Nyoman Nuarta

Biography

In 1979, shortly before graduating from the institute, the student Nyoman Nuarta won a competition for a sculpture dedicated to those who proclaimed Indonesia's independence. The monument stands in Jakarta, in Proclamation Park, and is regarded as his first major work.

He was born on 14 November 1951 in Tabanan, Bali. He spent his childhood in the village of Tegallinggah. He was brought up by his uncle, Ketut Dharma Susila, an art teacher and the head of the village community. In the early 1970s Nuarta went to Bandung, in West Java. In 1972 he enrolled at the Bandung Institute of Technology, in the Faculty of Art and Design. He began with painting and after two years switched to sculpture. He graduated around 1979. While still a student, in 1976 or 1977 (the years differ), he joined the circle of artists who created the Indonesian New Art Movement (Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru): with him in it were the painters Hardi, Dede Eri Supria and Harsono and the critic Jim Supangkat. After winning the competition he was commissioned to make a monument to Sukarno, the country's first president.

After that the works multiplied: more than a hundred sculptures and sculptural groups. He works in a variety of materials, including copper and brass. At the naval base in Surabaya, the Jalesveva Jayamahe Monument appeared in 1993: a naval officer in dress uniform with a ceremonial sword, looking out to sea. In Jakarta stands the Arjuna Wijaya monument, first shown in 1987; in Surabaya the sculpture “Take-off”, in Bandung “Footballers”. In 2011 he made the trophy for the Indonesian Basketball League championship: copper plated in 22-carat gold.

His best-known work is the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Statue in Bali. Construction began on 8 June 1997 and stood idle for several years because of obstacles. The statue was unveiled on 22 September 2018 by President Joko Widodo. It is 121 metres tall including the pedestal and weighs more than 4,000 tonnes; at the time of its completion it was the tallest statue of a Hindu deity. For the project Nuarta founded the Mandala Garuda Wisnu Kencana Foundation (1994).

In Bandung he owns a studio bearing his name and the sculpture park NuArt Sculpture Park, opened in 2000. The park has a four-storey building for exhibitions and meetings. Its area is given variously as three or four hectares. Nuarta has taken part in more than forty exhibitions in Indonesia and abroad. He is a member of the International Sculpture Center in Washington and of the Royal Society of Sculptors in the United Kingdom. His awards include the Governor of Jakarta's prize for the Arjuna Wijaya monument (1987), an award from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore (1989), an award from Indonesia's Ministry of Education and Culture (1992), the Bandung Institute of Technology's award for outstanding service (2009), India's Padma Shri (2018) and the French Order of Arts and Letters, as a Knight (2021). In 2025 he received the Indonesian state honour Bintang Budaya Parama Dharma.

Later Nuarta was commissioned to make a sculpture for the Mandalika circuit, and he presented a design for a statue of President Widodo on a motorcycle. He won the competition for the design of the presidential palace in the new capital, Nusantara. The palace is called Istana Garuda.