Neka Art Museum, Bali | Exhibits to See | Things to Do

Neka Art Museum, Ubud Overview

Established by Balinese art lover Sujata Neka, the Neka Art Museum displays many wayangs and Ubud-style paintings, sculptures, Keris daggers, and photographs from the 1930s to contemporary times. The museum has six separate buildings with different galleries for paintings, artefacts, traditional old daggers, etc.

The museum features the work of indigenous and local artists, incorporating a variety of influences on Balinese art and showcasing the evolution of painting styles in the country through the decades. A visit to Neka Art Museum is both intuitive and delightful. The museum has a traditional Balinese architecture. The museum has a huge garden and is equipped with all the facilities to make it a comfortable visit.

Exhibits of Neka Art Museum

The first building from the entrance has kamasan-style wayang paintings about ancient legends and myths like Ramayana. There are Batuan-style painting and paintings depicting the foreign influence on Balinese artworks, the collection contains paintings by Rudolf Bonnet and German painter Walter Spies. The highlights of the second building are the works of young artists as a part of the 'Young artist movement' in 1960.

The third building has some historic black and white photographs. The fourth is devoted to honour the famous Balinese sculptor Gusti Nyoman Lempad. The fifth and sixth building has modern artworks by acclaimed Indonesian and International artists. There are classic puppet style paintings dating back to the 17th century.

The museum has a collection of about 272 curved daggers called Keris and the collection is a result of the founder's passion as he traditionally belongs to the Pande Clan of Balinese smiths who made daggers.

History of Neka Art Museum

The museum was established in the year 1982 and has been named after a Balinese teacher Suteja Neka who has collected the exhibits of the museum. Neka gave up teaching to help his father, a famous woodcarver, to preserve artworks and Balinese traditional paintings. He started with a small shop in 1966 where he sold paintings to foreign tourists.

Neka later started collecting works of famous artists and with the advice and support of famous Dutch artist Rudolf Bonnet, Neka Museum was established. Neka museum can be considered an attempt to preserve and cherish the Balinese history, culture and developments.

It serves the purpose to inspire and establish a sense of pride amongst the future generations about the Balinese art, culture, development and continuity.