Ari Bayuaji is an Indonesian-born artist who shares his time between Bali and Montreal, Canada. He studied at Concordia University in Montreal from 2005-2010. Known mainly for his art installations and artwork that addresses issues related to contemporary problems in society, he has exhibited solo as well as group exhibitions in Canada, Singapore, Germany, Taiwan, The Netherlands as well as an artist residency in France.
Ari started a community art project in Bali during the pandemic year with a curiosity in finding alternatives to conventional mediums for artmaking, that were easily accessible in the environment of immediate surroundings. His unique process of collecting, repurposing and preparing discarded plastic rope found washed up on beaches and the roots of mangrove trees led him to actively involve his community of Balinese artisans to create textile-based work using traditional hand-weaving techniques.
This pair of woven textiles were created and exhibited as part of ‘Weaving the Ocean’ exhibition at NAFA in July 2022, adding to the appreciation of contemporary Southeast Asian practices in artmaking and a case study of place-based action research located in Bali.
