Time does indeed fly! It seems like it was only a couple weeks ago when we were one of the 'people' who were completely excited to learn about the idea of this awesome art project to come to Bali! We were so thrilled to have our favorite artists on the list of contributing artists as well, which was partly why we participated in calling out talented souls around the island to come out and play!

Micro Galleries is just around the corner now! After having successfully brought their creative concept into the streets of the Australian regional town Nowra, the township of Langa, Cape Town, as well as Tai Hang and Wan Chai in Hong Kong, Micro Galleries is now ready to put on an artistic spell to the old market area of Denpasar, turning it into a perfect creative playground to be enjoyed by the whole community and countless passerby.

This street exhibition is going to take place from October 2nd – 16th this year at the central market of the island, the Badung Traditional Market as well as the area along the polluted Badung River. This spot is only  a few-minute walk from Denpasar's zero kilometer mark, it is part of the city's heritage site area, and it is undebatedly one of the busiest areas on the island. And soon, Pasar Badung will show yet another face we've never seen, a different avatar; one where it is honored and entrusted with creations of so many from all over the world.

Micro Galleries is a free and accessible global arts project that reclaims disused and forgotten public spaces in communities and reactivates them as public, open-air galleries for the local community.

The goal is to bring various forms of art into the community to demonstrate that art is for everyone and that its presentation is not limited to merely formal galleries and theatres.  This project stands for a statement that art can break out of these spaces and ingrain itself into a community by becoming part of it, enhancing the landscapes or becoming part of it.

Above all, Micro Galleries’ main goal is to prove that a community can be involved in the creation as well as the appreciation of art works. Besides, it also expects to show that art can change how people perceive their environment or the social issues associated to it from a rather more positive angle. And on top of that, to simply brighten up someone’s day through the art displayed for all passerby.

To quote Micro Galleries in one of their official statements, "Micro Galleries features work that challenges preconceived ideas, blurs the line between street art and fine art, and aims to help change the way we see the world, our environment and our community - even for a micro moment." And don't we all agree that we can all use a little bit of micro magic even for a brief micro moment. We can always enjoy a little bit more of that.

Denpasar is the first South East Asian city to host Micro Galleries. Like everything else having a background story, Denpasar being chosen to host the Micro Galleries exhibition also has its very story behind it. Australian artist Kat Roma Greer, who is also Artistic Director and Micro Galleries champion, explained that Denpasar was selected as it has been on their wish list since Micro Galleries started back in 2013.

Greer said that despite the large number of tourists from Australia and around the world visit Bali to enjoy the amazing beaches and happening nightlife, she would like to show that there is just so much more to discover in Bali, beyond those most popular aspects; which in this case are the incredible artists and the dynamic creative scene that this island has. She also added that Denpasar just feels like a vibrant place that the world flies in and out of, but doesn’t take enough notice of. And at last she shared that they just wanted to spotlight some great little spaces and exciting local artists.

This year, Micro Galleries performs a wonderful role of connecting four Australian artists who will come to Bali to work alongside with local Indonesian artists to create new installation, video and interdisciplinary works. The exhibition will also present a large collection -or what they call a truck load!- of exciting art from thirteen Australian artists, twelve local Indonesian artists and fifteen of the core Micro Galleries artists, all donating work from around the world, which includes France, USA, Iran, Finland, Thailand, Hong Kong and Italy to name a few! This will amount to over a hundred artworks by forty artists, set up in a space that may sound a little out of place especially before you get the chance to see it live, which to most of us makes this event sound even more intruiging!

While the street exhibition itself will last for two full weeks, the interactive programs will take place from October 2 until October 4, 2015. The program includes workshops for the community, artist talks, tours to view the artworks at the market area, moving images evening culminating in a micro Slideluck, an opening night with live music, projections, and installations, including a floating one on the river! All shows and activities are free of charge and will most definitely be something that counts much bigger than just micro awesome!

Getting to the Badung Traditional Market is easy and you can really not miss the spot! However, over the years we have been pretty familiar with the 'phenomenon' of people living on the island for a while, but concentrating on the southern part of Badung which covers all the touristy areas, which cause them to be kind of unfamiliar with the rather local and traditional parts of South Bali, including the old side of Denpasar. Now, in anticipation of that, along with all the schedules, artist details and everything else you might need to know, Micro Galleries has kindly updated the specific map and details of the venue on their website page http://microgalleries.org/events/denpasar/.

Check your schedules, mark your calendar, and see you around! Let's experience some (micro)magic for a (micro)moment and be part of this brand new Denpasar art experience!