Somewhat to my surprise, a month after our return, I’m still posting to our Bali travel blog. And probably will be for a while yet.

While the focus of the trip was the celebration of daughter Edie’s 30th birthday (which actually took place yesterday), I also went there thinking that I should follow up with old Balinese friends on what to do next with my collection of Balinese paintings and antique kris collected in 1973.

Those conversations proved fruitful. I’m now planning an exhibition of Ketut Madra paintings at the ARMA Museum for next summer. More on Madra here, here, and here.

The changes in the Indonesian economy over the last 15 to 20 years, especially the growth of both middle- and upper-class wealth, have created a vibrant market there for the artwork I bought almost 40 years ago. It didn’t hurt that UNESCO recently declared wayang and kris as essential pieces of Indonesian world heritage. 

So, it looks like I’ll be going back twice next year and the Bali travel blog stays active. And it feels good that the Irons collection appears to be headed that way, too.