Musium Bali

Museum Bali is one of the Technical Executing Units of the Bali Cultural Office of which functions are to collect, research, conserve, and exhibit the cultural objects for the purposes of education, study and recreation.

It is located at the center of Denpasar city, exactly on Mayor Wisnu Street, on the Jagatnatha Temple, stretching out from north to south approximately 140 meters with its entrance gate faces to the west or to 

 Mayor Wisnu Street that is closed for the public transportation except for the museum visitors. 

Based on its collections, Museum Bali is one of the provincial general museums in Indonesia. It Houses and exhibits cultural components of Bali, which can be classified into collections of: history, archaeology, ethnography and fine arts.

Since it was opened, Museum Bali is always visited by many local and foreign tourists, students, artists and common people as well who want to have a research, to get some inspiration and also for a recreation. According to our regulation, visitors are to pay for entrance tickets, and to write their names on the visitor’s book for statistic, and they are not allowed to touch, and to sit on the collections, nor to smoke and to bring any big goods in the exhibition rooms.

History

The defeat of the Klungkung Kingdom by the Dutch troop on April 28, 1908, indicated that the whole Bali was under the Dutch colonial government. This of course brought about some changes to Bali among other things that it became more opened to the European especially the Dutch. This openness made more foreigners came to Bali either for an excursion, doing business or working for the civil administrations. When they returned to their home countries, they always brought home various cultural objects for souvenir or only for private collection. This situation, if let as it was, would bring about a cultural heritage property to Bali, had made a number of the Dutch cultural observers try to prevent it and at once to conserve Balinese culture.

In 1910, Mr. W.F.J. Kroon an Assistant Resident for the South Bali, after having a lot of input from Th.A. Resink about how to preserve Balinese cultural objects from extinction, Kroon than sparked an idea to establish a museum.

His idea was supported by the scientists, artists and all kings of the regencies. Afterwards Kroon asked Curt Grundler (a German Architect) who was in Denpasar. Curt Grundler worked together with a few Balinese traditional architects called undagi from Denpasar i.e. I Gusti Ketut Rai and I Gusti Ketut Gede Kandel. They made a plan with a combined architectural concept of a Hindu temple (pura) and a king’s palace (puri) which was built on an area of 2.600 square meters. Basing the plan on the traditional architectural concepts as written on the lontar book of Hasta Kosala Kosali, the compound consists of three courtyards i.e.; outer, middle and inner courtyards, with two entrance gates ( Candi bentar and Candi Kurung ) and wooden bell tower ( Bale Kulkul).