Dudy Wiyancoko

Initiating Artifact Design as Cultural Product Development in Indonesia
Dudy Wiyancoko
Associate Professor, Industrial Design Division, Faculty of Fine Art and Design
Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia

Indonesia –the country with a variety of ethnics and cultural resources— needs an integrated treatment in the field ofregional planning. From a wide range of ongoing endeavors in regional planning in some communities in Indonesia, thispaper focuses on the significance of artifact design development. Artifact design means an in-dept study on functional
objects representing the culture of the community. It is important to promote this subject to the nation stakeholders,specifically for the developing of communities which still in crucial problems in formulating their cultural identity. The
problems happened since the interference of global market ideology has conditioned the activities of artifact making inmostly communities to be profit-oriented without bringing cultural responsibility up to surface as the prior consideration
for the nation building.
To cope with the problem, the author has initiated to socializing artifact design to be using as an improvement program
for the community development as well as an academic subject in the near future. As first step, it is imperative tostraightening up the understanding about the “artifact” in relating to what is a good design in the context of community
development. In this context, good design of the artifact is an indigenous functional object based from the cultural
resources of the community. The cultural resources is a range from their own peculiarity of natural resources, hereditary
wisdom in harmony to nature, skills, social values and daily purposes which all could be using as conceptual starting pointin artifact development activities. Indonesia has a rich of classic artifacts ranging from batik and tenun (kinds of traditional
textile), angklung (bamboo music instrument), pincuk (wrapping leaves) to various kinds of seating furniture which all ofthem need to be more modifying in its purpose and quality.
The second step is to introducing the objectives why the artifact design activities should be implementing. There are atleast four stages of it: (a) stimulating the spirit of industrious in the community, (b) maintaining communal wisdom andhereditary skills, (c) integrating the total productivity in the community, and (d) developing symbiotic function of artifact
design. As experienced, this program could be successfully adopting by the people through design workshop and trilateral
cooperation program named “Join Artifact Development” involving the university, government, and the community
stakeholders. This artifact design program has conducted in some communities in Indonesia such as in industrial
communities of West Java, West Sumatra, and so on. All programs have different premises like to uplifting the awarenessof eco-design and sustainable design for the children in industrial community, conducting artifact design activities in rural
areas, good artifact design awarding, and so on.

1. THE DISTINCTION OF CRAFT, PRODUCT,AND ARTIFACT

why the objects to be made. We used to mention “product”
if the premise of the object we talk about is relating to somerequisites in industrial context: what kind of technology

If we mention the three keywords in design field –prod-

used, what manufacture process implicated in multiplying

uct, craft, and artifact-- even though they are in the samethe object, and how to manage it the various stages of com-

category as functional object, what we have in mind is thatmercialization. What is all about with the approach needed

they are different in nuance. The difference lays on reason

in designing product is mostly the technological approach.

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Initiating Artifact Design as Cultural Product Development in Indonesia

Artifact
All of man-made objects
representing the cultureof its creator and users.
This paper divides it into
indigenous (object made‘from-by-and for’ thecommunity) andextraneous artifact (to bemade ‘for’ thecommercial interest).

Extraneous Artifact
Craft

a man made object with theunity of high skill and quality ofform. It may refer to a trade orparticular art relating to functional or utilitarian purpose.

Producta manufactures made object or
the result of industrial multiplication to satisfy a market's wantor need .

Figure 1: The distinction of artifact, craft, and product.

Craft also implies technological process but is slightly dif-cope with their need of light carrier tool, and so on. From

ferent in its nuance. A craft is a synthesis of high skill andthis perspective, we could assume artifact has different

high quality of form or practical arts. It may refer to a trade

meaning from commodity. Commodity is the object madeor particular art. We say “craft” to indicate the value of skill

by locals but for the sake of financial profit and market de-and uniqueness rather than the efficiency in its technologi-

mand. Crafts and products would be no longer as artifact it

cal process. It also relates to the hand made object with theis because of their manufacturing process and commercial

use of natural material. Despite craft derived from the tradi-targets.

tion of rural people in artifact making, its visual uniqueness

Artifact is rather conceptual than craft which emphasizes

makes crafts potential to be commercial commodity as wellon visual and technical aspect. It also means any object

as it targeting in the mass-products. Recently, we found somade or modified by a human culture, and later recovered

many local industries of crafts merely to cope with market

by a historical and an archaeological endeavor.

demand, no longer to cope with the locals’ cultural demand.

