Neka Museum, Bali Art Museum You Have to See in Ubud Bali

Artist are fortunate because they can livetwice: first during their own lifetimes, and then into the future via their works. Suteja Neka, a former school teacher intersted in art, collected paintings inspired by Bali so that fine examples remained on the island as sources of documentation, information and inspiration. To display this collection to residents and visitors, he opened NEKA Museum in 1976. It was recognized by the Indonesian government in 1982 with the establishment of the Yayasan Dharma seni (Foundation for Devotin to the Arts). Located in a garden setting overlooking a river valley, NEKA Museum is an ideal places to enjoy some of the finest atrworks by Balinese, other Indonesian, and foreign-born artist inspired by the magic and mistery of BALI.

The NEKA Museum collection is displayed in several buildings patterned after Balinese architecture. The main structures are for the permanent dispaly of th NEKA Museum's government registered collection. Another buidings is used for temporary exhibitions. The NEKA Museum has achieved high standards as a museum of international standing. By July of 1997 the NEKA Museum covered an area of 9150 square metres, with 2580 square meters of floor space. the buildings are well maintained and the artworks are displayed and organized historically.

SUTEJA NEKA
Pande Wayan Suteja Neka, better known as Suteja Neka was born in 1939 in the Vilaage of Peliatan in Ubud, Gianyar, south Bali. A former school teacher, he recognized the importance of education in maintaining culture. As a result, he established the NEKA Museum in 1982 in Ubud, the first privately owned institution recognized by the Indonesian goverment. Neka is director of the Yayasan Dharma Seni art foundation which manages the Neka Museum.

Suteja Neka is an art connoisseur. His father, I Wayan Neka, received recognation as the best carver in the province of Bali in 1960. He was the first Balinese to carve a three-metre tall statue of the Garuda bird for the Indonesia Pavillion at the New York world Fair in the United States of America in 1964, which was followed by another one for the same purpose at Expo '70 held in Osaka, Japan.

Suteja Neka begin collecting paintings of high quality due to his close friendship with Dutch artist Rudolf Bonnet and Arie Smit. In 1975 Suteja Neka and Bonnet travelled to Europe to view museum and galleries. Neka's aim to established a fine arts museum in Bali was reinforced by this journey. After years of planning, the Neka Museum officially was opened by then Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture, Dr Daoed Joesoef, on the 7th of July in 1982.

All in all, Neka Art Museum constitutes a notable microcosm of traditional and modern painting, in past and present Bali. As such, it represents as well an important institutional symbol of cultural preservation and a worthy example of artistic enterprice for all of Indonesia and the rest of the world.

Here are: Award & Neka Museum's Painting Artists

Adrien Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres, Born: Brussels, Belgium 1880
Arrived in Bali in 1932. Lived in Sanur in South Bali, he married Balinese legong dancer Ni Polok, who then became his prominent model. He died in Brussels in 1958.

His paintings can be found in his museum on the left (if we are facing the sea) of Grand Bali Beach hotel in Sanur, also at ARMA Ubud.