About me
I Made Gunarta, also known as Dekgun, has been a fundamental component of the BaliSpirit Festival’s vision to connect with the community. He is also the main ‘architect’ and visionary for YogaBarn Bali, Yogis Garden, and and the BaliSpirit Festival grounds each year.
Kadek comes from a long lineage of socially minded Balinese; his great-grandfather, the head of Padangtegal Village in the 1960s, and his mother, a school principal for over 30 years, are just two of his role models.
Starting in 2010 Kadek was appointed by the village to lead “Baga Palemahan” (department of environment), his biggest job being the revitalization of the Monkey Forest; which included the beginning of a Rumah Kompos, creation of the large parking lot, the large public sport area, and a reforestation project in the forest, planting hundreds of trees and creating a safer and leafier home for the indigenous long-tailed macaque monkeys of the forest, whom the Balinese regard as sacred. The Monkey Forest has now added a wood seated amphitheater, which Kadek plans to utilize as a performance space for traditional Balinese arts in the future.
Kadek is the founder of Yayasan Kryasta Guna, a non-for-profit arts and culture organization with a mission to inspire local youth in Ubud to invest in and learn about their own traditions. A couple campaigns included under this Yayasan are Ayo! Bicara HIV/AIDS (to educate young Balinese about HIV/AIDS), and Bali ReGreen (greening Bali with bamboo), which continue to this day.
In addition to community projects, Kadek recently created an amazing organic farm and retreat sanctuary located in Payangan, Ubud, called Yogis Garden Balilink www.yogisgardenbali.com.
