Nuanu Creative City

Nuanu, a creative city offers not just a place to stay, eat and enjoy the beach, but also a global school, a wellness spa, an alpaca petting farm, a multimedia park, a gallery space and so much more. Nuanu transcends the traditional creative or business model. With 70% of its forty four hectares dedicated to natural land and only 30% to be constructed, the creative city aims to integrate conscious living and green practice with the lush landscape, community, nature and traditional practices. Nuanu is an experiential ‘city’. It’s a lifestyle venue, a cultural park, a place to relax and a lot more rolled into one. With something to offer for every age group, interest and passion, the experience of Nuanu leaves one wanting more. It is spiritually enchancing, visually appealing and culturally stimulating, all together.
 
Nature and Nurture
‘Nature is a stakeholder in Nuanu. Nature is the development for us, so we invest in it’, said Lev Kroll, CEO Nuanu. The first visitors to Nuanu were people who liked nature and culture – now though it has evolved. The journey experience of Nuanu is more than what meets the eye. The efforts for protecting habitats and enriching biodiversity are profound and humbling.
 
Magical Garden, is home to butterflies, orchids, rare plants, various insects and dragonflies. The garden has enhanced the survival rate of butterflies from 2% to 20%, and ensures there are clean water bodies all around Nuanu to support the breeding of dragonflies (a natural solution to mosquitoes). Nuanu recycles 70% of its waste, has strict building and construction policies, enforces a rather strict no-tree cutting policy.
 
The Nuanu hotels also reflect the philosophy of being one with nature and use only indigenous materials to build whether it be the luxury boutique hotel Oshom Bali with stunning ocean views and ‘treehouse’ rooms in the Mangroves or the Sungai huts made with bamboo surrounded by nature in the middle of the forest.

Diversity
Nuanu is not a typical business or school or nature preserve, neither are the people who are helping progress the vision of Nuanu. ‘We have different cultures and values, different practices coming together. Everyone is learning from each other. The 5-year plan is redundant, there is no KPI culture. It’s nature and nurture’, says Lev Kroll. The diversity in the efforts and everything that Nuanu has to offer a visitor makes it a unique, intellectually and spiritually enriching experience.
 
A morning walk, an exercise class, a cultural performance by the Beraban Village Youth, a Palm Leaf Animal Workshop, an Alpaca feeding, a glassblowing demonstration, a walk in the Aurora multimedia park, watching the Earth Sentinels projection mapping after sunset, a delicious meal at the Luna Beach Club, a luxurious stay at Oshom or a relaxing spa day at the social wellness club, Lumeira. A day at Nuanu defines diversity. Lev also talked about diversity in building and planning a visitor’s day at Nuanu. ‘Each person in the family should have their passions at Nuanu. Everyone has something they like; they gravitate towards. The little humans should be as engaged as adults.’

Community Building
There are two aspects to community; working with and uplifting the local community and building a community of likeminded individuals with shared passions. Through various free art programs for the children of Banjar Beraban, traditional and cultural performances at the city by the village youth Nuanu brings the people in. It is an inclusive space co-created with the local community.
 
Nuanu Social Fund, a foundation funded by 5% of each projects revenue integrates projects, champions diversity, values tradition, provides support and an inclusive, collaborative space for all. It has preserved a centuries old Gamelan Gambang, which has existed since Majapahit era in Bongan area. The social fund has also aided temple restoration, provided support for; ogoh-ogoh [giant effigies of demons and spirits made from paper and bamboo ceremonially burned to symbolize the destruction of evil] support, the local farming agriculture, Buku Anak Berdaya [creating picture books for school children], the dogs that live in and around Nuanu, to name a few. Giving back to the community is an integral part of the creative city, it goes beyond the regular company CSR initiative.

Art
Art has been at the centre of Nuanu since its conception. From special art projects for the local community to interactive multimedia installations in the multimedia park, art is integrated seamlessly in the creative city. Two big installations – Earth Sentinels by South African artist Daniel Popper created to embody a sense of guardianship of Nuanu and the Earth, and THK Tower by French architect Arthur Mamou- Mani [built around the Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana which means harmony with god, harmony with fellow humans and harmony with nature] create a unique opportunity to collaborate with artists local and foreign to bring the installations to life. Each piece has a multifaceted approach towards material, location, technology and dialogue.

Furthering the commitment to the arts, Nuanu hosted FOTO Bali earlier this summer. An international photography festival which highlighted the works of thirty-four lens-based practitioners, artists and storytellers. And now, it is set to host its very first art fair, Art & Bali. Indonesian and specifically Balinese art is gravely under-represented. Art and Bali is a response to that. ‘This year’s theme, Bridging Dichotomies explores the tensions and harmonies between tradition and innovation, nature and technology, the local and the global’. Kelsang Dolma, the fair’s director said, ‘Building Art & Bali has been about shaping a fair that feels like a festival. It’s a fair that belongs to Bali first and speaks to the world from there’. It aims to bring together not just collectors, institutions and artists but also cultural enthusiasts who wish to explore and learn more about the voices and storytellers from Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian galleries representing artists from around the world.
 
Words Samiksha Sharma
Photography Nuanu Creative City