments are sprouting everywhere, what do you think of that? I think as far as development, we went through a shocking couple of years where money was pouring in almost too quickly (post-bombings) and the lack of vision and site planning caused upsetting design and infrastructure or lack thereof.

Bali is an affordable place to holiday, bringing in people from all ends of the world. I think the Balinese people are strong enough to maintain their values and not get too fussy about wild holidaymakers. Thankfully, Kuta and Seminyak are a very small aspect of Bali – tourism-wise.

A firmer council regulation would be great in order to control developments sprouting too quickly without much thought to the surrounding environment. Let’s keep Bali beautiful!

what will you be doing on nyepi (seclusion day)? Nyepi is a sacred and holy day here, so we usually spend our time exploding fireworks and being completely mad. I’m kidding. No, I’m guessing I’ll be with a close group of friends somewhere nice.

where do you see yourself in five years? The future hasn’t happened yet and the past is gone. So I think the only moment we have is right here and now, and I try to make the best of those moments – the moments that I’m in. I think Annie Lennox said that. That’s pretty much where my head is at. •

Check out www.tarita.com and www.sakadesigngroup.com to learn more about Hamish Daud Wyllie’s work