Our guide to Ubud: our favorite art & design stores in the neighborhood

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Ubud has some INCREDIBLE stores, boutiques and shops that are beautifully curated with an eye for design and artisan crafts. Below is our list of our current favorite stores and shops of Ubud, Bali.

P.S. We also have a little store of our own called Toko Elami on Jl Kajeng.

Aaaannddd if you like our suggestions you can buy our Design Guide to Ubud (which is a regularly updated Google Map with our notes about each of our choices of places to stay, shop and eat)

On with the list of great places to spend at!

1/ Shop Mina: the tiniest gem of a shop in the most walkable neighborhood in Ubud, Nyuh Kuning! Has amazing selection of Bali’s best small brands and products.

2/ Seniman Shop: over the road from the best coffee shop in Ubud in Taman is their little gallery and merch shop. Grab coffee in all forms (beans, capsules, green) or cool t-shirts, upcycled drinking glasses, and even their famous rocking chair.

Seniman gallery

3/ Threads of Life: an Ubud institution. A social enterprise gallery and shop offering heritage quality ikat and batik textiles, handwoven and naturally dyed by women across Indonesia.

4/ Kado: the retail outlet of the wonderful Saraswati Papers. Handmade and recycled papers in the most luxurious notebooks, greeting cards and photo albums.

Threads of Life Gallery

5/ Miraku: a gorgeous wood-clad shop with Balinese jewelry and natural indigo-dyed clothing. Elegance beyond.

6/ Curative: a store filled to the brim with local brands and designers, from pins to shirts, to jewelry and stickers and more.

Rumantra Shop

7/ Oiland: essential oil products like roll on perfumes. Only oils of the highest quality and mixes that will remind you of Bali forever. They have a tiny outlet in central Ubud.

8/ Quarzia: modern Italian batik clothes in the most beautiful silks and cottons. All hand-drawn and crafted.

9/ Rumantra: a store overflowing with amazing products based on designs and illustrations of the owner. Don’t leave without a t-shirt or a piece of jewelry.

Quarzia Batik

Ubud Open Studios 2025: save the dates!

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Art friends (and fiends!), the 2025 dates for Ubud Open Studios are here.

We will be returning on May 22-25 2025 for another amazing three days of studios throwing their doors open for YOU! An art crawl like no other.

Ubud Open Studios invites art lovers, cultural explorers, and the creatively curious to our annual celebration of art in Ubud, Bali.

Discover Ubud's contemporary art scene right from artists’ studios. Imagine an art-filled scavenger hunt where every studio is a treasure trove of creativity.

In 2024, Ubud Open Studios showcased over 50 local and international artists’ studios, inviting attendees to enter their world of creativity and craftsmanship. A journey of artistic discovery & connection offering a glimpse into the sacred spaces where art comes to life. It's about community—an opportunity to connect, converse, and collect experiences & artworks that resonate.

Behind every artwork is a story, a creative process—an artist’s journey.

5 events, 600 attendees, 100s of hands

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For ten days we were part of a large incentive trip and supported 5 events, ranging from an intimate dinner, to ‘leave it all on the dance floor’ extravaganza. Huge thanks to the other companies that joined forces with us, from florists to sound and lighting experts traditional Balinese decor crews, photographers, calligraphers, weavers, furniture rental experts and more.

Below are 5 of our favorite photos and moments.

1// A chance to design on water: we created an evening surrounded by water at the Kempinksi Chapel and brought in denizens of lily ponds, including dragonflies and geese in flight. We had to battle the elements to make this one happen. Woven by Udianata. Photo by Arley Mardo.

2// Twin Dragons: Handwoven and peched on the edge of a cliff to guard over attendees. Why hold an event in Bali if not to work with the crazy skillfull craftspeople and culture of this island? Creations by Raka Dalem Bernat and Sri Melanting, hand-woven from leaves in the style of Balinese decor for ceremonies and events. Photo by Arley Mardo.

3// A black and gold art deco meets Bali tablescape: A chance to work again with Cosa Projects and to incorporate Balinese offering baskets, cloth and hair ornaments. Shout out to The Host Table for their tableware choices and amazing set up.

4// Lighting perfection: working with our favorite team of Focus Productions again to light every event perfectly, including this secret corner of a ballroom we revealed during dessert for a dance party, speakeasy style! And of course draping and curtain opening mechanics by The Host Table made it all possible. Backdrop by Sri Melanting.

5// A Balinese village by the seaside: we brought pieces of Bali to a welcome reception on the Kempinski lawn, including the photo backdrop featuring wayang (shadow puppet) chickens in traditional cages and Balinese floral motifs. Created by Sri Melanting.

The incredible skills used to make these pieces of art can only be appreciated when you see the process behind the creations. Below is short video featuring some of the behind-the-scenes footage during the 5 month long lead up to these events. Shot at Udyana Studio in Ubud, Bali.

Behind the design: Ubud Open Studios 2024

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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.

The Dinner Series: Present Space

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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.

Art & Sugar: events at Powder Room by Room4Dessert

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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.

Gumi Cards: a playing card deck featuring Balinese flora and fauna

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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.

Download Elami’s Design Guide to Ubud

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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.

 

How did we choose?

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.

Who’s curating the guide?

Elami Productions—producers of Ubud Open Studios, TEDxUbud, and many events and brand experiences in Bali.

What you get:

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.

It's a wrap: the second edition of Ubud Open Studios!

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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.

A glimpse of Ubud Open Studios 2022

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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:

Toko Elami is open: our little gift shop in Jl Kajeng, Ubud

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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.

Behind the design: Events at Uluwatu Surf Villas

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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).

Ring of Fire Dinner and Screening at Kaum, Potato Head Bali

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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:

  1. 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.”

The Bali 1928 Project at John Hardy Jewelry

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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.