Hybrid Design Model in Cross Cultural Collaboration:

Case Study - Contemporary Bamboo-Ceramic-Batik-Silver Crafts

Made by Indonesian and Japanese Artists

July Hidayat

, Geoffrey Tjakra

, Ruly Darmawan

and Cherry Dharmawan

University of Pelita Harapan, Thamrin Boulevard, Lippo Village, Karawaci, Banten, Indonesia

Interior and Product Design Departments, School of Design, University of Pelita Harapan

Institute of Technology Bandung, Ganesha 10, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

Interior Design Department, Faculty of Visual Art and Design, Institute of Technology Bandung

Universitas Komputer Indonesia, Dipati Ukur 112-116, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia

Interior Design Department, Faculty of Visual Art and Design, Universitas Komputer Indonesia

Keywords: hybridity, craft, bamboo, collaboration, identity.

Abstract: The advancement of transportation, communication and information technology become a tool of

globalization in the interaction process of cross-cultural artists. The collaboration is driven by the need to

find new ideas in art creation, whether for self-actualization, shared identity representation, market

competition and new technical learning. The case study is the quality improvement of local craft designs

(bamboo, ceramic, batik and silver) through hybridity strategy. Design innovation is needed for Indonesia's

creative industry market competition at the international level.This project uses a language approach and the

hybridity method. In the communication process, language has a common (langue) and contextual (parole)

patterns and individual code. The visual language of hybrid art is created through a combination of signs of

common, contextual and special patterns as the representations of artist identity.The collaboration of

Japanese and Indonesian craft artists in making hybridity of bamboo-ceramic, bamboo-batik and bamboo-

silver crafts represent dialogue between differences. The hybrid identity is the meeting point of similarities

and differences vectors of cultures and each artist translation to their respective cultural patterns.

1 INTRODUCTION

Transportation, communication and information

technologies are tools of globalization. With internet

technology that facilitates the exchange of

information and face-to-face discussions and aircraft

technology that accelerates the movement of

locations to experience interaction with people from

different cultural spaces, we seem to live in a global

space. In the world of art and design, globalization

in the sense of the process of interaction of artists or

designers that resulted in the exchange of

information occurs in the field of cultural systems

related to the exchange of belief systems, life views

and ideas and material culture related to the

materiality, material processing techniques, design

strategies, production systems and marketing of

artwork.

If transportation, communication and

information technologies are globalization tools, one

of the drivers or triggers of globalization is market

competition, including the competition of the

artwork market. Artists are demanded by the art

market to always seek and produce novelty or

originality in the work. In the creative process, when

modern cultural codes have been exhausted, it is

natural that artists turn to their traditional cultural

codes to bereinterpreted or combined with modern

cultural codes to produce mixed art or hybrid

compounds that can be appreciated by readers or

buyers who come from modern cultural context.

Another contributing factor to the creation of

artwork collaboration process is the need to preserve

traditional cultures with respect to represented

cultural values and manufacturing techniques to

produce such traditional art, to be learned by the

younger generation. The interaction of cross-cultural

artists, such as between Japanese and Javanese

394

Hidayat, J., Tjakra, G., Darmawan, R. and Dharmawan, C.

Hybrid Design Model in Cross Cultural Collaboration: Case Study - Contemporary Bamboo-Ceramic-Batik-Silver Crafts Made by Indonesian and Japanese Artists.

DOI: 10.5220/0008885703940399

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research (ICMR 2018) - , pages 394-399

ISBN: 978-989-758-437-4

artists, is possibly happened when both cultures that

have traditional crafts culture like bamboo, wood

and ceramic crafts have shared the similar problem

experiences. Japan and Indonesia face the same

problems associated with modern cultural

dominance toward the use of traditional crafts, using

plastic materials. The cooperation is rooted in the

similar basic idea of naturalism in the ancient

religion like Buddhism and Hinduism, to preserve

nature as human is part of the nature itself. So, the

using of natural material products by the society is

not just because it is considered non-toxic or eco-

friendly but also becausethe users follow the

traditional belief of naturalism. So, the joint program

between artists to resolve the common problems is

just a natural thing.

In today's information age, when cross-cultural

exchange of information takes place intensely at an

individual level through internet technology, the

meaning constructed in inter subject networksis no

longer dependon relationships or networks among

nations, ethical groups, institutions or larger formal

groups. Dialogue created in cross-cultural

interaction or collaboration - in the exchange of

cultural space with each other takes place on an

individual level. Everyone, including Japanese and

Javanese artist that collaborateto make the art

creation, will provide individual translations of

existing cultural patterns, both of the common

patterns shared by both cultural spaces and the

contextual patterns that each culture has.

