For the 3rd edition of Ubud Open Studios, we asked Bali-based illustrator damdampops to create a set of icons to represent all the different types of art and media found at Ubud Open Studios. The icons arrived to decorate the main hub at Titik Dua and also appeared on the official tote bag, t-shirt and catalogue.
We couldn’t let 2023 pass without The Dinner Series! This time we gathered to dine with Fed and Made Dhanu in the Titik Dua gallery surrounded by the artwork of Salvita de Corte and Naomi Samara. 19 guests joined us for a 5-course meal plated on Jenggala ceramics and a very special performance ended the evening. As always, the Dinner Series was hosted by co-founder Maya Kerthyasa.
We started the design of the dinner wanting a very minimalist and clean table to ensure the artwork of the Present Space exhibition remained the focus of the evening. We chose single white lotus blooms and white canvas cloth for the tables.
Place cards featured a Joan Didion quote used in the curator’s note of the exhibition written in white under the watercolor lettering of the guest’s name so you could faintly read the words.
Guests were invited to explore the exhibition before being seated.
The Fed menu was inspired by ingredients that were once common in Balinese dishes but are slowly disappearing due to the globalization of culinary arts. The local ingredients are slowly being forgotten. Some of the dishes are based on reminiscing about a childhood snack, a combination of Rujak Es and Rujak Cermai, resulting in the creation of cermai granita which was served with raw fish caught by local fisherman. The dessert also came from a home-cooked snack that Made’s grandma always made when salak was in season. The dishes were all plated on ceramics by Jenggala, a heritage Bali brand celebrating over 40 years of making incredible tableware.
The performance was presented by St Udyana, a youth group from Taman, Ubud. The dancers also played instruments and surrounded the guests with a story of knowledge and culture flowing like water and filling up all the spaces.
The final touch came from Salvita De Corte as she washed the white on white printed menus with watercolors to reveal the menu of the evening for attendees. A perfect final moment.
When the Threads of Life team came to us many moons ago and told us of their idea to open a new gallery, their first retail expansion in 22 years, we were overjoyed. When we saw it coming together we started to get excited. When we walked in through the doors the day it was officially completed, our jaws were on the ground.
To put together the opening event was an honor and we were so happy to see over 100 supporters and friends of the organization come into the space and make sure it was thoroughly warmed. The new gallery is truly magical and we’re looking forward to programming more events their in the future.
In the words of Threads of Life: The new education and retail space is devoted to the textile arts of Indonesia and is a culmination of 22 years of our work with 1000 weavers across 12 islands in Indonesia.
We will continue to operate our first gallery on Jalan Kajeng, in central Ubud, which opened in 2001. At that time we were working with only 14 natural dye traditional weavers on three islands: 12 from Lembata, one in Flores, and one in Sumba.
The new gallery now holds natural dye textiles, traditional basketry, and carvings from 12 islands of this remarkable archipelago, including Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Timor, Lembata, Sumba, Flores, Savu, and Rai Jua, Bali, and Nusa Penida.
On these walls and shelves is the work of more than 1200 women and craftspeople who are committed to carrying on the traditions of their mothers and grandmothers.
We hope visitors will take their time, open the specially made drawers one by one, and look closely at the art that often takes more than nine months to create—the complexity of the dye process requires a rich diversity of dye materials across a range of terrains and climates. Visitors can also watch the Tradition Keepers Documentary Series in the lounge area, or book a class or residency at the Threads of Life Natural Dye Studio.
The Room4Dessert Academy is an incredible initiative from Chef Will Goldfarb and the R4D team to share their knowledge, techniques, and recipes with students from around the world. This year has had four Pastry Intensives. We’re proud to provide behind-the-scenes support for the Academy, including managing registration, student liaison, design support for learning materials and excursions.
Photo by nyimas laulA
Photo by Nyimas laulA
In the words of Chef Will: The R4D Academy has been sharing the vision of restoring community through food for three years now. Following in the footsteps of its big sister Room4Dessert, the Academy has grown from a pastry only program, to include classes in all areas, from Zero Waste Cooking, to Miyawaki Forest Design, to Rustic Urban Thai, featuring our friends and experts from all over the world. At the same time, we don’t forget where we came from and what we know, which is to make great desserts and share our methods with the world.
