Held in May this year, Suara’s independent art, music, culture and educational festival is set on the pristine Tabanan coast on the Indonesian island of Bali. Founded for the good of its community, the unique two-day event has a clear mission to bring together locals and visitors to connect and celebrate the beauty of Balinese heritage and nature.
Now in its second year, the location for Suara is Nuanu City, ‘a home for visionaries and creators’. With aspirations to establish itself as a ‘smart city’, Nuanu’s future-facing community embraces a forward-thinking, sustainable mindset, with cultural centres, theatres and other activities all tied to the world of technology, culture and well-being. The festival itself welcomed around 4,000 visitors daily who could enjoy a packed schedule of workshops, cultural activities and performances across nine unique stages.
An outdoor festival requires high-performance, flexible and discreet loudspeakers and when it came to choosing the supplier for Suara, K-array was the ‘first choice’ for Suara Producer Alexander Solonin and Sound Engineer Semen Chumanikhin:“We had heard the power of K-array’s flexible Anakonda line array system and Thunder-KS2 subwoofer at Nuanu recording studio, which sounded truly amazing, so we were confident in choosing K-array loudspeakers on the Garuda and Seaside stages.”
The festival boasts an enviable line-up of speakers and workshops but for many festival-goers, music is the highlight of the two-day extravaganza. This year saw some of Indonesia’s best talent perform on the site’s nine specially constructed zones and stages. The Garuda main stage is a stunning bamboo structure, and hosted music from various headlining acts including Balinese musical legends Joni Agung and The Double T and local favourite Catur & The Sound Nomads as well as international reggae band, Big Mountain, best known for its iconic track ‘Baby, I Love Your Way.’ The largest amphitheatre in Bali, the Garuda was the ideal setting for K-array’s unique flexible cluster array with an audio configuration comprising six Firenze-KH7 compact loudspeakers stacked both horizontally and vertically, and seven KS8 touring systems in an arc formation.
The second ‘Seaside’ stage is perched on the clifftop overlooking Nyanyi Beach and provided a picturesque setting for a variety of Balinese performances and inspirational thought leaders. At sunset the stage transformed into a dance party featuring some of Bali’s favourite DJs, with another cleverly designed K-array system configuration using three Firenze-KS7s with two KH8s and four Mastiff-KM112 compact monitors. As well as live music performances, workshops and events, Suara hosted a series of large-scale art installations, with world-class 3D projection mapping designed by the multimedia production company ‘Collab’.
Ukrainian sculptor, Alexander Milov’s vast stainless-steel structure, "The Birth of a New World" - represented by a ‘mother goddess’ – debuted at the festival, illuminated by lasers and LED lights, while 3D projections constantly shifted on two giant intergalactic faces, designed by South African artist Daniel Popper. Both installations were brought to life with K-array audio in a configuration comprised of 16 Firenze-KH7s with 12 KS8s, connected to create a longer cluster, 4 Kayman passive line array speakers and 4 Thunder-KS4P ultra-light, high-power subwoofers.