This study takes the case of the creation of

bamboo craft art because bamboo has great potential

to be developed due to the abundant supply of raw

materials and export opportunities in the export

market. Indonesia has 140 types and 18 species of

bamboo which are actively developed as supporting

material for bamboo handicraft household industries

(Arinasa,2013). Bamboo is categorized as a non-

timber forest product. The production of Indonesia's

forests consists of 95% non-timber and most of these

non-timber products are bamboo (HilmanNugroho,

Directorate General of Watershed Management and

Social Forestry - BPDAS-PS, at the National

Congress of Bamboo in 2013 in Yogyakarta).

Indonesia's export market has 7 main commodities

and forest products are on the order of 5. Export

value of bamboo in 2011 reached IDR 2.5 trillion

(HilmanNugroho, 2013). Based on INBAR

(International Network on Bamboo and Rattan)

report, bamboo and rattan international trade in 2012

reached more than 32 trillion, of which 66% is

owned by RRC, 11% is owned by the European

Union and 9% by Indonesia. Yogyakarta is one of

the 5 largest centers of bamboo crafts in Indonesia in

addition to West Java, Central Java, East Java and

Bali. In the Yogyakarta province alone,

BPSreported, in 2012, the export volume of bamboo

handicrafts reached 0.56 million Kg with export

value of US 1.28 million. Allof the above statistical

data illustrate that bamboo crafts have great

economic potential in the export market but in terms

of design, relatively has not been much developed as

there is not much research publication on the

creation of bamboo art and craft.

The bamboo craft collaboration is done with the

Japanese bamboo artist based on the similarity

oncultural aspect that both Indonesia and Japan have

a long history of bamboo culture – bamboo has a

role in the community life, but Indonesia can learn

from Japan in the terms of the work ethic,

technology and marketing. In Japan, like in

Indonesia, bamboo is commonly used as daily goods

in worship and house hold operational (as a

container). The similarityin both countries is also in

terms of being influenced by the value of balance (in

the relation between man and nature) derived from

traditional Hindu-Buddhist beliefs (in Japan, it is

influenced by Buddhism). The cultural value

associated with the work ethic, which can be learned

from Japanese craftsmen is, they tend more to

dedicate their lives for weaving, to produce the

qualified crafts, than weaving to earn a living, in the

sense of producing the low-quality crafts in short

times just to gain the money fast. This means they

are not working instantly on the products but

persevering to produce qualified products with the

creation of personal art, sotheir work has a high

tidiness and personal identity. This gives an

advantage in a global design competition due to the

high uniqueness or originality of the products; the

art value of the product is viewed more important

than merely its function of use.

A good craft has an artistic element, not just a

function of use.The craft in Indonesia still has a

great potential to develop in terms of design. The

bamboo craftsmen have many inter-related problems

ranging from work-ethic, lack of technological

knowledge of raw material and preservation process,

publicity and marketing, and lack of production

capital. The craftsmen often simply copy an existing

design or marketable design for economic purposes.

Relatively little consciousness is found from them to

develop their art of craft more than what has been

inherited from generation to generation. They are

simply just following the existed pattern. This is a

matter of cultural values that relate to the character

or work ethic. The creation of art using a hybridity

Hybrid Design Model in Cross Cultural Collaboration: Case Study - Contemporary Bamboo-Ceramic-Batik-Silver Crafts Made by

Indonesian and Japanese Artists

395

approach is oriented to novelty and the construction

of the artist identity as a result of dialogue between

the general patterns, contextual patterns and

individual artist codes.

2 METHODS

The hybrid art and craft created by combining three

groups of syntax and code were used. Syntax is a

relation between signs, or in this case, the relation

between art elements in a composition. Code is a

familiar signthat refers to specific characters or

specific narrative belong to the artist background.

The first syntax group is a general pattern. In this

research, the general patterns are general techniques

of processing bamboo, ceramics, batik and silver.

The second syntax group used is the contextual

pattern. In this case, the traditional Japanese cultural

code represented by Beppu as the center of bamboo

crafts in Japan and the traditional Indonesian cultural

code represented by the Javanese culture. The third

group is the individual or group art code. The code

can be generated from the way of translation done

by artist towards their general and contextual

patterns. Each artist has a different way of

translation. For example, the way of Japanese artist

translated his traditional cultural code in Beppu was

different with the way of Indonesian artist did on the

traditional Javanese culture.

