{"id":588,"date":"2011-06-10T15:25:32","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T07:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jipp-world.com\/?p=588"},"modified":"2012-07-18T16:44:53","modified_gmt":"2012-07-18T08:44:53","slug":"the-blanco-renaissance-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jipp-world.com\/blog\/the-blanco-renaissance-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blanco Renaissance Museum, Ubud, Bali"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Blanco Renaissance Museum was one of the places that I visited when I was in Bali. Perched atop a hill and surrounded by lush green and beautiful garden, it actually looked more like a palace than a museum to me. Rp 50,000 for an entrance fee is probably a bit expensive by Bali standard but believe me, it\u2019s worth every rupiah.<\/p>\n

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Instead of giving you a ticket, they\u2019d tuck a flower behind your ear so that you\u2019d get the feel of being a real Balinese girl or something (Awwwww!). With a flower neatly tucked behind my ear \u2013 and together with the pink-ewww-ness that I had on \u2013 I was ready to give my balls away. A cute Balinese girl was at the gate to welcome us with a refreshing drink. I felt so welcomed.<\/p>\n

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Then a group of birds went kecoh<\/em> the moment they spotted some unfamiliar faces in their territory. Their caretaker was there to offer us a close \u2018physical encounter\u2019 with them \u2013 probably too close I actually got nipped on my left ear til it bled! Damn.<\/p>\n

Then all of the birds began nipping on me! They really thought poking their razor-sharp beaks on a human being was funny. I silently prayed that none of them would get too playful by sinking its damn beak into my precious precious eyeball.<\/p>\n

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The front fa\u00e7ade of the\u00a0museum is quite indefinable by less artistic eyes like mine. I\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0tell for sure what was portrayed by the peculiar piece of concrete that sits on two legs with a vertically-pointing\u00a0keris<\/em>-shaped head (keris is a Malaya traditional dagger).<\/p>\n

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Based on Blanco\u2019s paintings \u2013 which actually portray nudism more than anything else \u2013 I assume it was meant to look erotic, which, unfortunately, my virgin eyes failed to see. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

Photography is forbidden inside the museum so I didn\u2019t want to command any \u2018unnecessary\u2019 trouble especially afterwhat happened to me at the Bali Airport<\/a>. The museum consisted of two floors with both floors exhibited a collection of paintings by the late Antonio Blanco.<\/p>\n

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I wouldn\u2019t write too much about him here because I\u2019m sure his name is all over google if you really care to know more.<\/p>\n

My simple introduction of Antonio Blanco would be \u2013 He is Spanish, sailed to Bali on a very adventurous Captain-Jack-Sparrow-alike journey, married Balinese girl (who is also his favorite nude model) and settled down in Bali to til his very last breath. He is considered the greatest artist to have ever resided in Bali.<\/p>\n

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A guy that we bumped into at the gate told us that we should not miss going up to the rooftop of the museum because\u00a0\u2018it offers a very beautiful view<\/em>\u2019 and\u00a0\u2018you can see everything from there\u2019<\/em>. He mentioned something about \u2018going up the stairs but you gotta be careful<\/em>\u2019 and he was right.<\/p>\n

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He was right about the beautiful view too but not quite right about \u2018you can see everything from there\u2019. The rooftop wasn\u2019t really high enough to make you see everything but still it offered a beautiful view of the Tropical countryside of Ubud.<\/p>\n

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The first thing that captured my eyes and attention was the statue of a dancer that stood elegantly tall on each corner of the roof. They really look like real dancers \u2013 probably frozen in the act or something. If there was a word that can describe them best, it\u2019d be \u2018gracious\u2019. You can almost see the movement.<\/p>\n

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One portion of the building has been allocated to exhibit a collection of paintings by one of Blanco\u2019s sons. The blood of a painter seemed to have continued running in his son. He must have died a happy daddy.<\/p>\n

You have the option of watching a short video that depicts the life of Antonio Blanco before you make your way out of the museum.<\/p>\n

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So \u2013 was it worth the visit?<\/p>\n

Yes. Yes. And Yes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Blanco Renaissance Museum was one of the places that I visited when I was in Bali. Perched atop a hill and surrounded by lush green and beautiful garden, it actually looked more like a palace than a museum to me. Rp 50,000 for an entrance fee is probably a bit expensive by Bali standard but believe me, it\u2019s worth every rupiah. Instead of giving you a ticket, they\u2019d tuck a flower behind your ear so that you\u2019d get the…<\/p>\n

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