Rainy day outing

Part of the lovely entrance ticket

There's never a bad time to visit a gallery, but rainy days are ideal. Yes, it's still raining on and off, much to the puzzlement of everyone. When we were down at the coast last week, we were told that there had been no rain at all. Yesterday also marked three calendar months since our arrival in Ubud. Three more (minus a few days) to go, so we are on the downhill run.

So once the heavy 'hujan' had eased, we headed up to town to visit Museum Puri Lukisan, the gallery just down from the Palace. This was another of the 'must visit one day' places as we had walked past so many times without going in. Ordinary admission is Rp50000 but for a little extra, afternoon tea is included and a little extra again, a full meal. We opted for afternoon tea in the small dining area set in gorgeous gardens. The museum was established in the 1950s, designed in part by Lempad whose works figure prominently. The other influential designer was the Dutch artist Rudolf Bonnet who spent a great deal of time here. Puri Lukisan will host a large exhibition of Lempad's art in August next year with works being brought back to Bali from collections throughout the world.

The grounds are stunning, even in the drizzle. Four pavilions house the art that ranges from 16th century pieces on cloth (some in need of conservation) to as up to date as this year, more of which later. You could easily spend an hour in each pavilion seeking detail in the intricate paintings, drawings and carvings and reading the signage. We observed some Western teenagers obviously there under sufferance allowing an average of one second per piece, but perhaps they will return as interested adults one day.

Looking beyond Gallery 3

Sculpture in banyan tree

No photographs were allowed in these galleries but in the second area our viewing was accompanied by the security man practising his gamelan. Quite charming.

With three galleries down there wasn't a lot of time to visit the fourth, a new exhibition of young artists that had just opened, but we thought we would do a quick skim. What we hadn't realised was that the work was all in the Batuan style, a genre we had first seen and enjoyed at the Neka last year. Batuan paintings are still very dense, covering the entire canvas, but they include social commentary and have a Where's Wally (or Waldo, if you are reading in the US) quality. You could spend ages reading them and would notice something different with every viewing. These were for sale, and photographs were allowed. We would love to own one, but prices have already exceeded our budget. The Rp50000 catalogue was excellent value however as it has images of all the paintings and the text of the commentary.

And when I say as up to date as this year, this one was finished within a month of the incident. The picture is called 'Lion Floating Happily' and is by I Ketut Sadia.

We ran out of time, but we still have weeks to return and revisit this current exhibition. A section of this pavilion was devoted to the influence of one of Bali's most loved rulers, Tjokorda* Gede Agung Sukawati, who appears to be a most interesting and humble man. The memorabilia deserves more time than we could allow, and as there is nothing I can find on the Internet about him other than passing reference such as this list of monarchs, a few images and reference to a book he has written perhaps it's time for even Wikipedia to catch up.

More paintings from Batuan below:

Harley Rally (detail) by I Ketut Manggi

Benoa Beach* (detail) by Dewa Ketut Margawa

Funeral ceremony (detail) by Ni Wayan Merti

 *Modern spelling = Cokorda. C is always prounced Ch in Bahasa Indonesia.
** Benoa Bay is the site of a controversial plan to reclaim part of the harbour and construct a F1 racing track and a Disneyland 'attraction'.

Lempad of Bali

What are you going to do for six months? I've said this before, but this was the refrain from many people when we first revealed our Ubud plans. Well, there is no shortage of stimulating events to keep us more than busy. In the past week we have had something on every night. Last night, Friday, there was a choice of three events we could have happily attended. We have been attending the Flyday night quiz each week, and the table has been doing pretty well, but last week we flagged our absence as there was a one-off screening coming up of a 1980 documentary that sounded fascinating.

 Then, conflict. On Thursday night at the Bar Luna UWRF Festival preview night we discovered that a locally-based author would be talking about his book, and it is on a subject that interests us enormously, but so did the film's subject matter. With both on at the same time, a reluctant decision needed to be made. We might not get a chance to see the film again, but we could always read the book. Betel Nut and Lempad of Bali it was.

 The late John Darling was an Australian film maker and Bali aficionado who lived for many years in Ubud. When he died a couple of years ago, it was to the sound of the Balinese music he had come to love. In the 1970s he became very close to Lempad, a revered Balinese artist and architect who was producing amazing work even as a centenarian. Just do a Google image search to see some his unbelievable output. When Lempad died in 1978, he was 116 years old.

Asked by the family to film their patriarch's cremation, a huge affair given the status of the artist, John Darling quickly realised that the story needed to honour the man and his achievements in the context of Balinese history over his lifetime. The result was the film we were privileged to watch last night. We learned so much, particularly about the resistance to both the Dutch and Japanese conquerors of the island. We learned about the buildings in Ubud we walk past every day that were designed by Lempad, particularly the Palace, which the Prince of the time built to better rivals in other regencies. And we saw the art, which will be honoured in a special exhibition at Puri Lukisan next year. There is also a Lempad section in the Neka Museum.

If you love Balinese culture, or are interested in learning more, do seek out this wonderful film.

And what did we miss at Bar Luna? A talk by Richard Lewis about his book Bones of the Dark Moon, which explores the events of 1965 and 1966; the years of massacre. Until very recently nobody has been talking much about this terrible era, but writers are starting to tell the story. Another is Cameron Forbes, whose book Under the Volcano, looks at a broader bloody history of the island.

We were so sorry to have missed Richard's talk but will definitely be reading his book. So much more to tell about the week past, but it will have to wait.

So the question really should be asking if we have plans for a rest any time soon. We're not complaining.