Between the famous Tanah Lot Temple and the picturesque Nyanyi Beach, an ambitious and revolutionary creative process is already currently taking place and rapidly taking shape. Right here, indigenous flora and fauna thrive, wellness retreat spaces offer healing and rejuvenation, thought provoking art installations breathe life into the jungle landscapes, and an international school nurtures the youths of tomorrow.

Visionary Russian tech entrepreneur Sergey Solonin envisioned a sprawling integrated sanctuary where creativity, sustainability, nature, and community can converge together in harmonious unison.

The journey of Nuanu began with his inspired vision of creating a communal space where creativity knows no bounds. Drawing inspirations from Bali’s rich cultural tapestry and the principles of Tri Hita Karana which translates to the harmonious relationship between people, nature, and the divine, Solonin embarked on a collaborative quest to invent a conscious community where modern high tech innovations and old traditions can merge.

Designed as an integrated working ecosystem, Nuanu Creative City features dedicated zones for nature and the future to seamlessly come together in a symbiotic and intertwined manner. Based on five key pillars namely: education, nature, health and wellness, art and culture, as well as living and lifestyle, Nuanu is a Utopian place where the movers, shakers, and change makers who are dedicated to positive transformative change can convene and converge to exchange ideas.

Spanning a whopping 44 hectares along the tranquil beachfront coastline of Tebanan, Nuanu Creative City is not merely just an idealistic pet project, pipe dream, or theoretical concept on paper; for it has already physicalised into a proven ecosystem and self contained community village that is in part inspired by the lofty principals of the renowned Burning Man festival. In fact, bits and pieces of tangible Burning Man influences and former playa art dot the landscape. Nuanu is also in many ways similar to what the experimental township of Auroville has achieved, but operated more smoothly and made much more universally accessible to the general public. The entrance fee to Nuanu is merely 20,000 Indonesian rupiah (USD$1.20) if bought online from the official website https://nuanu.com/ .

The name Nuanu finds it’s origins from the Balinese word “Nu-Anu” which literally means “in the process”. The creators deeply resonate with the localised term as it perfectly aligns with how they perceive this ever evolving project. In the words of imaginator Sergey Solonin who encapsulates the concept down to a single sentence, “Agility and flexibility are critical for a project like ours, which is not just about building structures, but creating a living, breathing ecosystem where art, nature, and technology coexist harmoniously.”

Nuanu’s commitment to the environment is evident and tangible in its golden ratio influenced design concept master plan. More than two-thirds of the site remains untouched and undeveloped, thereby preserving and maintaining the native jungle surroundings and the indigenous biodiversity in its original pristine form. While most commercial entities and companies would simply try to apply a bare minimum “green washing” procedure in order to to meet their annual carbon footprint audits and environmental sustainability governance quotas, the staff at Nuanu take the lead by bringing green initiatives and environmental sustainability to the next level. Ongoing projects such as Nuance’s in-house butterfly and insect breeding program located at the BiotaLab in the Magic Garden precinct aims to repopulate native species, and in the process enhance the local ecosystems.

The city’s various conservation and sustainability efforts are second to none, and literally through the roof. Solar panels, rainwater harvesting systems, electric vehicles, and green roofs are just a few examples of the other eco initiatives that underscores Nuanu’s dedication to environmental stewardship and leadership. The team’s devotion to sustainability also extends beyond conservation efforts. Nuanu employs eco-friendly building materials and practices, ensuring that every single building structure harmonizes with its natural surroundings, and that can also be easily torn down and quickly demolished if required. The Nuanu’s team love for sustainability is further reflected and emphasised in their social initiatives such as “Nuanu Dogs” whereby the stray dogs that populate the area as its first inhabitants are being vaccinated, fed, and loved. The public are also welcomed and encouraged to adopt any of the Nuanu dogs.

