Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

Hallo everybody.
This is my first post!

Great forum.
I'm planning to move in Bali.
So i'll have time to write new post on informations I need

But now my first think it's about HOW-TO make money in Bali.

I was thinking to open an art gallery.
Make paints by myself.
I'm from Italy and I've a degree in Arts.
Also I'm a computer webdesigner.


How I can open an art gallery?
Can be a GOOD business with future?
I just need money to live and eat.
I dont need Western style.

Thank you very much

Cheers.
Manuel

mmm,

i assume u r planning on painting places around bali and selling to westerners / tourists?

ct

Hi!
Thanks for your reply!

Yes it's exactly what I want to do.
Do you have some informations to share with me ?

I paint abstract, in a Pollock-style.

actually, i think that's an interesting idea.. i don't know if u'd make a killing off it, but i'd think there would be some interested parties... if u wanted to go about it in a more serious approach, you should contact the larger high end hotels who likely have guests staying there that would be in the market for this (e.g. sheraton laguna, conrad benoa, ritz carlton jimbaran).. it would be good if you had samples applicable to bali when u approach them.. if u could get retail space in these establishments, i think u'd do well... it has to be in high end places like this, because outside of these places the main reason (or at least one of the main reasons) most people visit bali because it's cheap and they buy the crappy tourist souveniers u get on the street for $1 US..

ct

Manuel

Have you investigated visa etc. That is the first problem. I not do a search on this site there is a wealth of information already posted.

Hi!
Thank you very much for everybody who reply.

Well, i'll anwser in order:

BaliLife: I think your is a good idea, but i'm scared that i can come in conflict with Balinese Artists, what you think? I know they are good, but they paint for live! ... Yes the location it's very important.
What about that Private Message you sent to me ? Let me know ... thank.


Tina: Yes I do. It's a big problems. I'll ivestigate better.
Visa it's the most complicated part for expat in Bali.
I think.


Keep in touch everybody.
Thanks a lot.
Any suggestions welcome!!

Manu-

Hi manuel,

U need to do something different with your art to set it apart from what the locals produce.. But I haven't seen too much art for sale in the higher end hotels (maybe its there and I just haven't seen it).. People tend to associate quality with location, so if your place is in one of the high end hotels, people will typically think of it as higher quality and pay more for it.. I just sent ur details re your private msg..

Ct

Hi Manuel,

Welcome to the forum.

Allow me my two-cent worth on the subject. I am not a painter (although I did paint my house in the US several times over the years ), but I know a little bit on the subject through several of my acquaintances and painter friends, some residing in Bali, and from my first wife who was a painter.

What is the painter situation in Italy? Well, in Bali it is the same as in Italy, magnified by at least an order-of-magnitude. There are many native and Indonesian painters who compete internationally, and this is what you also would be doing. You obviously could not compete with the native painters who paint more "traditionally," and you should keep in mind that most tourists coming to Bali go home with "Balinese" paintings, not Pollock-style paintings.

As for getting a show in one of the leading hotels in Bali, good luck.

And as for opening an art gallery, Bali needs one more art gallery as it needs a kick in the head.

geez tin, i see petenjo really left some acid on ur tongue with that last post.. manuel might surprise u and be a millionaire in 2-3 years.. in any case, i think it's a bit quick to shoot him down.. (can't imagine you going through more than one wife with such a warm personality)..

ct

Hi Manual and welcome to the forum!

The art world is a bit like the restaurant business. In Bali you can see a hundred restaurants of all types sitting empty with the staff looking morose and idling the time away. Then you find one restaurant such as Warung Sobat in Batu Belig which is completely packed and you need a booking to get in.

There is no formula for that kind of success. Who knows, maybe you will become obscenely rich. But I wouldn't bank on it. Maybe you could export your paintings.

I can tell you that I saw one shop in JL Khunti, Seminyak stuffed to the rafters with fantastic abstract paintings. There were quite a few there that I would buy if I had the room to hang them. A HUGE canvas is about US$80 and that is the sticker price that generally also includes a huge markup.

I would say that there is a greater need for good web designers. You can see there are a lot of villa and small resort owners that have pretty crappy web sites. Of course you would have to work very cheap, at least to start with.

But people are artists because they have to follow their passion, not because they want to make money, right?

You say that you are planning to move to Bali. How about relating some of the experiences that led to your decision?

Paint portraits? .. mabey even those goofy, funny ones ? There are some really good anglo painters in the Ubud area, Jason Monet, Wolfgang etc.. just to name a few, they paint enough to make a living and then some, what more could you ask? It can be done there, but its like selling bottled sand in the desert.

BaliLife,

I was not shooting down Manuel, as you say, I was just trying to tell him, based on my long experience in Bali, the reality on the ground. He had asked for opinions and I gave him mine, like others have. What's your experience in Bali? And with the painting world? How long have you been in Bali?

For example, about getting a show in one of the leading hotels, like 4-Seasons or Alila, you could ask Jason for one, a successful painter mind you and long time resident of Bali, and he'll give you a earful on the subject, based on his own personal experience.

My advice to you is that you shouldn't give advice about something you obviously know nothing about.

As for your remark about my warm personality...I don't think we ever met, did we, pendejo? So keep your (misconstrued) personal feelings to yourself. We don't need heat on this forum.

tin,

i think ur a bit of a source of heat.. my comments were based on my past travels to bali as a tourist and what i've found there not to be too much of in those hotels..

you're obviously not too much of an entrepreneurial fellow and you're the type who wants to ensure nobody else gives it a go.. you know some people out there actually are able to achieve some things u might percieve as being difficult - getting a retail space in a large hotel might be one such thing.. perhaps manuel is a bit better with people than u are, or perhaps he has the bankroll to buy his way in; in any case i was simply saying there MIGHT be an opportunity..

i just love the way u jabber off like u own the island and that everyone is destined to fail, perhaps coz u have..

in any case, let's agree to disagree.. (about ur personality also)

ct

BaliLife, you could not be more wrong when you write,

you're obviously not too much of an entrepreneurial fellow and you're the type who wants to ensure nobody else gives it a go.. you know some people out there actually are able to achieve some things u might percieve as being difficult

because I am the quintessential entrepreneur. I was a physicist for FORTY years, and this is exactly what physicists do for work: they solve problems which seem unsolvable, invent things which until recently may have seemed belonging to science fiction. People request solutions to some difficult problem and you propose a solution. You must convince them that your solution is valid and doable by writing a proposal to get funded (so you can eat). Your proposal is reviewed by your peers. If accepted, you must then put your "money where your mouth is," so to speak, and demonstrate that your idea was sound. If after the time allowed, you have not produced, you're out. Miss once, it's OK, miss twice…you might as well try your luck driving a taxi or flipping hamburgers.

Rest assure I have never failed, and I applaud people with "guts" and imagination, in whatever fields, artistic, scientific, or business. What I do not applaud is mediocrity which passes itself as excellence.

As for your ludicrous remark,

i just love the way u jabber off like u own the island

it just reflects on your want of debating skills and does not require any comments.

physicist ---> entrepreneur? you're really reaching with that analogy... nice try though...

ct

Hi Manuel, it's such a courageous and at the same time beautiful decision to relocate to Bali. I don't know anything about painting or fine art gallery,but I don't think building business in certain field is necessary have higher success than being in business in other field.

I think it depends on your passion, what you love to do. If you do love what you are doing, and believe in what you are doing, it doesn't matter what field or line of business you chose to get involve in. It works all the time. I have seen it from time to time. It is a simple universal principal.

Good luck, and hope you have wonderful life experience in Bali.