Bali Art
Smaller museums in Ubud Bali
Ubud has some great museums such as the ARMA, Neka and Museum Blanco (for those with a sense of humor). Ubud also has some great smaller museums and here are a few.
Date: December 12th, 2006 |
Visiting the Lempad House in Ubud Bali
Bali has a list of famous artists from the 20th century. One of the most famous was I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, painter and sculptor, who is best know for his ink drawings of mythical Balinese Hindu scenes.
Date: November 27th, 2006 |
The Le Mayeur Museum in Sanur Bali
The history of Bali is dotted with foreigners who spent time here and somehow made a difference. One of those people was Belgian artist Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres (1880-1958). He arrived in Bali in 1932 and lived in the village of Klandis close to Denpasar. While living there he met a local Balinese dancer named Ni Pollok who was a famous legong dancer and considered the best in Bali.
Date: November 11th, 2006 |
Important people in Bali history: Antonio Blanco
Bali is an island of artists, or so it might seem at times. One of the famous foreign artists to live in Bali was Antonio Blanco, or ‘the Maestro’ as he liked to be called.
Date: March 16th, 2007 |
The Le Mayeur Museum: Sanur Bali
One of Bali’s famous expats was Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpes, a Belgian painter, who came to Bali in 1932. His story is that after travelling the world, and painting scenes of places such as Benares in india, he came too Bali, living first close to Denpasar. There he met a 15 year old Balinese dancer, Ni Pollok who was considered the best legong dancer in the whole of Bali. Le Mayeur indended only to stay in Bali for 8 months, but after painting Ni Pollok, and getting romantically involved, he decided to stay in Bali for good. Le Mayeur built a small house on Sanur Beach, which is now a museam. Admission is 2,000rp and the hours are Sun-Fri 8am-4pm. Inside the bungalow, Mike and I viewed some of Le Mayeur’s oil paintings, many of which feature the semi-clad Ni Pollok, or other Balinese ladies in the process of some activity, such as weaving.
Date: December 13th, 2006 |
Onstage: Bali’s stage community
Bali has its own stage community, that holds performances of dance, theatre, film and art. The community is called Onstage. Recently I met Jane Chen, one of the people involved in Onstage. She gave me the history and details of an upcoming event.
Date: November 30th, 2006 |
Threads Of Life in Ubud Bali
Ubud is a cultural center of Bali, a place many visitors head straight for, with the intention of enjoying the art, paintings, carvings, sculptures etc. Fiber arts are celebrated at a tiny place called Threads Of Life, located downtown.
Date: November 17th, 2006 |
Where to find Arts & Crafts in Bali
Bali is a mecca for arts and handicrafts. The way they do it over here, is that a particular village will specialize in one thing. I guess this started in the good old Bali tradition of ‘my neighbor is having success doing this, so I should copy’. One expat I talked to said it doesn’t occur to locals to sell other stuff. For example, in Celuk, the silversmith village, they don’t sell woodcarvings. But imagine if you were the only one selling woodcarvings, you might actually sell some!
Date: November 3rd, 2006 |