In order to create the hybrid art involving three

groups of syntax/ codes like the chart above, the data

and method were collected as follow. (1) common

techniques of bamboo, ceramic, batik and silver

processing are studied through literature studies,

surveys to bamboo museums in Beppu, surveys to

Japanese bamboo craft studios, bamboo craftsmen,

ceramics and batik in Banten, Yogyakarta and Solo,

(2) Japanese and Indonesian cultural codes extracted

from literature studies, interviews with craftsmen,

visits to the bamboo museums, temples, cultural

museums in Japan, museums batik and palace in

Yogyakarta and Solo, (3) individual codes are

created through individual artist's interpretation of

their respective local cultural codes (year I) and their

individual concept (year II).

Hybrid Art

A function of identity representation is more important than function of use:

art as a representation of artist individual and collection culture

The structure of form composition – the structure of relation between

elements has a hybrid character (A+B+C = D)

Bamboo-ceramic

Bamboo-batik

GENERAL PATTERN

The general technique of

Processing bamboo,

ceramic, batik

CONTEXTUAL

PATTERN

Javanese and Japanese

cultural codes

ARTIST INDIVIDUAL

CODE

Individual

interpretation to each

cultural codes

CONCEPT: SAMENESS

The same thing that is existed in

Indonesia and Japan traditional

culture: naturalism,

interpretation on the same kind

of object

BAMBOO CRAFT CULTURE IN INDONESIA & JAPAN

shared identity

COLLABORATION ON CREATING ART

USING HYBRID DESIGN METHOD

Syncretic Craft

Still having a function of use

The structure of form composition – the structure of relation between

elements has a syncretic character (A+B+C = ABC)

Bamboo & ceramic

Bamboo & batik

CONCEPT: DIFFERENCE

The different cultural codes

between Indonesia and Japan

are harmoniously combined:

cultural symbol, form

associated with local culture,

local technique in material

processing

GENERAL PATTERN

The general technique of

Processing bamboo,

ceramic, batik

CONTEXTUAL

PATTERN

Javanese and Japanese

cultural codes

ARTIST INDIVIDUAL

CODE

Individual

interpretation to each

cultural codes

Figure 1: Method Diagram.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Bamboo Craft Culture in Indonesia

and Japan: The Shared Identity

Both traditional cultures in Indonesia and Japan have

a craft culture. In traditional culture of both

countries, traditional crafts such as bamboo crafts,

traditional ceramics and textiles, are part of

everyday culture. Bamboo is used as a container for

daily activities such as washing, cooking, eating,

ICMR 2018 - International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research

396

drinking, resting, playing and art as well as music

performances and religious ceremonies.

Communities influenced by animist, Hindu and

Buddhist syncretism such as in Indonesia or

animism, Shinto and Buddhism as in Japan view

human beings as a part of nature so that one source

of human happiness is to maintain the balance

relationship with nature by not destroying nature and

using natural materials that are non-toxic and easily

recycled by nature. The bamboo craftsmen in Japan

and Bali who still adhere to animism believe that

bamboo trees have spirits so before cutting down

bamboo trees, we should pray to the bamboo tree

spirit and give praise for we can cut the bamboo to

use it for our needs. Both in traditional Indonesian

and Japanese cultures, the position of bamboo is not

only as a container but also a cultural element

associated with the spiritual idea of naturalism.

Naturalism is a belief that takes the law, motion

and character of nature as the source of the value of

truth or value of life. Adhering to the naturalism, the

material of nature is the healthiest material to be

eaten and used in human life because when humans

are first created, human food comes from nature and

objects used by humans also come from nature.

When the natural idea is made into a concept of

creation of art, the form used is an organic form

which is an abstraction of a form contained in

nature, such as a curved, flowing and twisting form

as the contrast of a geometric shape that is a man-

made form.

3.2 The General Pattern: The General

Techniques of Processing Bamboo,

Ceramic and Batik

The general pattern is an information that applies in

different regions as a sign, character or general trait

(generally applicable). In the creation of this craft,

the general pattern used is related to (1) common

techniques of processing bamboo, ceramic and batik

materials that are broadly the same in different

regions, (2) elements and principles of visual

composition used to create the composition of art

and (3) the basic ideas that underlie the concept of

artwork.

The basic stages in bamboo craft processing are

(1) logging, (2) washing, to clean dirt and bamboo

oil or called aburanuki in Japanese, (3) drying, (4)

cutting into smaller rod size, (5) stripping the

bamboo skin and bamboo meat into bamboo slats,

(6) weaving bamboo.

