Help build a centre for culture and learning in Bali!

Together we can make a warm spirited, creative meeting place that encourages culture and conservation

The vision?

We want to revolutionise the tourism industry by showing that it’s possible to create a popular, sustainable, resilient model where visitors truly benefit the places they visit.

The aim?

To establish Samong Haven, a future facing centre for culture and learning in rural Northwest Bali. A space for local and international people to connect with each other and nature through culture.

How will we achieve this?

Over the past two years, we, a group of artists, architects, landscape designers, and others from around the world and the local area of Sumberkima have been working together to research issues in the industry and local area. After co-writing a manifesto that outlines our principles for generative design for tourism, we then developed the programme, as well as architectural designs to put into action on site and start testing these ideas. 

What is in place already?

This community driven project was one of the first recipients of Nordic Culture Fund’s Globus Awards, and we have a site that will be stunning once its vegetation is nurtured. Our transnational group will travel to work alongside people living in Sumberkima this March to build a multi-purpose communal space and the first guest rooms so that people can start to benefit from this future-facing centre for culture and learning.

Where do you come in?

We need your help to make this happen. Due to rapid inflation and increases in costs, we are crowdfunding to raise €14,000 towards Samong Haven’s building and materials costs. 

Your donations will come together with others to make a big difference, and you can be one of the first people to visit Samong Haven by pre-booking a stay or signing up to join one of its programmes – both at a date that fits your schedule. 

Your support goes exclusively towards building costs.

What will be built?

Your support will help build accommodation and a multipurpose space where the core of Samong Haven’s activity will take place. Including a modest library and kitchen, it’ll be a space that encourages learning and engagement with culture and conservation. A place to eat, relax, meet, share and be amazed.

These first buildings use a modular concept, that can be added to and grow over time. It aims to test a prototype for affordable and sustainable buildings that can also be adapted by people living in the area as an option for building affordable homes.

The building process?

The process of building Samong Haven will reflect its ethos of sharing and gaining new skills and knowledge through exchange, with the local and international group that have been involved in the conception of Samong Haven working side-by-side this March to construct its spaces.

What will Samong Haven offer?

Samong Haven’s vision of culture brings together the arts and crafts with areas including food, architecture, fashion, technology, agriculture and more. You will have the potential to engage with:

When will this happen?

We will start building in March 2023 and here is our project timeline:

What comes next?

These will allow activity to get going on site and we’ll be testing the success of the project’s aim to create deeper, more meaningful and beneficial connections between visitors and place. Assuming all goes well, Samong Haven will continue to use its community-driven approach to grow what it can offer in the coming years. We want to get the word out about the project to inspire others to adapt similar models, so we’ll be writing articles and pursuing media attention, as well as building our community to share experiences as we go.  

Background

Sumberkima in rural Northwest Bali is incredibly beautiful, but it faces environmental and human challenges including plastic and waste pollution, water crisis, and the reduction of many species of wildlife.Tourism has a big impact on this area (and of course on many other places like it), bringing both positive and negative effects. Over the past two years, the project An Urgent Situation has brought together artists, architects, and others from around the world to look into these issues. Working in conversation with people living in Sumberkima, we, the project’s participants, put our heads together. First we created a manifesto for sustainable design for tourism. Then we used these guidelines to create an exciting, socially and environmentally responsible proposal for Samong Haven, a new, community-driven form of holiday destination that will change how you can experience the places you visit. Bringing together fun and learning with environment and culture, we want Samong Haven to bring abundance to the land and establish a place of joy and warm spirit for guests and people living in the area!

Why Sumberkima in Bali?

Bali has been a top “bucket list” travel destination for many years, but the industry has had a severe impact on the island. Average wages in Bali are less than €250 per month. Over use of water at hotels has led to a water crisis. Tourism produces levels of waste that the island can’t handle. Bali’s desirable image, its economic reliance on tourism, combined with the problems the industry creates make it an ideal site.

As a destination in development, Samong Haven, the project’s Balinese partner is keen to learn through the process, and wants to put into practice the guidelines developed by the group. This provides an in real life opportunity to design and demonstrate the potential of this new model, with the aim of inspiring reflection and change in the industry.

Who is Samong Haven for? 

The local community in Sumberkima is at the heart of this project. Economically, this area is one of the poorest parts of Bali with only 15% of its population graduating from high school. The local council is seeking to strengthen basic education, improve marketing of handicrafts, and to improve local infrastructure. With tourism booming in the south of Bali, the local community sees the benefits the tourism sector brings, but members of the community are concerned about the potential loss of their way of life if the region opens to mass tourism. With this in mind, Samong Haven will support the Indonesian cultural field, lifting its rich crafts heritage, and fostering new talents and wider public awareness.

This project offers an alternative to traditional tourism approaches. Providing not only jobs but offering an opportunity to grow together. It prioritises problem solving, skill sharing and training that will support local culture, community projects, and initiatives related to the local environment. In so doing it aims to present a model that could encourage change on a global scale.

How did the project come about?

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Charlotte and Nicholas, who work at PRAKSIS, were in touch with Sumberkima resident and former hotel manager, Ketut Karya, and they observed how many people within the tourism industry lost their livelihoods (including Ketut), and how difficult it was for those affected to re-train and secure new jobs. They also recognised how closely connected culture and tourism are to each other, and they started to think about what they could do to spark a change in the status quo.

This led to PRAKSIS starting the An Urgent Situation project in collaboration with Ketut’s vision for Samong Haven, and partners, architects Don Lawrence, Eleena Jamil, and artists Rebel Architecture Lab, and Tanja Thorjussen. We, the participants joining these collaborators for An Urgent Situation were brought together through an open call.

We are:

• Eric Almberg (Canada), Artist

• Hans Petter Bjørnådal (Norway), Architect

• Johanne Dalemark (Norway), Architect

• Ahmad Darkhabani (Syria/Austria), Designer and arts producer

• Stephanie Florence (Canada), Artist and curator

• Doriane Happel (France/Norway), Landscape architect

• Afaf Ismail (Malaysia), Architect and researcher

• Kyrre Mitbø Kalseth (Norway), Industrial designer and energy advisor

• Tadeo Nedala (Uganda), Architectural, interior, furniture and graphic designer

• Zhe Rui Chen  (Malaysia), Architect.

Click here for more information about us