A Narrative Cure

Words shape us, define us, point us in directions, and form our thoughts. Enthusiasm is one of those words that shines with a special glow. Federica Beltrame and Esther López Aguilar have made it the cornerstone of Cura, the initiative they founded together three years ago. Their goal: to address the massive influx of foreign residents to Bali who fail to adapt to the local way of life and traditions by promoting and sharing projects—both their own and those of others—that respect the island’s environment. “It’s about exposing what’s happening with unchecked development—the destruction of forests, jungles, rice fields, and more. Some areas feel like dystopias; they could be straight out of a horror movie,” Esther reflects.

Known for its dramatic landscapes of volcanic mountains, rice paddies, beaches, and coral reefs, Bali is a small Indonesian island, spanning just 87 miles from east to west and 56 miles from north to south. It’s a paradise that has, perhaps, become too popular for its own good. Esther and Federica arrived from Spain and Italy, drawn—among other things—by Bali’s spirituality. “What sets Balinese Hinduism apart from its Indian counterpart is its animism, which deeply reveres nature,” Esther explains. An interior designer and an art curator, respectively, they launched Cura without financial gain in mind. “A friend built his house here following regenerative design principles and asked us to do the interior,” Esther says. The project grew gradually, as did their involvement with each client, eventually leading them to design custom furniture for the spaces they worked on. “We call them objects of relationship—they represent the symbiosis between a person and an object.”