Tomorrow! 29 March. An evening that will be remembered as “one of those moments” – – a “you should’ve been there” one. Talented photographer Doddy Obenk + important figures in traditional dance and performance. At Three Monkeys Sanur, 7pm. Note: Bring cash, credit card and checkbook. Acquire authentic fine art … Continue reading
Here’s the weirdest, wildest and probably the best event of the Bali summer season: Empire of the Sun at Potato Head Bali Beach Club in Petitenget, 19 August. Feeling a bit bored? Jaded? Nothing new to do? Under-awed by the faux-fabulousness of (yeah yeah) normal nightlife? Then pay attention.
Well, now we’ve gone and done it. HIV/AIDS thrives on ignorance and denial, and it’s thriving in Bali. A decade ago it was almost unheard of here; now it’s the stuff of headlines in the local Indonesian language newspaper almost every day. Today’s headline story, set off from the other … Continue reading
Biasa Artspace has been missing its mojo for months, during the extended absence of its founder, Susanna Perini. For most of 2010, a bevy of guest curators stepped in to keep the Biasa heart beating (“paddles, clear!”), with a round of satisfactory exhibitions – – most recently On Camera, a … Continue reading
I was contacted a few months ago by a niche events organiser asking if I would provide a cultural morning in Ubud for a celebrity wedding in August. I always welcome the opportunity to infect influential people with my incurable passion for all things Balinese, and this particular party was … Continue reading
When in Bali, please take my advice and listen to word of mouth — meaning Word of Mouth Bali, of course, the showroom-playroom of Valentina Audrito (below, out in front) and Abhishekar Khumbat (below, third from left), on Jalan Kunti in Seminyak. Val and Abhi always colour outside the lines … Continue reading
August and September (and now even October) are the high season in Bali and it is always hectic. Parties. Gatherings. Visitors. Vernissages. Launches. Lunches. Dinners. And all manner of special events and festivals. The huge number of visitors, both those we know and those we don’t know, makes it impossible … Continue reading
The Yak Awards is a grand orgy of self-congratulatory silliness (see acrobats at the party spelling out YAK in bodies, above), and if you understand that from the get-go, you’ll be a fan of the Yak Awards, just like we are. It’s a small-island phenomenon that’s basically a barrel of … Continue reading
The Living Room balanced the effect of KuDeTa’s annual I’m an Angel party this year by hosting a I’m a Devil party on the same night, July 31st, the last day before Bali’s official party season begins. We chose to go to the devil, since KuDeTa parties these past five … Continue reading
They call August the silly season in Bali. Well, I’ll drink to that. I did drink to that come to think of it, starting at the end of July. I toasted silliness in general on July 25th at the birthday beach party for Ian Macaulay of Elite Havens and a … Continue reading
Stereo.type, the subject of the current exhibition at Kendra Gallery, is one of the myriad projects of artist-designer-activist Ebon Heath. It consists of metamorphosed typography which transmits subtle messages about printed words themselves and their broadest meanings. The title Ebon selected for his website, “listeningwithmyeyes” voices eloquently the peculiar effect of freeing … Continue reading
Brazilian diva Bebel Gilberto gave a surprise concert last Friday at Hotel Tugu Bali. The lovely Lucienne Anhar, la princesa de Tugu is always full of surprises. She and her mischievous friends Valentina Audrito and Abhishake Kumbhat cooked up the idea of the concert just three days in advance. Bebel … Continue reading
Be at KuDeTa on Friday 26 February for a no-jive, all-live, art attack. Two UK artists painting live before your eyes to the tune of globally-regrooved hip hop, morphed tropical urban house and deep subterranean sounds spun by six (count ’em, six) DJs. This art extravaganza isn’t happening just for … Continue reading
Nice party. Beautiful people. Harrowing canvasses. Clearly, this ain’t no fooling around, even if it did take place in Bali, the ultimate island for fooling around, art-wise and otherwise. But a wonderland, Bali is not. A rabbit hole to wonderland, this exhibition is not. We are at Biasa Artspace, Bali’s … Continue reading
The gay mad whirl of the Bali High Season is supposed to end in September, but it seems we’re not having any of that! Last night there were three unmissable events on our agenda, and we made it to all three. 5pm: A sunset celebration for glam photographer and model … Continue reading
