TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Agung Rai: A guardian of Balinese art

JP/Intan TanjungA man – dressed like most guides in Bali with the udeng traditional hat, sarong and sandals – was sitting at a coffee shop in the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA)

Intan Tanjung (The Jakarta Post)
Mon, July 7, 2014

Share This Article

Change Size

Agung Rai: A guardian of Balinese art

JP/Intan Tanjung

A man '€“ dressed like most guides in Bali with the udeng traditional hat, sarong and sandals '€“ was sitting at a coffee shop in the Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA).

But he was not a guide or a gardener as he tells most of the museum'€™s visitors. He was Agung Rai, better known as Gung Rai, the museum'€™s founder.

Across from him, a group of artists was deep in their own world '€” painting, carving and creating art.

Known as a reputable art dealer back in the 1980s and 1990s, Gung Rai has become an ambassador for Balinese art to the world.

A recently released book titled Gung Rai: Kisah Sebuah Museum (Gung Rai: Story of A Museum), written by Jean Couteau and Warih Wisatsana, captures a story behind ARMA and the lifelong journey of its founder who through hard work made the dream of many Balinese artists come true.

'€œPainting is like meditation,'€ he said in a soft and calm voice. '€œIt was my hobby since I was kid. I used to paint but I know it was not my world.'€

As the son of Anak Agung Aji Punia, a farmer and former soldier who fought for the country'€™s independence in North Badung, art was not a new thing to him.

Although he was raised in a poor family, he was already familiar with the names of masters '€” including '€œTuan Tepis'€ or Walter Spies, Bonnet, Antonio Blanco and several painters who lived in Ubud during his childhood.

With his friends, Gung Rai attended art class where he learned how to paint. He also learned about art from his neighbor while working as a helper in his house.

'€œI knew the techniques and the steps, but I couldn'€™t create something that looked perfect. Compared to my friends, my painting was always such a mess,'€ he said in the book. '€œIt'€™s annoying, but I didn'€™t give up.'€

When he was young, Gung Rai held odd jobs to earn money, such as gathering fire wood and babysitting.

His life took a twist in the 1960s, when foreigners began traveling in greater numbers to Indonesia and Bali.

One time, young Gung Rai was about to go to Ubud to visit the Pita Maha artists when he saw a few foreign backpackers bargaining for the price of transportation. Amid the bargaining, another Balinese man tried to sell a belt to the tourists. The scene inspired Gung Rai.

He decided to make contact with tamiu '€” a word for foreigner in that time '€” and began bringing tourists to many interesting places in Ubud.

His ultimate motivation was actually to learn English, but since he received positive feedback from tourists and requests from fellow friends to help out, he became a street seller of souvenirs.

It was then that he realized the large potential of introducing Balinese art and paintings to tourists.

With his knowledge of art, he did not just sell paintings to tourists but also the stories, techniques and culture behind them.

From Ubud, he traveled to the growing hubs of Kuta and Sanur, making contact with more tourists, gaining more knowledge and establishing networks with art shops along the way.

Slowly, he built a reputation as an art dealer with a sharp eye for good paintings. He did not just sell the artworks but also added to his own private collection.

From there, his dream took off.

'€œI have had this goal since I was a child and I have just been trying to make it come true. Although I was a street seller, I did not do it for the money. I wanted to build a gallery, so it was a long process,'€ said the 59-year-old.

His vision was not just any gallery '€” but a house for his collection built on the Balinese architectural philosophy, complete with a traditional garden, giving visitors an authentic experience.

Together with his wife Suartini, he bought a plot of land and built Agung Rai Fine Art Gallery shortly after they got married in 1977.

Then, on June 9, 1996, the gallery was expanded and officially became the ARMA. Then education and culture minister Wardiman Djojonegoro inaugurated the museum.

The inspiration for the museum came when he traveled to the Netherlands to study international art event organizing and painting preservation.

'€œI was impressed by the mastery of art experts in Holland in preserving masterpieces and showing them to the public to appreciate. And also by how proud the people and the government were with their museums,'€ the father of three recalled in the book.

He got an opportunity to visit the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo outside Amsterdam, which houses the works of masters such as Vincent Van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci.

He said he was impressed with the location and blueprint of the building, which was built on a hill in a rural landscape.

An image of his homeland immediately touched his mind. The building should be more than just a showcase '€” it should capture the history, the journey of Balinese art and serve as the center of art education.

He wanted the building to become a living museum of Ubud'€™s beauty '€” like how artists captured Balinese culture, philosophy, rituals and ecosystems in their paintings '€” packaged in a single concept.

'€œI wanted ARMA to become a different museum that could symbolize '€˜open'€™ and '€˜welcome'€™,'€ he said.

'€œIn the future, I hope ARMA can serve society, help local artists, build an open air stage, a seminar room, all depending on what the museum and society need.'€

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.