Design innovation is a process that guides creatives in developing unique, functional products that deliver value to customers in new and novel ways. It takes an idea from inception to impact. This is the objective of the visionary initiative, the Artist Designer In Residence (ADIR) program, one of the many insightful and original enterprises led by Denpasar’s CushCush Gallery.
Fostering multicultural learning and sustainable partnerships with local artists and artisans, ADIR immerses designers in fresh environments with traditional artisans to inspire distinct product outcomes. ADIR is organised with the support of the French Embassy in Indonesia – Institut Français d’Indonésie, and the avant-garde conviction of CCG’s Suriawati Qiu and Jindee Chua.
The FOREST: the lungs of the natural ecosystem, and ADIR’s 2026-2027 theme.
CCG fosters interdisciplinary collaborations intersecting art and design, traditional crafts and techniques. CCG has helped pioneer the transformation of Denpasar into an international design hub through its ground breaking DENPASAR Project. CCG is an alternative, community-focused initiative seeking new and meaningful discourse, ideas, and opportunities for learning and discovery.
The ADIR program, after three successful editions, enters a new era, introducing more local and international creative ecosystem stakeholders and deepening the dialogue that has made ADIR so significant. By partnering with Arcade – Design à la campagne® based in Burgundy, France, a cross-residency has been established. One Indonesian and one French designer were invited to participate in a two-part residency taking place in Bali and in Burgundy over a period of 2 years (2026 – 2027).
Past ADIR participant Lucile Casanova and her works.
CCG has captured the spotlight, receiving international accolades, with Marta Bakowski, the first ADIR resident, winning the French Design 100 Award for her 2022 Fragments Collection. This award honours the top 100 French design and interior architecture projects globally.
ADIR’s 2026-27 theme is dedicated to the Forest. With the increasing pressure of unchecked development, tourism’s thirst for “untouched” locations, and demands upon agrarian spaces and forests, these pressures are no longer coherent or logical. Forest sustainability is essential as they underpin key industries and our very livelihoods. By proposing alternative solutions, designers play a principal role, imagining a new world and guiding us back to a more respectful attitude towards nature.
ADIR French participant Clara Rivière
From 16 August to 20 September, ADIR engaged Clara Rivière from Southwest France with Indonesian designer Cokorda G. B. Suryanata, discovering unique natural materials and learning traditional craft techniques. A one-week roadshow took the designers to Yogyakarta, Bandung and Jakarta to share their experience and process with local creative communities and professionals. They participated in Jia Curated, an emerging craft, design, and culture event in Sanur in August and Indonesia Design Week in Jakarta, 18-27 September.
Cokorda G. B. Suryanata
Growing up in Bali, my relationship with the landscape and craft heritage is immediate. But it also means living inside a real tension,” Bali-based industrial designer and founder of Studio Banda, Cokorda G. B. Suryanata, told LifeAsArtAsia. “There is rapid development and resource extraction, alongside a widening gap between the romanticised, ritualistic idea of how we relate to nature and how we treat it. That disconnect inspires me to explore different ways of thinking about that relationship.”
Cokorda Suryanata was raised in Ubud by his Japanese mother, with a background in visual design, and a Balinese father. “I absorbed a deep respect for the art of making and mastery from my dual heritage, yet developed an early fatigue with the superficial motifs and decorative clichés that are often attached to Bali,” said the designer who studied at Institut Teknologi Bandung, (ITB) with formative periods working in Tokyo, Japan.
The award winning 2022 Fragments Collection by ADIR resident Marta Bakowski.
“I pay attention to design processes and materials, how an object is made, and what happens beneath the surface. I’m interested in how a traditional technique can be reoriented and how an unexpected turn in a manufacturing process opens up something new.”
“I am excited to examine forest material culture across two different places and systems. I am familiar with how forests in Bali were historically managed through a kind of ongoing give-and-take system. Yet, I see this residency as an opportunity to deepen that understanding and unlearn things I thought I knew.”
CushCush Gallery exhibition space Denpasar
Accompanying Cokorda will be fellow French resident Clara Rivière. Mindful of the natural surroundings, her practice is also very much rooted in territory and strives to foster greater respect for living systems.
“I look forward to working alongside Clara and talking with Burgundy artisans to see how a different culture manages and crafts resources. I am curious how all that accumulated knowledge translates, or fails to translate, when it runs into the context of Bali. I want to look past the superficial or nostalgic associations and find new, scalable forms of intervention through experimentation.”
Balinese artisans excel in highly skilled traditional production techniques which as shared with ADIR residents.
Cokorda Suryanata and Clara’s journey culminates when they premiere their collections created as part of ADIR at Paris Design Week 2027, while their joint experimental exploration in Burgundy will be exhibited at Arcade as part of France Design Week.
Images courtesy of CushCush Gallery
Text: Richard Horstman
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