#DPInsider: An Exclusive Interview With Kelsang Doma Of Art & Bali, Debuting September 2025

Long known for its blend of adventure, nightlife, spirituality, and culture, Bali adds a bold new chapter this year with ‘Art & Bali,’ a groundbreaking art fair debuting September 12–16, 2025. Set along the untouched Tabanan coastline in Nuanu, a visionary creative city where art, nature, and technology meet, the fair unfolds across lush jungle trails, immersive AI-driven installations, and thoughtfully designed spaces that blur the line between exhibition and environment. In an exclusive interview with Design Pataki, Kelsang Doma, the fair’s Project Director, shares her curatorial vision on this art project. 

Born and raised in India, she leads key cultural initiatives besides Art & Bali, which include FOTO Bali and Labyrith Art Gallery. Dolma’s background includes a decade of experience working with India’s Serendipity Arts Festival, Saffron Art, the Indian Ceramics Triennale, the Chennai Photo Biennale, the Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace, and Bengaluru ByDesign Festival. She’s seen how India’s contemporary art scene has experienced a boom, and she now also sees the potential in Bali with the growing interest there. Doma brings a distinct perspective to this bold new venture, choosing not to frame ‘Art & Bali’ within existing global art paradigms. Instead, she seeks to expand one’s understanding of artistic relevance, one that honours different rhythms, values, and ways of seeing.

Design Pataki: What sparked the vision behind Art & Bali 2025 by Nuanu Creative City is the island’s first international Art Fair?

Kelsang Doma: Bali doesn’t lend itself easily to linear narratives. Its energy is cyclical, layered, and often contradictory, yet somehow always coherent. The idea for ‘Art & Bali’ wasn’t to impose a global model onto the island, but to listen to what’s already here. The rituals, the material intelligence of the land, the improvisational spirit of its people, these are not ‘themes’ to be exhibited; they’re part of a living system. The fair emerges from that ecosystem. We’re not curating a spectacle. We’re creating a site where traditions are not just archived, but extended. And where the ceremonial and the contemporary can speak to one another without translation.

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DP: You have mentioned that the ‘&’ in Art & Bali symbolises connection, echoing the festival’s theme, ‘Bridging Dichotomies.’ Could you take us through the festival lineup and programming?

KD: The ampersand is not decorative. It’s the axis of the fair. At ‘Art & Bali,’ we are interested in that breath: the space between binaries, the seams where things overlap imperfectly. ‘Bridging Dichotomies’ isn’t about flattening differences; it’s about holding space for contradiction with care. Our programming reflects this. You will see Indonesian new media artists shown alongside traditional mask carvers. You’ll encounter performances rooted in ritual, coexisting with speculative AI-generated works. We are also building strategic relationships with institutions, residencies, archives, and educational platforms, so that these encounters can echo beyond the fair.

For example, the ‘Art Collector’s Pass,’ created in partnership with Nuanu Real Estate, offers homeowners a way to begin collecting art not as a show of prestige, but as a gesture of stewardship. It’s a quiet shift in mindset, where collecting becomes less about acquiring objects and more about building lasting relationships with artists, with context, and with the work itself.

DP: What does it take for galleries and artists to meet this goal?

KD: We are not chasing a quota of blue-chip names or aiming for a neatly packaged spread of regional representation. Our curatorial approach is rooted in resonance — in practices that carry depth across temporal, spiritual, and material dimensions. The decision to forgo an open call for exhibitors was a conscious one. Every invitation has grown out of ongoing conversations, some quiet, others long in the making, with artists and galleries whose work can hold complexity and remains in active dialogue with the unique context we’re creating at Nuanu.

We are drawn to those who don’t mind if a conversation begins in a gallery and continues by a rice field or during a gamelan rehearsal. We also want to be generous with first-time exhibitors, emerging collectives, and artists who may not fit conventional fair formats. The fair infrastructure is designed to adapt to the work and not the other way around.

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DP: Can we expect to see traditional Balinese art forms that the world hasn’t discovered yet?

KD: Discovery often implies something was hidden or lost, but these forms have always been here. It’s more about shifting how we look at them. Traditional Balinese art is part of everyday life, it’s functional, spiritual, and often collaborative. Instead of pulling it out and placing it on display, we are creating spaces where these practices can be experienced more fully. Some of the most exciting moments will come from witnessing young Balinese artists engage with these traditions and pushing them in new directions.

DP: Who are some emerging Balinese artists at ‘Art & Bali’ we should keep an eye out for?

KD: There are names we are excited about, but I’d encourage visitors to keep an open mind and not just look for the highlight reel. Some of the strongest work might not come from artists with a big following, but from people who are deeply rooted in place and process. We’re also creating room for younger voices, collectives, and those who work in unconventional ways, whether that’s through ritual performance, sound, or materials sourced directly from their environment. It’s not about finding the next star; it’s about expanding what we think art can be.

DP: Art & Bali is doing something rare, creating a global art fair rooted in its natural surroundings. What sustainable design choices are helping the galleries function as part of a living cultural ecosystem?

KD: Sustainability isn’t a separate category for us; it’s part of how we build and plan. Our spatial designer, Evginiy Resnyanskii, works closely with local craftspeople to source materials that can be repurposed after the fair. In Nuanu, strong sustainability standards are part of the design, like reducing waste or using only electric vehicles powered by on-site solar panels, which all happen naturally. While also thinking carefully about how people experience the space: how light moves, how sound carries, and how the layout creates a sense of rhythm and ease. The goal is to build something that resonates with the soul of  Bali, not just something that looks sustainable on paper.

With Art & Bali, the goal isn’t to reinvent the island but to amplify what’s already here, to create space where local creativity can be seen, supported, and meaningfully connected to the wider world.

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DP: Bali has long been celebrated as a sanctuary for wellness. With the debut of Art & Bali this September, is the island poised to redefine itself as a haven for art and design connoisseurs? What’s your take on this shift?

KD: With Art & Bali, the goal isn’t to reinvent the island but to amplify what’s already here, to create space where local creativity can be seen, supported, and meaningfully connected to the wider world. At Nuanu, the fair unfolds across installations, performances, and digital works that respond intimately to the land. We’ve rooted the experience in ‘Tri Hita Karana,’ the Balinese philosophy of harmony between people, nature, and spirit. That’s what keeps the fair grounded, not just in art, but in place. If that draws collectors and connoisseurs, all the better. But what we hope is to attract people willing to slow down, look closer, and those who desire to stay curious.