Standing guard at the entrance of Nuanu, two 14-meter-tall heads sprouting foliage exude a blend of mythology and art. They are the work of South African sculptor Daniel Popper, and once the sun sets, the blooming giants are illuminated by a light art installation, taking on an outer worldliness.

Named Earth Sentinels, they curiously peer down at the traditional Balinese Kecak dance during the three-day Suara festival in the fading dusk light.

The name Nuanu translates to ‘in the process’ in Balinese, and the meaning behind the island’s most progressive city couldn’t be more apt.

“Nuanu has been designed as a new way to live,” Nuanu Founder and Suara Co-Founder Sergey Solonin says. “I’m excited to see what works and share it with the world.”

Nuanu has been designed as a self-sustaining city with accommodation, schools, art installations, dining, shopping, wellness, working and creative spaces.

Nuanu’s soft opening in July coincided with the annual Suara festival. Suara means ‘voice’ in Indonesian, and over 9,000 euphoric festival-goers from more than 60 countries reveled in an explosion of music, performance art, circus performances, wellness sessions, inspiring talks, sustainability initiatives and family-friendly activities.

Suara Co-Founder, CEO and Creative Director Jason Swamy was instrumental in more than 100 eclectic multi-genre artists performing over nine stages, including headline Australian act Angus and Julia Stone, alongside folk, hip hop, jazz and techno acts.

From suites to tree houses

Among the festivities, the city’s construction quietly heads toward completion in the background. Spanning more than 44 hectares, Nuanu has been designed as a self-sustaining city with accommodation, schools, art installations, dining, shopping, wellness, working and creative spaces.

A tour of the Oshom Bali boutique hotel reveals 11 ocean-facing suites, two mangrove mansions and seven tree houses blending contemporary Balinese design with wabi-sabi, a Japanese philosophy encompassing the transience and imperfections found in nature.

The cohesive design is grounded in nature, where the lava sands of Nyanyi Beach connect the ocean, mangroves and jungle, accompanied by a soundtrack of crashing waves and a perpetual tropical breeze.

The cohesive design is grounded in nature, where the lava sands of Nyanyi Beach connect the ocean, mangroves and jungle.

“Meditative and creative corners in the rooms spark the inner genius inviting guests to draw and write,” Oshom Bali Creative Director and Founder Daisy Angus says.

The charred timber tree houses hovering in the tree canopy are connected by a series of timber bridges and feature copper roofs intended to oxidize and eventually blend in with the verdant jungle.

Oshom Bali is an exciting teaser of the accommodation offerings planned, including the mid-range Willow Hotel (launching in 2025) and the hobbit-style villas at Labyrinth Residence (by the Labyrinth Collective), which are currently used for multi-disciplinary artists.

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Longer-term residential living includes the Unit Village with 55 high-tech homes (ranging from US$112,000-$293,000), the premium OXO The Residences and luxury resort-style living at Ecoverse.

Refreshingly, Nuanu defies convention by refusing to be defined by any particular demographic. Young families are just as well catered for, as is a community of creatives, innovators and holiday-makers seeking a unique escape.

Fostering creativity

As a community fostering creativity, it makes sense for Nuanu to guide the next generation of creatives and entrepreneurs with an education center, including an international kindergarten, a ProEd Global School based on the Cambridge Curriculum and the Nuanu Art Platform supporting the local community through its art program.

A trip to the top of the THK Tower, designed by French architect Arthur Mamou-Mani and fashioned from reclaimed timber, reveals the city’s scale and sweeping views reaching to Uluwatu. Below, Luna Beach Club hugs the shoreline punctuated by the Luna art installation depicting the mother goddess by Ukrainian sculptor Alexander Milov.

The club incorporates the 369 Restaurant, crafted from bamboo into a spiraling canopy, and a beer garden, a gelato bar and the Utopia VIP Club with an underground cave pool and a playful water slide.

Nuanu might just be one of the most serene and innovative enclaves on the island of the gods.

The multimedia Aurora Park is my favorite spot, especially at night. Just follow the weaving pebbled paths and bridges through a kaleidoscope of dazzling light, music, a hidden stage and mind-bending art installations.

A butterfly breeding program, orchid nursery, insect lab and alpaca farm enhance the folly. The on-site wellness center, Lumeira, features a wood-fired dome steam and sound-healing room, creating a retreat within a retreat.

A conscious community

The Nuanu Social Fund empowers the local community through its research, medical and educational initiatives. There’s no doubt an exciting future awaits at Nuanu with more projects on the horizon, such as a shell-shaped dining and shopping plaza, museum, vertical farm, ongoing international events and future accommodation plans.

Located about 10 kilometers from Canggu and an hour from the airport, the city on the Tabanan coastline addresses the island’s traffic congestion with the use of electric buggies within the confines of its parameters and shuttles to the car parks on the city’s edge.

There’s no doubt an exciting future awaits at Nuanu with more projects on the horizon, such as a shell-shaped dining and shopping plaza, museum, vertical farm, ongoing international events and future accommodation plans.

Being able to wander around surrounded by art and nature without any honking motorbikes is a welcome delight; Nuanu might just be one of the most serene and innovative enclaves on the island of the gods.

Carmen Jenner flew with Jetstar and was a guest of Suara, Nuanu and the Holiday Inn Resort Canggu.