UBUD....ohh... UBUD

Handicraft villages & Ubud
Visit the artisan villages of Batubulan (stone carving), Celuk (silver & gold jewelry), Mas (wood carving), and Pengosekan (painting). Stop at the "Art Market" in Sukawati to bargain for all kinds of handicrafts and textiles.
Already in the 1930s Ubud had been made famous around the world as Bali's cultural center by the German intellectual Walter Spies, the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet and other foreign artists who'd made it their home.
Today Ubud is a fast growing town with numerous art galleries and shops offering paintings, wood carvings, textiles, and all kinds of souvenirs. Don't miss the Museum Puri Lukisan in the center of Ubud, the Neka Museum in Campuhan, the Neka Gallery in Ubud, the Agung Rai Gallery in Peliatan, and the Agung Rai Museum in Pengosekan to see the difference between creative art and more commercial products. Problem is that when you see their "Permanent Collections" at many "Galleries" you've seen real art, and when you return to their show rooms you don't like any of the very commercial products any more.
The Seniwati Gallery - Art by Women, founded in 1991 by Mary Northmore (the very personable wife of famous painter Abdul Azis) to help Balinese women to be accepted as artists, is a place you should not miss whatever you do. The main purpose of this gallery is to expose the long understated brilliance of independent women artists resident in Bali, and to motivate, train, and encourage young Balinese girls with obvious creative gifts. Visit also the Blue Moon Studio and gallery, founded in 1994 with an emphasis on exhibiting contemporary artists.
The Lotus Café is perhaps the most popular meeting point in town and has become kind of an institution, and MURNIE'S as well as the Bridge Café offer tasty snacks and full meals in very pleasant surroundings and at reasonable prices. For other interesting restaurants please visit Restaurants in Ubud. The various dance and Wayang Kulit performances in Ubud and in nearby villages are worth spending the early evening there.