With that in mind, we are proud to present our fourth edition of Pastry Intensives, focusing on the key techniques that make R4D a mecca for not only dessert, but culinary enthusiasts from across the globe. Starting in September, a week long feature on Ice Cream and Frozen Treats, is complemented by inside info on Creams and Mousses. We will walk you through all the steps to be able to make the best desserts in the world, right in your own home or restaurant. Designed for students of all levels, each class will drill down on the fundamentals and include insight into the ingredients, techniques and delivery of R4D’s iconic dishes.
Next up, in October, we are Cooking with Fire, and sharing the secrets of our Sauces, Gelees and Tropical Fruit cookery. November rain brings Fun with Cakes and Doughs. And December we present Great Garnishes and Finishing Touches. Pass through all four and you will have completed a Master’s in plated dessert making.
Each week this autumn, features a trip to a different producer - the backbone of the R4D universe. From salt making to cocoa plantations, our favourite Balinese artisans and craftspeople have got you covered. Step into our world. You will never see dessert in the same way again.
The excursions have taken us to some incredible spaces and places, diving deep into Balinese produce, the relationships between clay and food, farmer and chef, makers and consumers.
Celebrating creativity in all its forms. We’ve been programming at the beautiful Powder Room for half a year now and love watching the relationships grow between different artists, attendees and the host. No matter what activity or art form it always ends with a sweet treat from The Powder Room ovens.
One of our favorite moments of magic was when Art Toy master Uncle Twis held a workshop at Powder Room and reimagined the Red Choux and Bombolini.
We then jumped into the world of plant parents with a Plant Swap and Houseplant Workshop led by Thousands Bloom. The incredible garden team of Room4Dessert brought some of their precious babies to swap with attendees too.
Our fourth game product is a playing card deck featuring line drawings of Balinese flora and fauna. As you play, find lotus flowers, dragonflies, squirrels, bats, banana flower blossoms and ferns representing each suit. Each Gumi Bali deck comes with a little booklet explaining the meaning behind the cards and the scientific names of all the species.
Gumi, meaning "earth" in Balinese, captures the essence of these playing cards. Each card showcases line ink drawings, hand drawn by Rumantra, a talented artist and passionate plant enthusiast based in Ubud, Bali. Rumantra's illustrations bring to life the vibrant flora and fauna of the island.
Each card was based on an original ink illustration by Rully Rumantra, seen here on display at Powder Room in Bali.
Gumi also has an accompanying coloring in book featuring all the illustrations, and hand screen-printed tote bags and t-shirts.
If you’re looking to experience Ubud through design eyes, we have a guide for you.
Ubud is our hometown and we are fortunate to know many of the amazing creatives making beautiful spaces for people to enjoy.
This is our curated list and includes places we always take friends and family who are visiting. Think art, culture, hidden local gems, incredible views & architecture, artisan products, workshops, and more.
These are all places and experiences that we like to go to ourselves. They are often are located in stunning places with great architecture or views, have good design (interiors, graphics, products), and are worth the money. They are curated with an eye for Bali made or designed with respect to our island home, and often have a connection to local artists and artisans.
Elami Productions—producers of Ubud Open Studios, TEDxUbud, and many events and brand experiences in Bali.
For Rp100,000 (~$7), you can download The Design Guide to Ubud and add the address pins directly to your Google Maps (download it to use offline).
Our notes are attached to each location explaining why we chose it and what you can’t miss about each pin.
Forever access. We promise to keep it updated with new places.
The 2023 Ubud Open Studios was an incredible honor to put together—70 studios over three days joined to participate in the Studio Showcase at Titik Dua; an Artist Forum including discussions ranging from what it means to be classically trained vs self-taught, to the future of digital art; and two days of studio visits by eager attendees soaking up talks, workshops, and demonstrations.
Our vision for this event was to help revitalize Ubud’s identity as a thriving community of artists, map the incredible creativity taking place in the area and strengthen ties between artists. We hope we succeeded in making that happen. Thank you to all our supporters, partners, and sponsors for helping us produce this event and bring it to life.
“I feel so incredibly fortunate to have been all over Ubud in the past 3 days visiting some amazing artists for the second annual Ubud Open Studios. Not just for the ceramics, painting, sculpture and textiles but also for the wonderful people we met along the way as we weaved through rice paddies and tiny overgrown lanes, discovering places you would never usually gain an insight into... and always welcomed with big beautiful smiles. Thank you Ubud Open Studios - see you next year!”
