Painters, dancers and the gamelan: Bali’s arts

About Painters, dancers and the gamelan: Bali’s arts

By the ULTIMATE Bali Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

In Bali, art is not kept apart from life: dance is performed for the gods, carvings guard the gates of every compound and the gamelan plays at every ceremony. Ubud, home to painters since the early 20th century, has the island’s great museums, ARMA and the Museum Puri Lukisan among them, and stages for dance every evening. Around it lie the craft villages: Celuk for silver, Mas for woodcarving, Batuan for its detailed painting.

The painters of Ubud

ARMA, the Agung Rai Museum of Art on Jalan Raya Pengosekan, shows Balinese and Indonesian painting in gardens on the south side of Ubud. The Museum Puri Lukisan, in the centre, is devoted to Balinese painting and carving.

Dance and the gamelan

The Legong, a dance of girls in gold brocade, the Barong, the battle of good and evil, and the Kecak, chanted by a circle of men, are performed for visitors in Ubud and at Uluwatu, as well as in temples at festival time. The gamelan, an orchestra of bronze gongs and metallophones, plays them all.

See a dance performance in the evening in Ubud: the Legong at the palace, or the Kecak at sunset at Uluwatu.

The craft villages

On the road between Denpasar and Ubud, Celuk is known for silverwork, Mas for woodcarving and Batuan for its painting.

Festivals

The Bali Arts Festival (Pesta Kesenian Bali) takes over the Taman Werdhi Budaya Art Centre in Denpasar each year in June and July. The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival brings writers to Ubud each autumn. On the eve of Nyepi, villages parade ogoh-ogoh, giant effigies of demons, through the streets.

Our advice: check performance times at your hotel or the venue on the day; schedules change around ceremonies.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Painters, dancers and the gamelan: Bali’s arts before you go.