MANGUPURA, balitourismnow.com – Balinese artists I Wayan Suma Bagia and Ni Kadek Novi Sumariani have unveiled an extraordinary joint exhibition titled “Water Synergy: Our Resonance Flows” at Room8 Art & Project, an intimate gallery located in the vibrant tourism district of Seminyak, Kuta, Bali.
For the husband-and-wife artists, the exhibition is far more than a showcase of artworks. It serves as a deeply personal wedding gift to one another and a celebration of the love story they have woven together through art.
The exhibition features 23 carefully curated artworks, united under the theme Water Synergy, symbolizing collaboration, the merging of perspectives, and the continuous journey of two individuals flowing toward a shared life.
The exhibition officially opened on August 1, 2026, with remarks by Prof. Dr. Drs. I Wayan Swandi, M.Si., Vice Director III of Bali Maha Werdhi Polytechnic, and was attended by artists, academics, collectors, and members of Bali’s visual arts community.
Prior to the opening ceremony, poets Ganes and Silvia performed a reading inspired by the meeting of freshwater and seawater—two contrasting elements that ultimately merge into a poetic metaphor for love, encounter, and life itself. The exhibition will remain open to the public until August 15, 2026.
A Conversation That Became a Lifetime Journey
In her writing, art writer Febri Darmayanti notes that the origins of Water Synergy date back to a conversation in 2019. After returning from an event in Ubud, Novi enthusiastically spoke about someone she had just met. She described his way of thinking, his artworks, and the curiosity he had sparked within her. The person she was talking about was Suma.
That conversation never truly ended. As time passed, the story about Suma gradually transformed into the story of both of them. What began as mutual curiosity evolved into friendship, then love, and eventually marriage.
“Their relationship developed alongside their artistic practices,” says Febri Darmayanti.
Suma typically begins his creative process with ideas that slowly evolve into visual forms, while Novi starts with forms that gradually reveal their meanings. Rather than becoming obstacles, these contrasting approaches have created an ongoing dialogue that enriches each artist’s work.
For both artists, understanding another person is a lifelong journey. One can only truly understand others after having the courage to understand oneself.
Within Novi, Suma discovered courage, empathy, freedom, and serenity. Those experiences inspired him to reflect on aspects of himself that he had yet to fully explore. “His eight exhibited works are expressions of gratitude toward the person who transformed his perspective on life,” Febri Darmayanti explains..
Novi, meanwhile, draws inspiration from everyday experiences.
Butterfly pea flowers blooming in her garden, morning glories climbing through a restaurant fence, tomatoes grown from tiny seeds, quiet travels, and her encounters with Suma all become the foundation of artworks that feel both familiar and unexpectedly poetic.
Her imagination grows from ordinary moments before transforming into her own distinctive artistic language.
As a result, Water Synergy is not merely another joint exhibition, but a milestone marking the long journey of two artists whose creative paths have ultimately converged into a shared artistic space.
Even the opening date carries symbolic significance.
The exhibition opened on August 1, 2026, intentionally reversing the numerical sequence of their wedding date, January 8, 2026. The date also commemorates seven years since the couple first exhibited together while they were still dating.
For them, time has never altered the way they create art. Instead, it has deepened their understanding of one another. Every artwork presented in the exhibition reflects their willingness to continually give each other the freedom and space to grow.
“Perhaps this is where the true meaning of Water Synergy emerges,” noted Febri Darmayanti.
Love flows into art, while art flows back into life. Sometimes it appears as hands, flowers, light, forests, or roots. At other times, it takes the form of silence, distance, and quiet spaces that can only be fully understood when standing directly before the artworks themselves.
About the Artists
Suma, also known by his artistic name Teratai Api (Fire Lotus), is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans fine art, comics, and illustration.
A graduate of the Indonesia Institute of the Arts (ISI) Bali in 2012, he is actively involved in several creative communities, including Urban Sketchers Bali, Bali Watercolorist, and Jong Sarad. He also founded Comicotopia, a comic collective that continues to participate in comic festivals across Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta.
Novi is an experimental visual artist who has actively exhibited since studying at the Bali Institute of Design and Business in 2015.
She regularly participates in collaborative exhibitions with communities such as Bali Megarupa, Urban Sketchers Bali, and Bali Watercolorist. Alongside her artistic practice, she manages Buana Alit, a creative studio specializing in artworks and handcrafted products made from recycled paper waste.
Water Synergy in Two Spaces
The exhibition unfolds across two interconnected galleries: Harmony Room and Disharmony Room. The Harmony Room presents 16 artworks illustrating how Suma and Novi came to know one another, grew together, and complemented each other through visual language.
The Disharmony Room, meanwhile, features seven works—three by Suma, three by Novi, and one collaborative piece—that reveal the more intimate dimensions of their journey, exploring hope, anxiety, uncertainty, vulnerability, and moments of despair.
Visitors begin their experience in the Harmony Room, where watercolor paintings on paper measuring 27.5 × 36.5 centimeters are displayed in a carefully balanced arrangement. Neither artist consistently occupies the upper or lower position in the display. At times Novi’s works appear above Suma’s, while elsewhere the arrangement is reversed, emphasizing equality rather than hierarchy. The room also includes a display of artists’ books.
“In the Harmony Room, our works complement each other,” Suma explained. “Sometimes Novi’s paintings are displayed above mine, and sometimes mine are above hers. It reflects the balance in our relationship—neither of us is always dominant. We support each other and maintain equilibrium.”
Interestingly, although both artists worked with identical dimensions, media, and the same overarching theme, each created their pieces independently without agreeing on detailed concepts beforehand. Yet when brought together within the exhibition space, the artworks reveal remarkable visual and emotional connections, as though they had emerged from a single creative process.
Art, Tourism, and Bali’s Creative Economy
The presentation of Water Synergy in the heart of Kuta’s tourism district highlights the increasingly close relationship between contemporary art, tourism, and Bali’s creative economy.
Exhibitions such as this not only broaden opportunities for local artists to engage with wider audiences but also enrich the island’s cultural tourism offerings.
Bali’s tourism appeal is no longer defined solely by its spectacular landscapes. Increasingly, it is also shaped by the richness of its artistic expression, offering visitors more meaningful and immersive cultural experiences that extend far beyond the island’s natural beauty. [buda]