A numerous kinds of wisdom --conceptual wisdom—This has passed over the line of category when craft has

could be obtained trough the use of artifact. For instance,

been no more as an artifact. The ancient seating of Javaneseaside from its conformity as seating tools and the spatial

noble, for example, is no more as an artifact when it wasstandard of Japanese living, the use of tatami teaches us

multiplying for decoration element of the modern interior.

about the significant of rice-straw material used as humanThat seating tool has lost its utilitarian value.
In human kind history, “artifact” preceded both crafts
and industrial product. It is all of the human made-object
as long as it is to cope with the needs of their daily life. The
utilitarian value is the most priority in the concept of artifact. People make objects based on their basic needs foreating, praying, sitting, dressing, and moving to anotherplace in maintaining their culture, specifically in raising
the quality of their life and harmonizing their life with thenature. Artifact object usually made by certain community
and made from the potential resources of their environment, for the use of the community itself. Basketry village
makes various kinds of basket it is because of their needs

Figure 2: Batik -the traditional textile- is the most quintessentiallyIndonesian artifact. It practiced by the females as a form of

to utilizing the abundance of bamboo in their surrounding.

therapeutic drawing directly on the cloth used as casual and formal

The village women also make and use bamboo basketry to

fashion in Javanese ethnics.

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Dudy Wiyancoko

tools for living. In Indonesia, we could batik –a Javanesedevelopment, either formal academic curricula or informal

traditional ornamented textile-- as the representative ofactivity of the community. It is imperative to implementing

Indonesian artifact. The wisdom of this artifact does not lie

it considering that Indonesia has a rich of cultural ethnics

with the beauty of its ornamentation, but in the appreciationand natural resources. It is convincing that if artifact designof women works. Mostly batik makers are women. Batik is

has implemented successfully in Indonesia, the significant

the work of their keenly devotion to their productivity andof artifact design could be proving as well as its great con-their expression of beauty within their life. Some psycholo-

tribution gained in the form various findings from various

gists say that batik making could become a kind of therapy

related research. Unfortunately, in the practical conditionin understanding and controlling the rhyme of life.

of development country like Indonesia, to initiate artifact

Artifact design then could be defined a creative planning

design would be facing the problem of misperception

and making of artifact, specifically in creating of its utilitar-about material culture. At least, there are two problems ofian value, based on the indigenous culture and hereditary

misperception might be existed: first is the misperception

wisdom of the community. This description of “artifact de-that good functional object is always something that priorssign” closes to the “monozukuri” in Japanese term. Actually,

to be good in market, second the tradition in developing of

the author more divides the semantic type of artifact into

design is always starting from formal and visual aspect, not

two categories, which are: (1) indigenous artifact and (2)the conceptual and essential.

extraneous artifact. “Indigenous artifact” means a cultural

It frequently occurred in the public and governmental

based object made ‘from-by-and for’ the community, mean-

endeavors in promoting artifact and indigenous potency ofwhile “extraneous artifact” is a cultural based object maderegional culture. The essential meaning of artifact remains‘from and by’ their own but ‘for’ the commercial interest.

vague for them and then artifact always excludes from the

The word “artifact” in this paper actually refers to the mean-

agenda of promotion. In the culture of sitting in Javanese

ing of “indigenous artifact”.

people for instance, the local tradition has showed us thatthey have varying sitting postures and seating tools in their

2. ARTIFACT OF INDONESIA

daily life in pre-modern period. The varying seating tools,
aside from chairs, are ranging from low-leg stool, mats to

In Indonesia, artifact design is supposed to be implement-

the traditional long bench made from bamboo. Everybody

ing as a program for design education and community

knows that each is to support sitting, but we could find some

Figure 3: Long bench, low leg stool, mat are representative and indigenous seating tools but
getting less developed comparing to the styles of chair.

