Screen printing in Bali

Hello! I am Chiara a young Italian designer living in London at the moment. I am considering moving to Bali in November as I would like to start producing some of my work over there and possibly set up an online store where I sell my prints and textiles.
I know that Bali is a very good place where to print on fabric, does anyone know if it is pebble to screen print on paper as well?

I have travelled a fair bit but never been to Bali, I am excited and scared at the same time, so any advice or suggestions on the topic would be very appreciated!

Thank you for your time.

Chiara

Screen printing can be done on a wide variety of things, including vinyls and papers, but your problem is more likely to be in the paperwork.
You could find a lot of problems working on the island as a work permit could be hard to get and you probably don't have the investment/aren't willing to invest the numbers you need to start a business.

Hi Fred
Thank you for your reply. I am already doing a fair bit of screen printing and I know it is a very versatile technique :)
My question was more regarding studios /businesses which are experienced in screen printing on paper (as the screens used for paper differ from the ones used for fabric). 

As I said previously I have never been to Bali, and I am not sure how bureaucracy works over there, but are you saying I need a work permit even just to get products done even though I will sell them online or in another country?

Thanks

Chiara

If you live in Indonesia and engage in work of any kind, you should have a work permit and/or start a company.
However ... if you only buy here and your sales are 100% for export, it's likely no one will care.
The trick is to be honest, telling immigration exactly what you intend and letting them decide.
As the trade would be good for Bali, provide work for locals and export products, they could well decide to ignore it.

Hi Chiara,

Thousands of foreigners come to Bali to buy products almost non stop, be it for placing orders of clothes, buying containers of furniture or ordering handicrafts. Bali is a massive export centre for all of this and more. If you plan to visit some factories and place orders for export then nobody will care as everyone is doing it. Even if you have a suitcase full of stuff you have bought, customs at the airport don't care because there is no issue. Your problem is more likely to be if you hand carry them through Heathrow or if you ship them back as you'll probably have to pay import taxes.

But if you plan to settle there and start a business then that is illegal unless you follow the regulations.

I used to make screen printed surfing T-shirts there some time ago,found ta factory making them and took those typical Bali surfing designs which you find in every souvenir shop and replaced the word Bali with a different name. The factory I worked with just passed the finished goods to my freight forwarder who consolidated them with other goods. It was a very long time ago.

But no idea about screen printing on paper. It sounds like the products could be interesting. The person to get advice from is Ubudian who lives in Bali and pretty much knows most of what there is to know there. Haven't seen him online recently but perhaps you could send him a message.

Hansson

Thank you so much for your reply, I will get in touch with him.