Clear Visionary
Gathering · Events & Pop-ups
August 2023 · Nuanu Creative City

Suara Festival 2023

A Barong-inspired projection stage · Nuanu, Bali

A standard festival stage transformed into a living, Barong-inspired image through sculptural design and a twelve-projector system — created as a changing visual instrument for Suara Festival 2023.

  1. Brief

    Transform a standard festival stage into a distinctive visual world for Suara Festival 2023 — one that could hold its own identity while remaining open to different live performances.

  2. Approach

    Develop a sculptural façade inspired by the Balinese Barong, then use 12 projectors to animate its layered forms as one continuous surface.

  3. Outcome

    A stage that shifted between elemental, figurative and abstract states throughout the night, becoming a responsive visual presence for every performance.

  4. Challenges

    Unify twelve projected images across a large, layered façade while preserving the legibility of the Barong-inspired form from across the festival grounds.

  5. Result

    A recognisable festival stage and a live visual instrument for performances by Navicula, Big Mountain and the wider Suara programme.

The Barong-inspired Suara stage illuminated in blue with musicians performing below
Suara Festival 2023 · A standard stage transformed through projection

For Suara Festival 2023, Clear Visionary turned a standard festival stage into a character of its own. The starting point was the Barong — Bali's powerful guardian figure — translated into a layered sculptural façade that could change expression through light and moving image.

I · From stage to Barong

The structure gave the stage a face: a central eye, a crown-like silhouette and mirrored forms extending across the full width of the performance area. It remained recognisable in darkness, but never fixed in a single appearance.

Projection allowed the same physical form to move between deep blue, fire, luminous white and abstract organic textures. Instead of decorating the stage, the image continually redrew it.

A vertical close view of blue organic projections across the central stage sculpture
Projection detail · The image enters the architecture

Seen close, the projection became spatial rather than flat. Light crossed the layered surfaces, openings and suspended elements of the façade, making the Barong-inspired figure feel as though it were emerging from the architecture itself.

II · 12 projectors, one living surface

12 projectors worked together across the layered façade. Their combined field turned separate scenic elements into one visual surface while keeping the stage open for instruments, performers and live production.

The resulting composition could transform throughout the programme without losing the identity of the structure beneath it: one stage, many visual states.

The complete Barong-inspired stage glowing orange through smoke
A live band performs beneath white and red projections on the Suara stage
Projection states · From sculptural mask to live performance

III · Built for live performance

The stage became the visual setting for the festival's live programme, including performances by Indonesian rock band Navicula and reggae band Big Mountain. Each act inhabited the same architecture differently as projection, colour and movement reshaped the space around the music.

Project facts
Year
August 2023
Location
Nuanu Creative City, Bali
Role
Stage design · Projection design · Video engineering
With
Vitaliy Yurtaev (Creative Director) · Igor Svetov (Artist) · Igor Nikitenko (Video Engineer) · Maksim Kharin (Video Engineer)
Other work