“It was amazing. You are all rock stars. This felt like a much-needed & exceptionally well-enjoyed event. People should fly in for this. All the art one misses from being in a metropolis exists here but it's behind closed doors, and y'all opened the floodgates. I wish I got to visit more new studios. The ones I enjoyed the most are the ones I've never visited before, a good note to self for next year! Try new things :)”
And our work here is done... Keep an eye on the Ubud Open Studios Instagram for more beautiful shots. Huge thanks to official photographers Arley Mardo, Herry Santosa (photos below), Suki Zoe, and Ade Ardhana.
Through the eyes of our talented photographers.
Thank you to Arley Mardo, Herry Santosa, Neyna Rahmadani, Shayna Pitch and Brandon Nadeau of Studio Suka.
Gallery by Arley Mardo:
Galley by Suka Studio:
Gallery by Neyna Rahmadani
Gallery by Herry Santosa:
We now have a store in Ubud! Come and vist us at Jl Kajeng No 19. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm.
Everything is handmade in Indonesia, supports local makers, and makes a great gift no matter the occasion. We’re calling it gifts for the design curious.
We had a crazy idea a few months ago: what if we took Toko Elami from the virtual to the real? In a blink of an eye, we had a brand new space secured on what is now the new Ubud Market street, Jl Kajeng.
Jl Kajeng used to be a sleepy side street, known for cement squares containing messages from past visitors, some dating back to the early 1980s. Now it’s alive with hundreds of pedestrians checking out the temporary market stalls that have popped up since the traditional market began its renovation process.
We have all of our own products in there (Snakes and Ladders Bali, Lotería de Bali, Monoprint Notebooks) and have been so happy to welcome thirteen tenants, including brands and artists that have been longtime collaborators and friends. It wouldn't have been possible without the expert guidance of Sylvia Fairmann of Tao Collection. Thank you a million times, Sylvia!
We have the beautiful eco print work of Cinta Bumi Artisans, handmade candles by NOKA Design, handbuilt and handpainted ceramics from Arta Derau, prints of Maya Kerthayasa’s incredible pen drawings, hand-crafted leather pieces by Samoi, crocheted hats by VT.TVN, Boemi Botanical’s clean body products, Rumantra’s pieces to adorn the body, ArtNiluh’s mini scarves, stickers and pins from ByWilzzie, breast-inspired jewelry by Elppin, hand-carved wooden hiking mugs by Bushcraft, and art collaboration merchandise by Ketemu Project.
Keep up to date with all our news and products over at Toko Elami’s Instagram.
We’ve been working with the team at Uluwatu Surf Villas for a few months now. Such an incredible property and landscape to get inspiration for our work.
High on the jagged cliffs towering over Southwest Bali’s world-famous waves, is the definition of surfer’s paradise: Uluwatu Surf Villas. Blessed with private access to the sand and surf, it’s the place where active soulful pursuits meet Bali’s singular mysticism and warm hospitality. Premium villas, bungalows and loft accommodations—hand-built with reclaimed teak and ironwood, plus Balinese artisan-crafted decor and antiques—are idyllic windows to a magical world
The seaside, the beach, the ocean, so many places where the imagination can express itself without limit. The escape of thoughts, the freedom of the spirit, the lightness of the movements—all inspiration for art directing, in a nod to their surf heritage and identity.
Events at Mana Uluwatu and Uluwatu Surf Villas are focused on community, relaxed vibes, and, of course, the incredible ocean and sunsets in all moods and forms. We chose to work in a liquid feeling to their artwork.
Working from their existing brand guidelines, we created a cohesive look for their digital event promotions For regular events (Wednesday Jazz Nights and Friday Poolside Beers) and for special one-off events (workshops, opening of their new skate park, & special music guests).
We set sail for the Spice Islands in Kaum at Potato Head Bali for a special screening of Ring of Fire. An incredible experience. Curated with Maya Kerthyasa, we turned the room into an immersive theatre.
The dishes on the menu were inspired by various scenes from Spice Islands Saga – the first volume of the five-part series Ring of Fire that documents the ten-year voyage of two filmmakers, brothers Lorne and Lawrence Blair, through the islands of Indonesia.
Some of our favorite details:
Welcome aboard the Sinar Surya. We recreated the ship’s lettering on the door to Kaum.
