Golden dancer, TONYRAKA Art Gallery, Ubud.
Stone sculpting, wood carving, batik making, weaving, pottery and puppetry are just some of Bali’s traditional arts preserved through ancestry and dedicated practice by master craftspersons. These creative expressions have endured for centuries using simple tools, natural materials, and exceptional ability to adorn temples, dramatize legends, convey sacred messages, and build extraordinary structures. You’ll find works of art and antiquity actively promoted and displayed at galleries, shops and showrooms in Ubud, stimulating a broader appreciation for Bali’s cultural inheritance.
Tools of the wood carver, Ubud.
A mural emerges from stone, Ubud.
Kuluk Gallery: Kuluk and sister location Celeng Gallery specialize in rare textiles, furniture, and vintage collectibles sourced and reclaimed from throughout Indonesia. Browsing these shops is a walk through history. One-of-a-kind finds await your discovery.
Antique puppets convene at Kuluk Gallery, Ubud.
Studio 22K Gallery: Some of the finest examples of Indonesian silk batik and indigenous ikat exquisitely woven from resist-dyed cotton yarns can be purchased at this elegant showroom in the heart of Ubud.
TONYRAKA Art Gallery: Tony Hartawan is a leading curator and advocate for Indonesian tribal and contemporary art. His gallery displays a stunning collection of traditional crafts, sculpture and paintings. Enjoy lunch or dinner at the gallery’s modern ArtLounge restaurant.
ARMA Museum & Gallery: One of the most influential western artists to make Bali home in the years before WWII was Walter Spies. Spies immersed himself in Indonesian life and energized the local arts community with new perspectives. He attracted international luminaries to Bali — anthropologists, actors, musicians, novelists, painters — who broadened the world’s awareness of the island’s allure. Spies’ moody paintings, on permanent exhibit at the ARMA Gallery, have become iconic representations of Bali’s burgeoning art movement of the 1920s-30s. ARMA also offers workshops and theatrical and dance performances.
Uncover your artistic soul immersed in these aesthetic traditions.
Colors bloom on canvas, Ubud. Photo: Linda Ching