Since 32 years I travel around the world with my husband.

He is a true adventurer, as you may have already seen in the photo. Here is his story:        

Hubert Matysek  

adventurer - cameraman - art collector

Hubert grew up in the south of Germany. At the age of fifteen, he lost his parents and had to fight himself through life from then on. As if by chance he came to Helgoland, a small island in the North Sea between Germany and England. Actually he waited in the Hamburg harbor for a ship to Brazil, where he had relatives. But Hubert found his personal and professional happiness on Helgoland. He dreamed as a teenager of traveling to foreign countries. At this time a world map hung over his bed and when he looked up at night, he began to think about exploring Africa, Asia and America. With his first money he bought a camera and went in the winter on the trip. There he also made his first films and made slide images (the slides are unfortunately no longer available). Back in Germany, he showed people in small presentations, the world outside the European continent. This was completely new in the late 1950s / early 1960s. People were amazed! The enthusiasm was so great, and so it came, that Hubert from then on equipped with a professional movie camera went every winter for 6 months in adventure expeditions. A newspaper reporter once wrote: "For six months he works like a savage, and for six months he lives like a savage."

So he discovered the remotest corners of the earth, whether it was the African continent, the islands in the Indian Ocean, Middle East, Asia, Australia, the South Seas, North, Central and South America; Hubert visited the peoples as a friend, lived and celebrated with them. He met kings, presidents, tribal chieftains, high-ranking priests and monks. He lived in castles just as happy as on rickety boats of the locals or in a tree house in the jungle.

He was more behind a 16mm camera than he had taken pictures. And unfortunately, the few slides from the 1960s are no longer available. Nevertheless, there are fabulous shots that he and want to share with you.

Please click on the picture below to see the photos of his expeditions! Let's go on a small world trip...

Hubert did not bring back "only" films and photos of his travels, but also great works of art. His friends and also the visitors of his film presentations (which now took place in large halls) were enthusiastic about the art of foreign countries. The idea was born! In 1974 Matysek opened with his first wife the "Bali Beach - works of art from around the world" in the center of Frankfurt am Main / Germany. This small shop had a very special atmosphere: foreign smells (incense sticks), strange sounds (for example gamelan music), candles, blossoms and flowers -when the visitors entered the shop, they were looked at by thousands of eyes: Everywhere hung grotesque masks from Indonesia, Africa and New Guinea. There were deity-figures from India, Nepal and Bali, Buddha images from Tibet, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka and China. Figures and items of "primitive" peoples from New Guinea, Africa and the South Seas. And of cause, so many photos! Hubert had great success! But it always drew him into the distance. After Christmas, he went on trips for four months, to experience new cultures and to bring great works of art with.

On these trips he often took his son Andreas. The world was just too beautiful not to show it to him.

Until today, The Bali Beach Shop is not just a store: it is a life's work with a large and a great story. Perhaps you wonder why Hubert called his business "Bali Beach". Bali, the island of the gods and demons, simply drew him into its spell. He landed in 1966 for the first time on this island with an airplane with drogue parachute, because the runway had been very short. There was not a big terminal like today, but a small house and to welcome the guest little Balinese came with a floral gift and a fresh coconut. Hubert experienced the opening of the large "Bali Beach Hotel" in Sanur and stayed for 4 months. Every year he came back and when he opened his small hotel and the tax-free shop in Helgoland in 1969, he called it "Bali Beach".

In autumn 1989 Hubert and I met for the first time. Bali has a very special meaning in my life. When I discovered the culture in a lent book, I was absolutely fascinated. A world full of gods and demons, carved in stone, carved in wood and living in nature. But where could I get such a piece in Germany? My mother remembered that there was a shop in Frankfurt. My “soul” entered a Wonderland shop! My heart pounded with joy. There was everything my heart desired. Yes EVERYTHING, because there was a man between all the masks and figures who conquered my heart. It was love at first sight! Hubert impressed the "girl" who also bought a Garuda statue that had a crack. Other people are bothered by this, seeing the statue as broken. But I said: This rift is a sign of the great energy that this statue possesses! Since 1990 we are a couple (24 hours pay day!) we travel together every winter through the world and, of course, to Bali.

I dedicated this website to my husband, Hubert.

If you want to know more about me, then just click on the photo!

I am a sannyasin. But do not think that I'm in seclusion somewhere in the Himalayas! No, I am in the middle of everyday life and have learned to turn ordinary things into a meditation. If you would like to know more about it then visit the spiritual website of Bali-Beach.