2. Feeding the senses: on the table for the Ring of Fire: Spice Island Saga we had fresh cloves, clove flowers, fresh nutmeg fruits, black tea, salt and seaweed to help scent the air with island and boat smells.
3. We took inspiration from specific frames from the Spice Island Saga episode to help us design the event. From the boat colors and materials, to plates and raw ingredients, we scoured each second for cues, like these hand-carved googles we recreated.
4. Jars of live crickets: a nod to the scenes where the film makers share their quarters with variety of creepy crawlies.
5. Pages from the book that started it all: Alfred Russel Wallace’s The Malay Archipelago. We added the pages to the table and around the restaurant.
A description of nutmeg from John Cameron in the mid-1800s: "The nutmeg is a very beautiful tree; when of full size it is about twenty-five or thirty feet high, and, if well-formed, should have a diameter from the extremes of its lower branches of little less...The fruit grows slowly (and until) within a few days of ripening, might be readily mistaken for the peach; it is of the same size, and has the same downy texture of the skin--all it wants to complete the resemblance is the pink cheek. When the nut inside is ripe, the fruit splits down the center, and remains half-open, discovering the bright crimson mace that enshrouds the nut. In a few days, if not gathered in, the fruit opens wider, and the nut, with the mace around it, drops to the ground, leaving the fruity husk still hanging to the tree, till it withers away and falls off. When the nuts are collected, the mace is first carefully removed and placed in the sun to dry. Under the mace is a thin hard shell containing the nutmeg, and this is not broken till the nutmegs are prepared for shipment. A good tree yields 600 nuts per annum, or about 8 pounds weight. There is no particular season for the nutmeg crop, and the blossoms and the ripe fruit may often be seen hanging together on the same branch. Altogether there are few prettier trees- prettier in form,in foliage, in blossom, and in bearing, than the nutmeg."
From The Banda Islands: Hidden Histories and Miracles of Nature
“The Blair Brothers sailed with pirates aboard their black-sailed schooners in search of the Bird of Paradise, struggled through rapids and deep jungles searching for elusive nomadic tribes, witnessed veiled forms of human sacrifice and found themselves drawn into ten years of danger and discovery in a magical land where ancient myths still flourish.”
Since 2019, Elami and Co has been curating events at John Hardy Jewelry’s gallery in Seminyak. we’ve created small workshops, gatherings, and exhibitions, and now perhaps the most exciting one yet: a film screening under the stars of rare archival footage from Bali 1928. The film screening was accompanied by two beautiful performances (genggong mouth harp and Tembang singing) and a display of repatriated photos from that era. Each silent film was narrated by Marlowe Bandem (coordinator and program manager of the Bali 1928 Archive in Indonesia) and Wayan Juniarta (writer, curator, and expert panel of the Bali 1928 Archive).
Bali 1928 – Repatriating Bali’s Earliest Music Recordings, 1930s Films and Photographs
Beginning in 2000, American ethnomusicologist Edward Herbst and New York’s Arbiter of Cultural Traditions began a multi-year research project to find, document, understand, explain, restore, re-release, and repatriate all of this material including from Colin McPhee, Mexican artist and writer Miguel Covarrubias, and Swedish dance pioneer Rolf de Maré with anthropologist/dance ethnographer Claire Holt.
In 1928 Odeon and Beka produced the only recordings of Balinese music made in Bali and released prior to World War II. Fifty-six of the original 78-rpm records (111 sides) are known to have survived. Recovering them all required research in archives, libraries, universities and personal collections in Asia, Europe, and North America.
These have been such fun nights! From Lacalita in Canggu, Biku in Seminyak, at Rüsters in Ubud and Taqisa in Sanur, we’ve been on a game night road trip around this island of ours.
Watching everyone playing being shy and hesitant at first and then quickly getting the hang of it and letting their competitive side out to play has been a pleasure! And of course, then trying to remember to shout Lotería! instead of Bingo! to clinch the win.
This video was taken at Lacalita in Canggu and sums up a lovely night in 60 seconds.
Thank you to all who came and played with us! Especially to our amazing hosts and the incredible ‘singer’ Ivor Condric for his guest spots!
Elami Productions creates and designs events in Bali. Producers of Ubud Open Studios and TEDxUbud.
Big or small, we’re an email away.
hello@elami.co
Event design, production, experiential marketing, brand storytelling.
© 2014-2024 PT Elami Daya Cipta