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Initiating Artifact Design as Cultural Product Development in Indonesia

conceptual ‘wisdom’ behind the object aside from its physi-

global modern lifestyle.

cal function. Low-leg stool even it used in informal working situation with whatever it is the appearance, is a useful
tool in the rural neighborhood situation. It is very useful

3. FOUR MAIN OBJECTIVES IN PROMOTINGARTIFACT DESIGN

tool for gathering and doing some social works in the floor
setting. It also provides floor style sitting freely, from crossIn initiating artifact design in Indonesia, the author always

leg to stretch leg kinds of posture. It is because the change

introduces the design intellectuals, entrepreneurs, andin neighborhood pattern in the recent urban lifestyle therelated sections of government about the reasons why the

tradition of neighbor gathering to working has been hardly

artifact design is necessary, and what the cultural benefit

continuing which makes low leg stool very rarely to use andgained from the implication. There are four issues in initiat-

has no commercial value. That is the reason why the design

ing artifact design, which are: (1) stimulating the spirit ofof low leg stool --unlike the varying styles of chairs-- hasindustrious; (2) maintaining tradition, wisdom, and heredi-

no interest to develop anymore in modern furniture. It alsotary skill; (3) integrating the community to the total systemhappened in the case of bamboo long bench. In pre-modernof production; and (4) developing symbiotic function of theperiod (-1940s) in Java, bamboo long bench was called a

artifact.

‘day and night’ tool. The nature of bamboo material, specifically black bamboo or locals say “pockmarked bamboo” is

3.1 Stimulating the spirit of industrious

the sun heat absorber. People used to have it outside from

Artifact design emphasizes the activity of evaluation, gener-

the dwelling to be drying in the sun and public furnitureating idea, planning and making utilitarian objects empiri-

as well, but at night, people have it inside the dwelling as acally. The designer is an entity of academician, designer,‘warm bench’ and the comfort stool for family gathering.

planner, maker and all the stakeholders of the community.

The wisdom concept of locals’ artifacts like bamboo bench

As an entity, the interchange of knowledge, information,and low leg stool now is fading away along the time people

and skill is imperative to produce systemic solution or new

keep using modern chairs for their daily seating tool.

innovative artifacts. Therefore, the university on design

The conceptual wisdom behind local artifact would beshould increase the use of field survey method in design-

potentially fruitful if the people awareness to developing it

ing of the real problem of community. Field survey could

had been getting sufficient. The conceptual wisdom of local

appear in two folds, the student learning more about theartifact is not only the urge to living in harmony with nature

locals’ sensitivity, skills, and social-mythological values

and the surrounding neighbor, but also stimulating us torelated to the problem studied. In the other side, the local

aware about human health and productivity. In designing

stakeholders, users, and related institution get new infor-

artifact, people should consider the ecosystem of the envi-

mation and perspectives in coping with their real problem.

ronment, the wisdom of community in the form of mythol-

The interchange of knowledge and skill between them canogy and social values, before they have decided to makeupgrade the quality of community living. Both the students

the artifact. They need motivation, consistency and skill toand the community could stimulate themselves to produce

make something useful for themselves with the use of indig-

something useful, to be productive, and to be industrious.

enous material resources and techniques. They should also

Stimulating the spirit of industrious can formalize

be open mind if their design would keep revised by anotherthrough the training program or design workshop. It would

people time after time to find its optimum performance,

more affect to the community if the program targeting to

specifically in its utilitarian value. Therefore, the design

the children with some objectives such as uplifting theirintellectuals in countries with a rich of cultural diversity

awareness of natural harmony, the application of technol-

like Indonesia and another Asian countries should take thisogy to cope with the real problem of their daily life andartifact design as an important issue up to surface and co-the uplifting their skill in the training of object making. As

operate each other in initiating the action of artifact design

experienced, the children living in industrial community

to collect, protect and developing it to be more suitable withshould be rescued by training them in artifact making for35

Dudy Wiyancoko

Figure 4: Artifact design training for the children in the industrial community at Cibaduyut area of West Java. It had two
main purposes: (a) to motivate the children to be industrious; (2) to realize about the significance of sustainable design, and (3)to safe them from the dangerous effect of chemical glue and hazardous works in the footwear industry.

their daily purpose as well as introducing them on the issue

ous purposes. Principally, the training prepares them to beof occupational safety and health in working area. Everymore creative and industrious in facing their future.

year from 2001 to 2003, the author and team conducted thedesign workshop in artifact development for the children of