Start Here: Too Much Text If art works demand a seven page “curatorial essay” then perhaps there is something amiss, some loose threads in the fabric. Shall we examine some random loose threads trailing out with frayed ends from this unravelled exhibition? Bearing in mind that loose threads … Continue reading
It was a full moon, with a partial eclipse, and it was also my birthday. July 7. Auspicious, indeed. A well-chosen day for the grand opening of Oazia Spa Villas, a most unusual newcomer on the Bali spa and rental villas scene. The party was themed “white,” although it felt … Continue reading
The seasonal winds in Bali have finally shifted and the fresh, dry season has come. It happened suddenly, as if commanded by the hand of Pascal Morabito especially for the occasion of his latest wedding to his lovely wife, Marie Ève. They are so well-matched that they simply can’t resist … Continue reading
OK here we go, a bit late. The best gallery opening of the winter holiday high season in Bali was just before Christmas at Biasa Artspace. Indieguerillas were the artists, a husband and wife team out of Central Java, who hail from the worlds of interior and graphic design and … Continue reading
Who hung this show? I forgot to ask during the opening last Saturday at Komaneka Gallery. What was extraordinary to me, and what begged the question about who hung this show, was the spontaneous emergence of a narrative, revealed in the sequence of images considered in turn while circulating clockwise … Continue reading
Something profound happened at the opening reception for Davina Stephens’ exhibition entitled “This Side of Paradise” (Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort Jimbaran, 18 December). What happened is perhaps best voiced by considering the contrasts in Davina’s most recent work. On the one hand these are images that could be, and have … Continue reading
Friday night was the “Shhh! Speakeasy” dinner fundraiser for the Balinale Taksu Film Festival at the Ritz-Carlton in Jimbaran. What with the illicit teacup martinis on arrival, and brown-bagged bottles of hooch (excellent New Zealand red wine) handed out to every attendee, not to mention the fine works of literature on … Continue reading
Finally, here are photos from the Ugo Untoro/Filippo Sciascia vernissage at Biasa Artspace (which I posted about a couple weeks ago). Your patience has been rewarded. Sorry, no photos of Ugo. He’s kind of shy. The tense reciprocity of Ugo and Filippo’s collaborative works is visually arresting, and crackles with static electricity. Viewers were … Continue reading
On Tuesday I wrote about the past weekend’s wicked exploits. But no photos, so I had to illustrate the post with a painting by Davina Stephens, whose birthday party on the Bukit was the main event of the weekend. Now I have a few snapshots thanks to Carolyn Tyler, celebrated … Continue reading
It’s kite season in Bali, when strong trade winds from the east bring dry weather. Kite season means two things. It means crazy colourful skies. And it means crazy colourful parties. The good weather brings global party-goers and party-makers in droves. The Sleeping Tiger has had little sleep of late, … Continue reading
Last night we had our neighbours Alistair and Melissa Scott for sunset drinks at our almost-finished house in Pererenan, then had dinner with them at their home, Villa Mako. When they arrived at our place, Bruno was in a hot debate with our Javanese carpenter about upcharges on the cabinetry. … Continue reading
About a week ago, I posted my report on the re-opening party at Quarzia, a designer batik boutique around the corner from my office and almost-built gallery in Seminyak. I promised to post photos if Marco and Simonetta, the Quarzians themselves, would send me some pics to post. Well, I … Continue reading
Davina Stephens‘ paintings are a lush celebration of the fecundity of Bali. She expresses not only the fecundity of this tropical world in all its riotous exuberance, she reveals the fecundity that arises at the intersection of Bali with the rest of the world which beholds, adores and consumes it. … Continue reading
Friday evening we were at a sneak preview party at Pantai Lima, a collection of five luxury villas on the beach in Pererenan. Mary Justice, Bali’s PR whizz kid, pulled off this publicity coup with aplomb despite the unfinished state of the villas. She was looking distinctly piratical on the … Continue reading