In 1994, Hubert finished his work as a documantary filmmaker with the Thaipusam Festival. I did the photos. It was an incredible experience for me. Two days and two nights we were very close to the faithful. We accompanied the Hindus to Batu Caves, KL, Malaysia.

In 1998 Hubert and me announced: Bali Beach leaves Frankfurt, leaves Germany! No one would have held it there for possible, that such a big, well-known shop packs the trucks and goes on their own "adventure". The "Bali Beach Museum Shop" has been in Marbella (Spanien) for over 21 years. We are very proud of it! It was not easy to gain a foothold, but the quality of the works of art, the temple-like atmosphere, the adventure stories of Hubert and not least my always cheerful manner and great knowledge about Asian culture have simply convinced our customers.

The art collection covers such a wide range, that the we can rightly say that "Bali Beach" is unique!

And every year, Hubert and I surprise our customers with great works of art, furniture and jewelery that we have discovered on our travels somewhere in the world. The "Bali Beach" has always been a museum character. But here are only a few exhibits behind glass. You can touch most artworks and god figures and feel their energy. In Bali Beach Museum shop you can go on a discovery tour. Every time you visit you will discover new things that you did not notice before. The paths in the shop are very narrow and lead past many altars. On the other hand you see great works of art without religious background and extraordinary furniture. You will be astonished. Another world, as you can see on the page "Shop". Please be sure to visit this page, as you can really experience the store there!

For a couple of years, Hubert's son Andreas also worked in the family business, but then went back to his own path. For him we opened a new store. There were mainly Buddha statues to buy.

In 2015, a new chapter began for our Bali Beach Museum Shop!

When 2015, in the middle of the summer, the soul of the "Bali Beach", the Barong Ketet, left the shop and disappeared in one of the many containers, Hubert and me embraced. We wept bitterly. Everything around us became still, everyone felt affected; the longtime neighbors, the packers and just passing pedestrians. Hubert and I said goodbye to nearly 1500 pieces (2019), which were part of our lives. Real museum pieces from Bali, New Guinea, Tibet, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, China, Nepal, India, Ghana and Senegal.

But there were also tears of joy and gratitude, because Mr. Vladimir Shcherbakov, together with the World Ocean Museum, created a monument to Hubert's life’s work with the exhibition "The people of the sea" in Kaliningrad/Russia.

"The People of the Sea"

the life's work of Hubert Matysek in Kaliningrad/ Svetlogorsk

"A unique ethnographic exhibition – People of the Sea – is waiting for you at the Maritime Exhibition Centre in Svetlogorsk.

A unique ethnographic collection moves visitors to the world of primitive tribes, mystery religions and excellent handicraft by native artists. About 1450 items – cult objects, masks, puppets, weapons – were collected by a German traveler in Indonesia (New Guinea, Java, Timor, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Bali) as well as in India, China and Nepal  in the 1960s-90s. These people’s life is closely interrelated with the sea, so it is clearly seen in the materials, symbols and themes. According to the ethnographers, it is one of the five best collections in Europe. In 2015, a Russian entrepreneur and patron V.Shcherbakov acquired the collection and lent it to the Museum of the World Ocean for a display.  Guests have already got to know a small part of the collection at the Maritime Exhibition Centre. Some exhibits are exclusive and displayed in Russia for the first time.

The exhibition is located on two levels: on the ground floor one can get to know unique primitive cultures of New Guinea: Asmat and Dani tribes. Exhibits devoted to the culture and art of Bali, Hindustan and Southeast Asia will be presented in the largest hall."

This was, of course, a very long story. But the "Bali Beach" is not just a shop selling art from all over the world. For Hubert, the shop was his life and it's the same for me.. There is no big difference between business and private life. And you will feel it immediately.

Dallas accompanied Hubert and me for 15 years. Like us, he belonged to the Bali Beach Museum Shop. It was his "day home". And he took so many clients down the stairs to another world. Unfortunately he left us 2018. We miss him very much ...

"Nothing is like you,

nothing was like you

and nothing will ever be like you"

Since the end of August 2019 we have again a four-legged "soul": Mowgli! A little "whirlwind". He puts a smile on the face of all the customers. Mowgli will guide you in his wonderful, curious way through the museum shop. You will have fun with him. Definitely!

The Bali Beach Museum Shop is located at the southernmost point of Europe: The Costa del Sol - Spain. As the name suggests, the sun is at home here! That's another reason to come here, right? I would be happy to welcome you.

With love, Nisarga