3.2 Maintaining hereditary wisdom and skill

footwear industry at Cibaduyut area, West Java. The training

Every ethnic, community, villagers, specifically traditional

is valuable considering that the children are helping theircommunity has its peculiar worldviews spreads as mytho-

parents in making shoes but mostly in hazardous condition

logical texts and conceptual wisdom hidden in the way of itsof workshop. They used to work without creativity, just do

people living and its artifact. The problem always occurred

what they have to do as their parents order to. Therefore,

if there is no more motivation to maintain the hereditary

the main purpose of the program is to making them realize

tradition and skill in artifact because of the cultural friction

about the natural harmony, and training them to generatingfrom external influence. To re-motivating them by theoreti-

the industrial leather waste into varying kinds of functionalcal training or education for uplifting the awareness is so

object. Several design lecturers, design professionals andoften not sufficient otherwise practical workshop on design

related governmental person working guiding the children

and join artifact design involving craftsmen, designers,

to be more sensitive in recycling, reusing, and reutilizing

and all of the stakeholders in the community. The program

leather waste. As the resulted exercise, their creations werenamely “Join Artifact Development” is imperative to be ini-very inspiring as the waste leather surprisingly available totiating. It consists of workshop activities by inviting certain

plaiting, layering, entwining or combining them into vari-craftsmen to be lecturers at the university, and in the con-Figure 5: Situation of artifact design training in Minang ethnic of West Sumatra. Caused by the matriarchal society, the local
crafts people tend to come up with the ideas based on mother activities in the family such as cooking appliances, tablewareand floral ornamentation.

36

Initiating Artifact Design as Cultural Product Development in Indonesia

trary the university intellectuals have also visit and spend

members of the community. Casually in making artifact

some times with the community to grasping the indigenous

they used to relying so much in the natural resources andvalues of them as well as anthropologist doing for research.

skill. The problems have occurred when the climatic ob-

In conducting the Join Artifact Development program

struction sometimes caused difficulty in supplement of raw

at certain community, it is necessary at first to collect frommaterials. The problems also happened when what they

them the myths around the local customs and tradition.

used to make is kind of fashionable craft but getting lost

These myths range from cosmological myths to the fairy

its marketable value. Therefore is inevitable to implement

tales about nature and etiquette. They invited to put down

regional planning and artifact design in this case. Thesethe prevailed tales in the form of visual diagram, descrip-

productive communities should have anticipation plans bytion, and symbols. These visual data then could perform asclustering their production and doing networking among

a symbolic classification system and based on this, the locals

others. It is also conducting with the diversification ap-

with design intellectuals furthermore could be able to comeproach on designing their resulted crafts to be surviving in

up with some innovative ideas to developing more into new

the target market.

kinds of artifact and communal activity. The author foundAs experienced in several industrial communities in

the interesting finding when conducted this program inWest Java, the author with the provincial government have

Minang ethnic of West Sumatra. This ethnic characterized

reorganized the community producing the air rifle gun at

as matriarchal society. It is because of that the women are

Cipacing area. Previously this community had hereditary

more prominent than men in a pattern of their inheritance,

talents in wood and metal carving, but it because of their

the visual symbolic prevailed in this ethnic mostly drawn

working nature relying on job-order pattern, they have oc-

into things female interests such as floral figures, motherly

cupied in making of air rifle gun for domestic and export

natures, string-like icons, and others. What they have indemands. The author proposed idea that this community

mind in making simple thing for their daily purpose is al-urgently needs a diversification of their crafts. It perhaps theways mother-centered things like cooking appliances, table-

female workers are always not involved in making air rifle

ware, clothing, and others.

gun which identical to male interest. Then the new ideas ofartifact like toys and music instruments made of wood and3.3 Integrating the community to the total system of production

metal combination have been proposing to shift their tradition of artifact making. This proposal is proving beneficial

We found that the community has its own character-for the community because the female worker could juxta-

istics in producing something meaningful, either it ispose themselves to the male workers again as industrious

as certain industrial community or as an agricultural

agent of the community.

community. For most of the community member, producing something useful either an artifact or another

3.4 Developing symbiotic function of the artifactfunctional things, is part of their existence among all

Symbiotic function in this term indicates the mutual benefi-

Figure 6: The community at Cipacing West Java used to fulfilling the order to make air rifle gun now on is in treatment to shifting theirroutine to the making of ornamented musical instrument as to the females could involve to the communal productivity.

