This September, Bali will host Art & Bali 2025, an international art fair on 12-14 September at Nuanu Creative City. In this event, Terra Nexus is a high-energy new media exhibition that brings together 23 artists from around the world and Indonesia, including senior artists from Indonesia who will appear for the first time in a new media art exhibition. The exhibition is both an encounter and a confrontation–between traditional media art and new media art, elements and code, ancestral memory and artificial intelligence, and between ritual and real-time visual processing. In addition to the Terra Nexus exhibition at Art & Bali—other exciting information about Art & Bali such as gallery participants and event programs will be announced in July 2025

Curated by Mona Liem, Terra Nexus unspools across immersive installations, augmented landscapes, and speculative interfaces. Here, we are exploring the interconnections of our planet, as they are systems, coded, broken down, rebuilt. Here, Minecraft becomes a temple. Algorithms breathe. Myths get rerouted through machine learning.

“Imagine a space where imagination comes alive, where science and technology merge to connect us with art, nature, and culture,” says Liem. “This exhibition is a showcase of holistic expression—a stage where technology and science dance together to spark innovation rooted in local cultural context.”

Three established names from Indonesian visual culture participating at Terra Nexus include: Nasirun, a legendary Indonesian painter known for his interpretation of traditional arts with socio-political conversation. Ubrux, an award winning artist known for its newspaper painting technique. Yessiow, Balinese leader in mural art, who integrates decorative wall art with loud vibrant color.

Other participating artists span a global orbit, from Poland, France, Japan, Qatar to South Korea, positioning Art & Bali as not just a fair, but a frequency. A gathering of signals.

“Let’s be clear,” says Lev Kroll, CEO of Nuanu Creative City. “Art here is not an afterthought. It’s not an ornament. At Nuanu, it’s how we build. It’s urban planning. It’s spiritual infrastructure. Terra Nexus is proof of that. You’re not just visiting a show, you’re entering a city that believes art should interrupt, not embellish.”

Set on the southwest coast of Bali, Nuanu is a regenerative city built on principles that resist the extractive logic of most developments. It’s a place where cultural stewardship isn’t a footnote, it’s a design principle. That Art & Bali chose this site is no accident.

“There’s no formula for what an art fair in Bali should look like,” says Kelsang Dolma, Fair Director of Art & Bali. “This isn't a borrowed structure, it’s something born of the land itself: mythic, chaotic, beautiful. Terra Nexus is our way of asking what art becomes when it grows out of ritual, landscape, and collective memory, not just theory or market. Here, the elements aren’t themes, they’re ancestors.”

Alongside major young Indonesian artists like Alodia Yap, Popomangun and Widi Pangestu audiences can enter the dystopian underwater world of Dhanny ‘danot’ Sanjaya, a full-scale Minecraft of the world reimagined by MIVUBI, kinetic light organisms by Mukhamad Aji Prasetyo, and light shows and installations by Notanlab. Nothing about it will feel familiar in an art fair. And that’s the point.

Artists featured in Terra Nexus include: Awang Behartawan, Dadi Setiadi, Dr. Justyna Gorowska, Ivan Sagita, J+Art Award Winners, Jana Schafroth, Nus Salomo, Roger Ng Wei Lun, Satya Cipta, Utami A. Ishii, Valerio Vincenzo, Wisnu Ajitama, and many more artists coming up closer to the date.

PHOTO CREDIT: Nuanu Creative City

Another milestone for Indonesia’s music scene unfolds as LOCUS Festival returns to Bali, hosted at the visionary Nuanu Creative City. Headlining the four-day festival from 19–22 June 2025, the Outlook Orchestra—a groundbreaking ensemble born from the legendary European Outlook Festival—makes its Asian debut, marking a historic moment for the region’s evolving cultural landscape. Nuanu Creative City sets the stage for a powerful convergence of tradition and innovation, as it hosts the LOCUS Festival—where electronic music heritage meets classical orchestration in a rare, world-class experience.

Featuring 9 Indonesian classical musicians, the ensemble includes Yashinta Anggar Kusuma, Michria Diela Maharai, and Buchenita Naomi Wardoyo on first violin; Maria Eufrasia Arintya and Wildan Chabibi on second violin; Jean Valentino and Dolly Sambudi on viola; and Maria Maya Aristya and Stephani Putri on cello.

“Nuanu is a living canvas where global creativity and local culture meet,” said Ida Ayu Astari Prada, Brand & Communications Director, Nuanu Creative City. “This has been very true since the first day Nuanu opened its door, unveiling countless opportunities for local and global artists to have conversations, exchange ideas, and even to perform together.”

Nuanu Creative City is built on the belief that creativity can shape a better future. Through ongoing programs, festivals, and artist collaborations, Nuanu provides a platform for expression, experimentation, and exchange—uniting global voices with Balinese heritage and Indonesian creative talent. From public art installations to major cultural events like LOCUS, Nuanu is devoted to nurturing the artistic spirit of Bali and beyond.

PHOTO CREDIT: Musi (@musi.chef)

Nuanu Creative City, a 44-hectare development on Bali’s southwest coast, will host its largest running event to date: Nuanu Run, taking place on 1 June 2025. With 5K, 10K, and 21K routes passing through forest trails, ocean views, and large-scale art installations, this event offers something rare: a run through a car-free landscape designed around movement, nature, and creativity.

In the spirit of Global Running Day (celebrated worldwide every first Wednesday of June), Nuanu Run brings international energy into a uniquely Balinese setting. It's a chance for people to come together, locals, visitors, families, and athletes, to experience a city that prioritizes how people move and connect.

“We’re not building another city of roads and parking lots—we’re building something human,” said Lev Kroll, CEO of Nuanu Creative City. “Nuanu is designed with pedestrians as stakeholders, and we’re investing heavily in infrastructure to make that real—from safe routes for kids walking to school, to lush pathways for runners, strollers, and everyday movement. Our roads follow the golden ratio to respect nature’s flow, while pedestrian paths are designed for direct, comfortable access. Nuanu Run offers a glimpse of this vision—people moving freely, joyfully, through spaces designed for them. All of Nuanu's events are opportunities for us to learn and gather knowledge, and continue to refine a city where walking isn't just possible, it’s preferred.”

Since registration opened in April, Nuanu Run has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the running community, resulting in a complete sell-out before the third week of May. Capped at 2,000 participants, the event will bring together local running groups, families, and wellness communities to celebrate running as one of the most exciting sports.

But the race is just one part of the experience. The morning will feature local food stalls, music, wellness spaces, and kids’ activities, turning the event into a full-day celebration of movement and community.

Nuanu Run is made possible with support from regional partners, wellness practitioners, artists, and independent vendors helping to shape the experience on the ground.