Seniwati Gallery
To Ginger up Female Artists

Gianyar indeed has become the repository of art in Bali. Apart from the creativity of its dwellers creating several kinds of souvenirs, Gianyar also possesses some museums like the Ratna Warta Painting Museum, Neka Museum, Arma Museum and many others. There is another uniqueness related to the art namely the presence of female artist community there. Female artists that are coalesced into a foundation would like to ginger up the standards of female artists so that their works could be equally recognized to that of male artists.

The foundation is Yayasan Harapan Seniwati located at Jalan Sriwedari 2B, Taman Hamlet, Ubud. This foundation was founded in December 1991 by Mary Northmore. The foundation establishing the Seniwati Gallery intends to give female artists of Bali the opportunity to express their art creativity in the same way as what male artists do.
Balinese women who are always busy with domestic activities sometimes find it difficult to develop themselves. Whereas, in terms of the quality they have, it is not far different from that of men. It’s this fact which drives the formation of such foundation.
This foundation then established Seniwati Gallery. This gallery exclusively exhibits the works of female painters. It is the first gallery of its kind in Asia and is capable of collecting some 100 paintings from 70 female painters.
It not only organizes native Balinese female artists, but also collects the works of foreign female artists. However, the artists affiliated in the gallery are those who live or have homes or are permanently domiciled in Ubud. There are 10 works by foreign artists exhibited in the gallery. They are from Japan, Australia, America, Hawaii, Finland and many other countries. The youngest painter affiliated in the gallery is 20 years old while the oldest is 76 years.
Other than exhibiting their works in the Ubud office of the foundation, their members also actively organize external exhibitions, both around Bali and outside Bali, or even overseas. In addition, the foundation also prints the works of its members in the form of calendar along with the photo of each member.
In terms of their painting style, the collection of Seniwati Gallery presents various styles, ranging from the traditional Kamasan style (Klungkung), Ubud style, et cetera up to the modern style as you could observe here.
Every day several visitors enter the gallery. Mostly they come from America, Japan, Australia, Singapore and so on. In general, they are interested in the works of female artists because they have comparable quality to that of male artists. In particular elements, they even show details of painting that could rarely be found in the works of male artists. It is proven by the monthly average sales reaching 10 paintings. Are you interested? The female artists here are ready to welcome your visit in Ubud, Gianyar. (BTN/Budiarta)