Bali Museums Guide

Arma Museum

The Agung Rai Museum of Art (or ARMA as it’s commonly known) was officially opened in June 1996. The Arma building is a compound including a resort, restaurants, painting classes, a museum and also an open stage for performing arts. The museum showcases a permanent painting exhibition by Balinese, Indonesian and foreign artists, including the collection of the Arma Foundation and work loaned from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Agung Rai, and ranges from traditional to contemporary works by Walter Spies, Willem Gerald Hofker, Rudolf Bonnet, Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres, Raden Saleh Syarif Bustman and Willem Dooijwaard. The facilities provide the opportunity to enjoy theatre, music and traditional Balinese dance every Saturday and Sunday night.

Location: Jalan Pengosekan, Ubud
Tel: +62 0361 975742

Museum Agung Rai

Sprawling all over six hectares, the Museum Agung Rai was built based on the concept of a "living museum". It displays paintings and holds stage presentations for various art forms; and is a place for karawitan. It comes complete with an arts library and book gallery, hotel, restaurant, cafe, and coffee shop. One of the museums main specialty is its terrific views of Ubud, with rice fields and trenches integrated into part of the museum.

Location: Ubud

Museum Neka

The superb Neka Museum, in Campuan, is another excellent museum, with marvelous collections of traditional Balinese paintings by local artists and foreign artists who lived in Bali; and items of modern Balinese art. The museum stores art from the Kamasan style of the 16th century to modern 20th century paintings. The whole collection is displayed chronologically, to provide an overview of Bali's history of fine arts.

The Neka Gallery on Jalan Raya , and the Agung Rai Gallery in Peliatan are some of Bali's largest and most important.

Location: Raya Camphuan St. Kedewatan Village, Ubud

Museum Puri Lukisan

Founded by Rudolf Bonnet and Cokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, Ubud's Museum Puri Lukisan houses a permanent collection of Balinese painting from the turn of the century; displaying fine examples off all schools of Balinese art. This museum has a collection of 150 painting and 62 pieces of sculptures. The first fine arts museum in Bali, it has a valuable aim of culturing Bali's very aesthetic art and culture for its next generation.

Location: Jalan Raya Ubud, Ubud

Seniwati Art Gallery

This gallery was established in 1991 by Mary Northmore, the very personable wife of famous painter Abdul Azis; with the aim of helping Balinese women to be accepted as artists; and also to expose the long hidden and unrecognised brilliance of women artists in Bali. The gallery also serves to motivate, train and encourage young talented Balinese girls achieve their full potential in the world of arts.

Location: Jalan Sriwedari 2B, Banjar Taman, Ubud
Tel: +62 361 975485

Museum Le Mayeur

This memorial museum immortalizes the memory and enduring love of a pair of lovers - Le Mayeur and Ni Polok. All displays and exhibits are from the collection of Le Mayeur's paintings.

Location: Sanur

Museum Manusa Yadnya

Just as its name implies, the Museum Manusa Yadnya details items regarding the process of a human's life from the womb to the tomb.

Location: Taman Ayun

Museum Negeri Propinsi Bali

This museum in Denpasar was founded by the Yayasan Bali Museum in December 8, 1932. It has interesting exhibits of traditional tools, crafts, masks and costumes from all over Bali; and displays archaeological items and a collection of ethnographical exhibits.

Location: Denpasar

Museum Gedong Kirtya

This wonderful museum in Singaraja is a display of thousands of ancient Balinese letters in chronological order; the kakawin, or old Balinese poetry; and the geguritan which written on the palm leaf. All these and more are stored in the original building that was built in 1928 and still standing tall today.

Opening Hours: Monday-Thursday 07:00-14:30, Friday 07:00-12:00 and Saturday 07:00-13:00
Location: 20 Jalan Veteran, Singaraja

Museum Gedong Arca

Located in the Bedulu Village, this museum's collection is dedicated to archaeological items reflecting the history of Bali's cultural development.

Location: Bedulu Village near Gianyar

Museum Subak

Tabanan is a region popularly known as Bali's 'rice warehouse'. Hence, it is no surprise to learn that Tabanan is home to the Subak Museum, which houses a vast collection of, what else, but agricultural items. An interesting display to take note of is Bali's typical watering system, called Subak, the museum's namesake.

Location: Tabanan

Museum Manusia Purba

The Museum Manusia Purba, at the western end of Bali, was established in 1990s. It all began with an archaeological expedition of Dukuh Cekik in 1962, by R.P. Soejoeno from the Bali Archaeological Service. The expedition estimated that approximately 2,000 years ago, the stone age man dwelled on the site of the museum.

Location: Gilimanuk

Museum Seni Lukis Klasik

This museum is owned by the talented Nyoman Gunarsa, and is used as an outlet by the man himself to exhibit his masterpieces, completing the museum's collection, which documents the classical paintings of Bali. The Museum Seni Lukis Klasik is located in the village of Banda village.

Location: Takmung village (5 km west of Klungkung town centre on the main road to Gianyar)