The Blanco Renaissance Museum and Bali Starling

Can you spot the Don Antonio
Blanco's signature?

Hey Greensters!

Wow it’s been a while, hasn't it? Well here we go, a new experience to tell you guys. 

Last week, The Green Team Indonesia went to The Blanco Renaissance Museum to give our books titled as ‘Craftpreneur Junior: Serunya Menghasilkan Uang dari Dapur’ (How to earn money from your kitchen) and ‘Chefpreneur Junior: Serunya Menghasilkan Uang dari Kerajinan Tangan’ (How to earn money from crafting) because Mr. Mario Blanco was one of endorsers for the books.

Mr. Mario Blanco with our books

He invited us to his father’s museum in which he has inherited. This Museum was built by Don Antonio Blanco himself. Don Antonio Blanco was a Spanish painter who was born in the Philippines and was an American Citizen. He first came to Bali long ago in search of Paradise. Back then, Singaraja was our capital city. He met the deputy governor who brought him to Ubud.








At that time, Ubud was still a village and was known as the centre of art (It still is!). Any type of art you could think of was there. You could find traditional dances, beautiful paintings and many more in Ubud. The king of Ubud was very interested in Don Antonio Blanco. He was a Hollywood actor, a painter and a magician. He was then gifted with 2 hectares of land by the King of Ubud where he built his first house. From then on, he lived in Ubud and found his other half, Ni Ronji.

The Bali Starling

Back then, ladies in Bali were bare chested, which meant that they were only covered till just below their breasts. Don Antonio Blanco wanted to preserve the culture of Bali. People who visit the museum now a days get rather negative once they see these paintings even before their guide explains the real meaning behind each painting, which is a shame really. Don Antonio Blanco never meant for these paintings to be some sort of pervertedness. He wanted to show the world the different cultures we have here and that you cannot find it anywhere else.

The entrance with the portrait of Don Antonio Blanco

Back to last week, once we got to the museum, Mr. Mario Blanco greeted us warmly. He told us about the different kind of birds they take care of there. Mr. Mario Blanco owns 205 ‘Jalak Bali’ or more known as the Bali Starling. He told one of his staff to take us around so that we could see the Bali Starling. Their eggs takes 14 days to hatch and after 7 days, they take them and put them in the incubator. After about 40 days. they keep them in a small cage. 4 months later, they’re moved into a big cage.

Mr. Dewa Gede Agung Dharmayasa and Mr. Mario Blanco

Mr. Mario Blanco has a breeding permit and a distribution license in our country so he owns them legally.  If you want to have a Bali Starling, all you need to have is a cage and the ability to take care of it because the Bali Starling is already very very endangered and is super close to extinction. You need to have a hobby of being with these birds and take care of them with passion. The cage is easy to get, or if you cannot get it, you can make it. The cage is made of plywood in the size 25x25x30. Young coconut leaf (called Janur in Bali) is cut and the birds will make their own nests out of it.

This is the studio of Don Antonio Blanco

It’s really easy to differentiate the male Bali starling from the female ones. The male’s crest is longer than the female ones. This Bali Starling in the museum was taken from Solo, Java island. Most of them are in Negara, Bali and some are kept in the Taman Nasional Bali Barat (West Bali National Park). For now, we don't know yet how long a Bali Starling can live up to but so far, one of the Bali Starling in the museum is 16 years old. How can you spot a Bali Starling? That’s easy! They have blue eyes and white feathers. They eat chicken feed and crickets, easy to find.

The picture of the Blanco family

After the Bali Starlings, we saw other birds such as peacocks, hornbills and chickens and many more. You could even take pictures with parrots and hornbills. Then, they took us to see the museum. At the entrance to the museum, there are two huge dragon statues at each sides of the stairs. These dragon statues represent guards to the museum. It is a Balinese, Chinese, Spanish, Muslim and other concepts combined into one. Their logo is very creative. It is Don Antonio Blanco’s signature being folded and then opened again on a piece of paper so it mirrors one another which actually looked like a sitting and meditating person. Sometimes it also looks like a woman figure. 

Our books are available in Indonesia bookstores

Once you enter the museum, you’ll be greeted by a portrait of Don Antonio Blanco. You can only take picture with the portrait. You are prohibited to take pictures of the collections and inside the museum. When you go around it, you can see four pillars, representing his four children. The museum contains 150 of Don Antonio Blanco’s works, not only paintings but also poems and collages. 

When Michael Jackson visited Mr. Blanco

After an hour tour of the museum, we had lunch at the Rondji Restaurant managed by Mr. Mario Blanco and his family. It was an awesome as well as inspiring day for us. 

Special thanks to Mr. Mario Blanco and miss Agustine for the friendliness. 

Greensters, thank you for reading and i hope you have a great day!

If you want to visit the museum, the location is :

The Blanco Renaissance Museum

Jalan Raya Penestanan

Ubud - Bali 

Website: www.blancomuseum.com

Love,

Patricia Cornelia
Surfer Girl's Green Ambassador 2012-2014
Founder of Green Team Indonesia