37

Dudy Wiyancoko

Figure 7: The utilization of coconut tree, from its leaves to its shell, could make it available for varying purposes and to
upright the symbiotic activities in the community.

cial relationship between one activity and another activity

enterprises to more developing its utilization.

in the whole process of artifact making. What is good artifact is if it sustains the harmony of the living ecosystem if it

4. CONCLUSION

taken from the nature it should always back to the nature. It
also means any inter-independency cyclical process ranging

In Indonesia, initiating the artifact design and regionalfrom supplying of raw material, artifact making, the usage

development as the improvement program for the com-of artifact and its waste utilizing to support the supplying of

munal quality of life is still great challenging, specifically

raw material and so on.

in the post tsunami disaster areas such as Aceh at northern

In many communities in Asian countries, the representa-

part of Sumatra, and some coastal areas at Java. But thetion of symbiotic pattern is that the cultivation of rice straw

mostly problems we have in its implementation is all about

among agricultural communities. Rice straw material is po-

uncompromising condition between the multi-interests oftentially raw material for varying purposes such as kinds ofthe government, private supporting companies, intellectuals

basket, mat, and the others before it would re-utilize as land

and the other stakeholders of the community. That is why

fertilizer. In Indonesia, coconut trees have potentiality to be

the initiation in artifact design has been doing ‘safely’ if it

reutilizing into several purposes as well as rice straw, rang-

has been doing in the context of research and academic way

ing from its leaf, shell, stem to its root. The coconut its leafof implementation.

is very popular used as food wrapping it is because of the

It is frequently hard to convince people on the signifi-

preserving nature it has, and its shell is often used as spoon

cance of artifact design and it needs constantly socializingor tableware set in representing the traditional imageries,that as a term, the artifact design is not similar to introduc-and so on. Aside from coconut, the tropical resources pro-ing activities about a new discipline or new activity for thevides also another potential raw materials to be utilizing as

people. Rather, it is the effort to re-digging up the cultural

recycle-able artifact such as water hyacinth, pandanus leafs,

resources of the community. As we know, cultural resources

rattan, and another.

is broadly ranging from the abundance of natural mate-

In building the symbiotic pattern in artifact making of therial, the peculiar skill and processing, the ritual custom, thecommunity, the recycling process is considering significant.

communal tradition in living with harmony to their envi-

Recycling process is supposed to be implementing in mate-ronment, their indigenous artifact (functional objects forrial used in modern urban life style like aluminum, glass,daily purposes), the extraneous artifact (crafts and products

and kinds of waste plastic. From the research of the author’s

produced by the community for commercial purpose) tostudent, it has been obtaining that the combination of recy-

the prevailed myths and symbols. These are referential mat-cled aluminum and fragmented bottle glass can be utilizing

ters in developing of new artifact design in particular com-

into various simple but useful objects such as stationery andmunity. Unfortunately, the problem we are always facing infashion accessories. The excellent value is not on its surpris-

recent global development is that these cultural resources

ing surface or physical appearance of the artifact but the in-always be exploiting for the capital economic purposes. The

spiration and great opportunity it offered for small medium

conceptual wisdom on natural harmony is getting shifting38

Initiating Artifact Design as Cultural Product Development in Indonesia

with the rational parameter of modern education system.
Even the teaching of hereditary skills of traditional community has been marginalizing in modern basic schools. It justtaught as optional course. Introduction about how to makeand appreciate simple things from ceramics, recycled paper,
wood and another is no longer the compulsory subject forour children. For mostly the modern people artifact always
understood as ancient objects or human made object inarcheological interest, not in modern interest. This is truly
misperception and false understanding because the artifact
should be renewing and creating from time to time as longas we are still improving the quality of our life. Artifact posses dynamic entity from generation to generation, not only
exists in the past time.
These phenomena of misperception and false direction ofmaterial culture still happened to us and at least motivatedus that artifact design is imperative to humanize our surrounding people and to harmonize them to the environment.
REFERENCES(1)

Tilley Christopher; “Metaphor and Material Culture”, Blackwell Publisher; Oxford, U.K,1999(2)

Japanese International Cooperation Agency;“Studyon Master Plan for Design Promotion in the Republic of Indonesia: Interim Report”. Jakarta: Unico International Corporation-SRIC Corporation, 1999.

(3)

Wiyancoko, Dudy and Kiyoshi Miyazaki;”Seating
Design as a Cultural Representation”, Bulletin ofJapanese Society for the Science of Design, Vol.
46-no.4, 1999. p.53-62.

(4)

Wiyancoko, Dudy; “Community-based Industry
in Indonesia: Cultural Identity or Responsibility?”,
PECC Symposium, Yunlin University, 2002.

(5)

Wiyancoko, Dudy; “Cultural Responsibility and
Design”, International Symposium on “Monozukuri”, Chiba University, 2004.

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