As high as 90% of Nuance’s staff are Indonesians and 50% of them hold management positions. This ensuring that Nuanu remains deeply rooted in the local community. Seventeen local resident artisans from the nearby Beraban village contribute their craftsmanship at Nuanu’s Artist Village which also hosts daily workshops such as rattan weaving and painting. Furthermore, each project partner contributes five percent of their monthly revenue to Nuanu’s “Social Fund”, which supports reforestation and community development projects. This collaborative approach ensures that Nuanu’s growth benefits not only the visitors, but also the surrounding communities and local villages in a long term sustainable fashion.

Ms Ida Ayu Astari Prada, who is the Brand and Communications Director of Nuanu Creative City shares her personal anecdotes, “One of our biggest departments here at Nuanu is the nature department. Their eco impact are so organically natural and seemingly insignificant that you would mistakenly think that it is all just part of normal and routine de rigeur operations. However, these are the little things and kind of work that actually counts and adds up.

Some of the hidden secrets at Nuanu that most people may miss out and not know about during their visit is our practice of Miyawaki reforestation technique that can be observed in the Magic Garden area. We have a whole bunch of native plants that grow closely to each other which help prevent flooding, soil erosion, and other natural disasters. These are our true unsung heroes of Nuanu!

It is a grand feeling and great achievement to also receive repeated patronage especially from my own friends and family members who keep on coming back to Nuanu, sometimes on their own accord without even notifying me beforehand. This is an authentic testimony that shows just how much they all adore spending their time here All these small little wins and triumphs truly warms my heart as we work very hard as a team to make the Nuanu experience memorable and pleasurable for all.”

From the moment one steps into Nuanu, the fusion of art and architecture is palpable. The Tri Hita Karana (THK) Tower, designed by French architect Arthur Mamou-Mani, spirals skyward, symbolizing the interconnectedness of all things. The Earth Sentinels by artist Daniel Popper are two high tech statuesque art sculptures that are the photogenic iconic guardians which greet all beguiled visitors who enter the pearly gates of Nuanu. The now famous pair of male and female sentinels are an extremely popular Instagram hotspot especially with the locals and well-heeled domestic Indonesian tourists who come all the way here and queue up to have their family portraits professionally taken by a stationed photographer during the nightly immersive multimedia display light shows.

Nearby to the Earth Sentinels, the Labyrinth Art Gallery beckons visitors to lose themselves in a maze of creative artistry, showcasing fascinating interactive artworks that challenge perceptions and ignites the imagination. Just next door to the art gallery, the Labyrinth’s 360 degrees dome is like a miniature version of the Sphere at Las Vegas and which screens award winning documentaries such as “Planet Earth”.

The dome also doubles up as an indoor staged venue for Balinese dance performances and recitals. Kids and adults alike all love the Aurora Media Park which is a one kilometre long outdoor multimedia space that contains curious immersive art installations made using eo-friendly materials that blend light, sound, and nature, creating experiences that are as profoundly thought-provoking as they are mesmerising.

The “Jungle Kids” zone provides a safe, secured, and nurturing environment for young children to roam and play, therefore allowing their parents to be free to get in touch with their own inner childs and explore the myriad of Nuanu’s offerings with peace of mind. Every corner of Nuanu inspires wonder, ponderance, reflection, and amazement. In a wide eyed bewildered state, I would frequently exclaim “wow” and ‘wah” over two dozen times during our short two-night stay.

Lumeira is Nuanu’s social wellness hub that blends ancient medicinal wisdoms with modern holistic practices in order to nurture the body, mind and soul. Other than healthy vegan bites, healing herbal elixirs, and nourishing fruit smoothies, Lumeira also boasts having the world’s largest wood-fired thermal steam dome.

Ascending up the stairs to the igloo shaped Temascal sweat lodge, we entered an ethereal heated cavern with an outer worldly cinematic shamanic meditative soundtrack playlist. An alternating succession of hot and cold splashes were being administered onto us with fans made from generous bunches of aromatic Eucalyptus leaves.

Lumeira’s signature “Steam Social” treatment ends with a refreshing full body soak in one of the two chilly outdoor cold-plunge pools, as well as a warm coal lit steamboat tub filled with pretty rose petals that has been affectionally nicknamed the “human soup”. We left Lumeira feeling pleasantly tingly and with a mild light-headed floaty sensation that lasted for several hours after our Steam Social treatment.

