Critically Bali

Critically Bali is a landmark exhibition that reconsiders Bali’s celebrated artistic legacy through the lens of dissent, reinvention, and negotiation. Held at Gajah Gallery Singapore, the exhibition spans from the early 20th century to the present, showcasing the works of fifteen cross-generational artists — Balinese-born, diasporic, and foreign practitioners who have made the island their home. Together, they trace how Balinese art has continually responded to, and reshaped, the cultural, political, and historical forces that have defined it.

Curated by Arif Bagus Prasetyo, Critically Bali positions the island not as a static cultural identity but as a dynamic site where tradition is challenged, reimagined, and renewed. From colonial-era representations and post-independence frameworks to the pressures of mass tourism and global contemporary art discourses, the exhibition examines how artists have resisted external narratives — often turning the lens inward to confront the constraints of inherited conventions.

The exhibition features seminal figures such as I Gusti Njoman Lempad, I Njoman Tjokot, and Dewa Putu Mokoh, whose early innovations marked a break from classical Kamasan painting and laid the groundwork for a modern Balinese visual language. These pioneering gestures paved the way for artists like Made Wianta, Made Djirna, and Putu Sutawijaya, whose modernist practices expanded the understanding of Balinese identity within broader Indonesian and international contexts.

Critically Bali also foregrounds powerful voices of feminist and marginal critique, including I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, Satya Cipta, and Dewa Raram “Totol,” who subvert patriarchal mythologies and challenge gendered assumptions embedded within notions of “tradition.” The exhibition culminates in contemporary interventions by Jemana Murti, whose works entwine sacred symbology with artificial intelligence, and the late Ashley Bickerton, whose ironic, incisive portrayals of tourist-saturated Bali dissect the enduring exoticist gaze.

Together, these artists reveal a continuum of critical engagement—an ongoing current of questioning, disruption, and transformation that has animated Balinese art for nearly a century. By treating tradition not as a fixed inheritance but as a field of inquiry, Critically Bali reframes the island’s visual culture as fertile ground for new imaginaries.