Kelsang Dolma understands Indonesian artists in a way few outsiders do. For the last three years, ever since she adopted Bali as her home, she has immersed herself in its art and cultural landscape, cultivating a sharp insider-outsider perspective. Honing a strong professional experience in India’s art world, she is at the precipice of launching Bali’s first contemporary art fair, Art & Bali, which is opening its doors to visitors at Bali’s mini-city, Nuanu on 12 September.
Since its opening in 2025, Nuanu Creative City has steadily cultivated a reputation as a lifestyle and wellness destination. Spread across a sprawling 44 hectares of an eco-conscious property, it’s now expanding into the realm of arts as well. Nuanu’s immersive, nature-driven environment, says Dolma, creates a “natural home” for the kind of slow, thoughtful art experience she plans to offer. In 2024, Bali attracted over 6 million international tourists but with Art & Bali, Dolma hopes for it to transform into a meeting ground for connoisseurs, collectors, critics, curators, and the culturally curious.
As the fair’s founding director, Dolma is intentional in her efforts. “Indonesian art is underrepresented internationally,” she notes. “Art & Bali’s primary focus is to bring Indonesian artists under one inclusive roof and exhibit their work on a global platform. We want to create a space that not only celebrates local artists, but welcomes seasoned collectors and curators from around the world to appreciate and pay attention.”
With a decade-long career, Dolma has worked with institutions like Saffron Art and PHOTOINK gallery in New Delhi, as well as the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa and Indian Ceramics Triennale. When we meet, she’s still reeling from FOTO Bali, an international photography festival launched by her in Nuanu, which concluded in August. It featured visual storytellers from 29 countries, including Indian photographers like Swastik Pal and Zishaan A. Latif. Now, she’s making a few last-minute, hair-splitting decisions for Nuanu’s next powerhouse offering.
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For its inaugural year, Art & Bali moves away from the traditional fair format by opting for a smaller roster of 17 carefully-chosen exhibitors. Each gallery has been given generous booth-space to showcase the artworks of over 150 artists – over 70 percent of whom are Indonesian. “What excites me,” says Dolma, “is that a majority of the collectives and galleries (like the Santrian Art Gallery), have never participated in any art festivals before, even though they’ve been active in Bali for decades. Their work is multi-disciplinary: textiles, antiquities, fine art painting and sculptural works. But they’ve rarely shown outside their own spaces. Therefore, it was important for me to approach them one-on-one.”
The remaining 30 percent of the participating artists have been invited from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Spain. Next year, she hopes to welcome artists from India as well. The goal is to push boundaries and reinvent art spaces, while connecting global narratives with local soul.
A definite attraction is the larger-than-life Trokomod installation – an otherworldly hybrid of a Komodo dragon and the classic Trojan Horse. It might just be the strangest object at the fair too. Created by respected Indonesian artist, Heri Dono, it was first unveiled at the 2015 Venice Biennale as part of the Indonesian Pavilion. The piece, however, has largely been out of public view ever since. Now, Art & Bali is giving it a new lease of life. Over three metres high and stretching more than seven metres in length, this four-tonne sculptural giant, towers over visitors. Its cannons double as introspective telescopes, and its ship-like anatomy (made of salvaged iron sheets) can fit up to eight people. “A lot of Dono’s works responds to the geopolitical and social realities of Indonesia,” notes Dolma, who emphasizes his enduring importance in the country’s cultural and historical fabric.
Each edition of Art & Bali is anchored by a curated exhibition. This year that role is being held by Terra Nexus, a new-media centric show at Nuanu envisioned by Switzerland-based Indonesian curator Mona Liem. The exhibition features 30 artists presenting immersive installations and compelling art that braids together and interrogates the threads of art, ecology, experiential media, cultural memory and technology.
There is also a dedicated space for an affordable art market in collaboration with two art collectives, where every piece will be priced under Rs. 5,000. Dolma believes that purchasing art should not be a daunting experience, but one that is accessible and enjoyed by all. “As far as we can, I’d like to make the art fair less boxy and more of a festive celebration,” she says. “That’s why we have separate art venues scattered across the property as well.”
In addition, Art & Bali’s sibling wing, Nuanu Real Estate is currently inviting guests to invest and purchase homes in the Creative City, and is offering every home buyer USD 2,000 as a gift card, which will allow them to purchase art for their residences.
The team at Art & Bali has also been mindful by adopting sustainability practices. “For instance, we are using galvanised steel and MDF panels as materials for the booths, as opposed to plywood and gypsum walls, which are traditionally installed at fairs, and later destroyed or trashed after usage. I don’t want to do that; I want to repurpose the wall materials for future events. Sustainability is not something we are introducing in Art & Bali alone. It is something that is a part of Nuanu’s DNA.”
As much as possible, sustainability is ingrained in Nuanu’s internal practices, where electric buggies transport guests from one place to another, and solar panels are seamlessly integrated into the city’s all-encompassing infrastructure. “At Nuanu, strong sustainability standards are part of the design itself. In fact, the art fair will set into motion the second chapter of the THK Tower, which has been designed by French architect, Arthur Mamou-Mani, a 30-meter tall, on-site landmark structure crafted using locally-salvaged rattan. It transforms into a multimedia exhibit at night, as digital artworks are projected onto its expansive façade.
Art & Bali serves as a platform that draws artists, curators and collectors to the island, transforming Bali into a site that is both a sanctuary and a stage where traditional and contemporary practices meet.
Art & Bali will be held from 12 -14 September in Nuanu, Bali, Indonesia.
Radhika Iyengar is the author of Fire on the Ganges: Life Among the Dead in Banaras, and an independent arts and culture journalist. She posts @radhika_iy