Neka Art Museum

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia Travel Guide

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Neka Art Museum

Overview: This museum is Bali’s premier masterpiece, so to speak. The Neka Art Museum has the reputation of being the finest museum in Bali for its breadth, history, diversity and Bali and Indonesia’s cultural representation. The Neka Art Museum is located in the northwest part of Ubud in the Kedewatan Village near the Villa Bukit Ubud.

Throughout its several exhibition pavillions (there are over a handful), the Neka Art Museum, founded in 1982, houses over three hundred works from Balinese artists as well as foreigners. You begin your tour of the museum at the Entrance Hall where you purchase a ticket for a mere Rp20,000. To the right of (or just south) of the Entrance Hall is nice, open air Reception Pavilion where you can enjoy refreshments. Along the far wall, there is a photo of Suteja Neka, a Balinese artist and school teacher, who founded the Neka Art Museum.

Head out north from the reception to the first exhibition pavilion, the Balinese Painting Hall, through a beautiful hallway. By the way, though access to the museum’s exhibition halls was limited limited due to staircases and routes of the museum, I was able to view the artwork in the first two exhibition halls. The Balinese Painting Hall has four exhibitions that show the progress and history of Balinese art, reflecting the developing culture of Bali. The first room displays “puppet style” paintings from the 17th century on These paintings depict narrative scenes from Balinese and Javanese literature. The second and third rooms exhibit paintings and objects that reflect life in the early 1900s. The artists here demonstrate influence of western art. The fourth room contains Batuan style art pieces.

The second exhibition hall is known as the Arie Smit Pavilion. The exhibition hall is split into lower and higher levels (physically by a staircase). The higher level has works by Arie Smith who focused on Balinese images such as Balinese landscapes. The lower level contains some abstract works by individual artists.

The third exhibition hall is the Photography Center. The fourth is the Lempad Pavillion. The fifth pavillion, Indonesian Contemporary Art Hall, presents works from a variety of Indonesian ethnic groups. The sixth hall is the East-West Art Annex, which contains Indonesian arts as well as works from international artists. The last exhibition pavillion, Special Exhibitions Hall, is split into a Temporary Exhibition Gallery where various exhibitions revolve.

Location: Jalan Raya Campuhan St, Kedewatan Village, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571
Site: www.museumneka.com
Ph: 62 361 975074
Hours: Mon – Sat, 9am – 5pm, Sun, 12pm – 5pm

Cost: Rp20,000 per adult ticket. Kids under 12 are free.

Accessibility: The Neka Art Museum is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible. There is about five large steps to enter the Entrance Hall and Reception Pavilion. Once up there, you can see the first exhibition hall but to see the second, you must go outside and down a flight of stone stairs.

Getting There: Hire a cab or driver.