Accommodation options at Nuanu varies from the romantic and luxurious oceanfront Oshom to the adorable Hobbit-looking house Music Camp, as well as Pacha Alpaca and Alpha Wolf Lodges that accord guests and their children full direct access to interact with the loveable domesticated animals.

Our choice of accommodation for our short two nights stay at Nuanu was the Fibonacci spiral inspired “Party Suites” that looks something like a cross between a spiritual hippy’s abode and the Flintstone house. In spite of its misnomer of a name, the quaint boutique hotel with its sacred geometrical lotus petal shaped roofs and Flower of Life outdoor communal pools felt homely and cozy. The Party Suites are centrally located and yet tucked away in a quiet zone right next to Nuanu’s all glass Art Cluster administrative office. The peacefully tranquil surrounds of the Party Suites are guarded upfront by a handsome stone statue of Lord Ganesha that has been adorned with garlands of yellow marigold flowers organically grown at Nuanu’s permaculture farms. The spacious room has everything that guests would need or expect for a comfortable short stay. As veteran burners, we remarked that in the harsh inhospitable desert playa environment of Burning Man, the modest and spartan interiors of the Party Suites would actually be the height of comfort and luxury akin to staying at the Aman or the Four Seasons.

The most popular landmark and the crowning jewel of Nuanu has got to be the epic Luna Beach Club and its extended cave club Utopia, which give older establishments such as Potato Head and Kudeta a run for their money. As the latest trendy beach club and new kid on the block, Luna is an ultra cool large scale entertainment club on steroids that every visitor makes a beeline towards.

The gorgeous and expansive venue mainly attracts a distinctively different type of young party goer crowd that is in stark contrast altogether from the rest of the wholesome family oriented and kids friendly Nuanu. Suave muscled tattoo hunks and tanned bikini babes make up the majority of the eye candy in the vast open air undulating bamboo structured beach club. International DJs spin electrifying and heart thumping hypnotic trance music to a raving crowd as fire spinners perform a fiery dance spectacle to a spellbound transfixed audience.

As if all of that was not enough, the F&B and service rendered is just as fantastic as the rest of the stimulation overload. Watching the hip, beautiful, and image conscious in-crowd decked up in bold designer swimwear while gyrating their gym toned bodies, and flaunting their lip fillers and expensive boob jobs made me feel a little like a fish out of water. I almost wished that I was two decades younger so that I could just fully let go and immerse myself in the wild abandon and hedonistic pleasures of carefree partying. Since Luna Beach Club is the obvious blazing star and central heartbeat of Nuanu, one could be forgiven to wonder if Luna was conceptualised first and then everything else surrounding it was added later as a supportive amenity or secondary after thought.

Our two-day visit to Nuanu was barely enough for us to scratch the surface of what the city has to offer. It felt like we had just enough time to dip our toes into a broad overview tour without deep immersions into anything specific. As Nuanu Creative City continues to expand and become more reputable through word of mouth, its vitality and impact inadvertently grows by leaps and bounds. With further plans to welcome over three million visitors in the coming year, the city stands as a shining beacon of what is possible when innovation respects nature and traditions. When people honour the past, embrace the present, and look boldly to the future, we can create living spaces that inspire, uplift, and transforms the community to one that thrives and celebrates life.

First time visitors would inevitably feel a little lost in the maze of numerous attractions, sights, and activities, and perhaps even confused about what Nuanu actually is. The all encompassing and all welcoming embrace of Nuanu is that there is always something here for everyone regardless of age, gender, sexuality, race, nationality, or preferences. Word and pictures simply do not do this place ample justice.

Future expansion plans that are already on the way and in progress include a shopping mall, outdoor amphitheatre, restaurants, a new hotel, investable real estate, and much more. I already know for certain that I wish to come back to Nuanu on all of my return trips to Bali if only just to gawk at how Nuanu keeps transforming and evolving. After all, Nuanu is a perpetual work in process. To be continued….

Images: Luke Elijah