Bali's Ubud gets its third fine art museum

By Amir Sidharta

UBUD, Bali (JP): Another museum of fine art opened here yesterday. After six years of preparations, the Agung Rai Museum of Art is now open to public. Prior to its opening, Bali had six museums. Of today's seven museums, four focus on Balinese paintings and three are situated around Ubud, the heart of the island's art.

Will the opening of the Agung Rai Museum of Art mean competition for the existing museums? Apparently not. Last month, Agung Rai was in Jakarta to report the preparation for the opening of his museum to Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro. He was accompanied by Suteja Neka, the founder of the Ubud's famous Museum Neka and Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa, the director of the Museum Puri Lukisan, Ubud's oldest museum.

"The three museums are inter-related, they support and complement each other," said Neka. "There is really no reason for us to feel that we are competitors." He added that each of the three museums has its own mission.

The Museum Puri Lukisan was established in the 1950s by Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati with the advice of Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet. Its mission is to preserve the works of Balinese artists associated with the Pita Maha foundation. The Pita Maha, established in 1936 by Tjokorda Gde Agung Sukawati, Tjokorda Gde Raka Sukawati, and I Gusti Nyoman Lempad was meant to "give the Balinese inspiration in their creativity and to promote Balinese art."

Museum Neka was also founded under the guidance of Rudolf Bonnet. In 1975, the Dutch painter invited the school teacher to visit museums in Europe.

"Of course, Bonnet did not want me to create the same kind of museum as the Museum Puri Lukisan. He showed me a different direction," Neka explained. The museum that was needed, Neka thought, was one that included the works of non-Balinese artists whose art contributed to the development of painting in Bali.

Museum Neka was opened in 1982 as the second museum in Ubud. The collection includes a comprehensive selection of Balinese art and also works of Indonesian and international artists inspired by Bali.

As the latest addition to the center of Balinese painting, the Agung Rai Museum of Art presents yet another collection which can be used for comparative study. Certain painters whose works are not displayed in Museum Neka are represented in the Agung Rai Museum of Art.

Bonnet once said to Neka, "each museum must have its own uniqueness which reflects its personality and becomes its own identity. If a museum is established just by duplicating the contents and mission of another museum, that museum would not have any value."

Neka pointed out that although the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam were close to each other, each has its own attraction and specialty.

"Therefore, the existence of the two museums actually enhance each other," he stressed.

The Agung Rai Museum of Art certainly presents something different to the Ubud art scene. The Museum Puri Lukisan features the best works of the Pita Maha. Museum Neka has a pavilion solely dedicated to the works of painter Arie Smit and the Balinese artists whom he influenced. Meanwhile, the jewel of the Agung Rai Museum of Art is a portrait of the Regent of Magelang by Raden Saleh and one of the most interesting works by German painter Walter Spies.

"Walter Spies was not only a painter but also a composer and a choreographer," reminded Agung Rai.

"In many ways he is like most Balinese artists. At the Agung Rai Museum of Art, I want to present not only works of art. It will be a place where visitors can also enjoy music and dance. And the Balinese, including my father, can also continue to till the soil of the paddy fields around the museum," he added.

Although his name indicates noble origins, Agung Rai was born into a common peasant family in Peliatan, south of Ubud. He dreamed about establishing this museum since he was very young. As he offered paintings to tourists on the street, he envisioned a large structure in which he would present the masterpieces of Balinese art.

This dream gradually materialized. In the mid-1980s he opened his gallery in Peliatan. After accumulating a fortune trading art works, he was able to accumulate plots of land in Pengosekan, also south of Ubud, where he planned to build his museum.

After more than five years of developing the land, what he created is more than a museum. Next to the main, south entrance, the Kokokan Club Hotel and Restaurant cater to the needs of tourists visiting Ubud. A secondary entrance to the west of the museum is marked by the presence of another restaurant, L'Asparagus. This entrance leads visitors to the open stage where musical and dance performances are held. The museum itself is housed in a monumental main building and an adjacent building where temporary exhibitions will be held. Nearby, an outdoor coffee shop serves as a place of intermission, offering museum- goers the real views to the surrounding rice fields, as an alternative to the representational views they have been seeing through the paintings.

Planned with so many supporting elements, the Agung Rai Museum of Art has been created as a sincere destination, an Ubud must. The Agung Rai Museum of Art adds to the synergy that already exists among the other museums and galleries.

The numerous art museums in Ubud makes the town an tantalizing tourist destination. Today, Ubud is synonymous with Balinese art. The personalities behind the three leading museums of Ubud -- Neka, Tjokorda Raka and Agung Rai -- have a more ambitious vision. They want to make their hometown the center of Indonesian painting.