The Agung Rai Museum also known as ARMA museum is fortunate to possess a garden that adds to its attraction. The spacious six hectares of garden overlooking a stretch of rice fields and steep valley allows the obstinate eye to wander long past its visible boundaries and let imagination roam free, as you glance through the windows of the museum. That is if you can tear your eyes away even for a minute from the priceless collection unfolding before you within the museum.
The Agung Rai Museum of Art is housed in several buildings and is much more beyond a museum, being a cultural centre with space to conduct seminars, workshops, dance classes as well as theatre performances and also possess a charming arts library and book gallery together with a small café, a restaurant and coffee shop. Officially opened in 1996 by an Indonesian minister, the museum houses a priceless collection of art by Indonesian, Balinese as well as Bhutan and other international painters.
Among the most valuable items, the work of nineteenth century Javanese artist Raden Saleh Syarif Bustaman and Germen painter Walter Spies as well as the paintings belonging to Balinese famed names like Ida Bagus Made, Anak Agung Gde and Sobrat as well as foreign artists like Rudolf Bonnet, William Gerald Hofker hold a special attraction to the art enthusiast. The art pieces are well labelled in English as to be informative to the audience and also holds classic Kamasan collection as well as Bhutan style work belonging to the 1930s and 40s.
If you can reluctantly turn your eyes away from the complexities of art and drive them towards your shelter for the night, the best place to turn would be to one of the Bali luxury villas. One of the reputed venues of this nature is The Alila Villas Uluwatu that is held upon the cliffs where the limey cliffs sweep down to encounter the ocean and creates picture perfect visions outside its windows. Time seems to pause and the world seems surreal at these Bali resort villas perched atop the cliffs that look into the blue green sea world below as it creates a romance with the pristine beaches all year through.
Umanga Kahandawaarachchi is a passionate travel writer who writes under the pen name, Maggie Tulliver. Her field of writing covers a wide array of content and articles related to travel and hospitality industry.