The basic steps in the processing of clay into

ceramics are (1) cultivating the clay in a process

called wedging, to remove air and make clay a

homogeneous material (Peterson, 2004: p. 31), (2)

pierce clods of clay on the spinning wheel then (4)

first combustion (about 1000 degrees Celsius) to

purify as it will burn carbon and other elements

other than the clay material itself to produce a

product called bisque, (5) glaze: weighing, mixing

dye and then dyeingthe first combustion product, (6)

second combustion from lower temperature to

higher temperature, depending on desired ceramic

yield (600-1400 degree Celsius).

The basic stages in the manufacture of batik are

(1) the depiction of the batik motif on the cloth, (2)

the application of a heated wax or so-called 'malam'

by using canting to close the pores of intended area

so it will notabsorb certain colors, (3) color

immersion, (4) wax washing, (5) drying.

3.3 The Contextual Pattern: Japanese

Culture Code (Beppu) and

Indonesian Culture Code (Java)

The contextual patterns are cultural codes that exist

in certain areas that characterize or signify the

culture in the region. In the creation of bamboo and

ceramic crafts, the Japanese cultural code in the

bamboo installation composition is derived from the

Shinto religious beliefs held by the Japanese, the

character of gods representing a natural force like a

wind god called Fujin and a lightning god called

Raijin. Fujin is portrayed through a gentle character,

flowing, waving, bouncing and twisting like a wind

character and Raijin is portrayed through a loud,

stabbing and stiff character like a lightning

character. In the creation of bamboo and ceramic

crafts, Indonesian code in ceramic elements is

represented by the Javanese culture. Characteristic

taken is a kawungmotif and green color. The green

color is the symbol of fertility.The shape of punden-

berundak on ceramics inspired by the temple

structure and the application of reddish color

inspired by the local material used in Majapahit era

that buildings are mostly made of red brick.

Figure 2: Bamboo-Ceramic Craft by Takayuki Shimizu

and Geoffrey Tjakra (2017).

Hybrid Design Model in Cross Cultural Collaboration: Case Study - Contemporary Bamboo-Ceramic-Batik-Silver Crafts Made by

Indonesian and Japanese Artists

397

Figure 3: Bamboo-Ceramic Craft by Takayuki Shimizu

and Geoffrey Tjakra (2017).

In the creation of the first bamboo-batik craft,

Japanese cultural codes are displayed through the

bamboo woven techniques which are a combination

of two woven techniques namely rinko and

orikaeshi, while Javanese cultural codes are

displayed through the collages of flora batik motifs.

In the creation of the second bamboo-batik craft,

Japanese cultural codes are displayed through

wovenbamboo technique calledmutsume, while

Javanese cultural codes are displayed through the

use of batik elements with a Sidomukti motif. It’s

using contains a hope for its user to be noble or

prosperous.

Figure 4: Bamboo-Batik Craft by Takayuki Shimizu and

July Hidayat (2017-2018).

3.4 The Individual Code: The Artist’s

Translation to General and

Contextual Pattern

In the creation of a combination of bamboo crafts

with ceramics and batik, the individual code comes

from the translation of each artist to the Japanese

and Javanese cultural codes that inspired the making

of the artwork. When translating, each artist is

influenced by his or her cultural backgrounds such

as beliefs, worldviews and education that affect the

artist thinking. In the bamboo-ceramic crafts there

are two different ways of abstracting local cultural

elements that inspire art: the Japanese bamboo artists

display the Japanese identity in the abstract way by

displaying characters from Fujin and Raijin while

the Indonesian ceramic artists display Indonesian

identity in an iconic manner by displaying the icon

of kawung motif.But because this craft is the result

of collaboration, the actual individual code is not

merely subjective but is the agreement between two

artists when combining two different material

elements and cultural codes.

3.5 Elevation from Craft to Art; From

Sincretic to Hybrid Syntax

In the bamboo-ceramic and bamboo-batik craft

composition above, it appears that between bamboo

and ceramic elements, as well as bamboo and batik

elements, are still separated from each other. In the

bamboo-ceramic craft composition, the ceramic craft

is a vase of flowers and the composition of bamboo

is the art of installation on it. The composition of

both is mixed. If the ceramic component is called

element A and the bamboo component is called

element B, then the composition of both is AB. In

the composition of bamboo-batik craft, batik craft is

a basic element of plates and bamboo plaited is part

of the plate wall. The composition of both forms a

plate but the two elements can still be separated

clearly. The second bamboo-batik craft is more

hybrid because the bamboo batik and woven fabric

together form a bamboo basket wall so that if the

batik elements are called A and the bamboo element

is called B, the combination of the two is no longer

mixed but more unified - like the compound

character - forming a new unity which can be called

However, the hybrid character in an art

composition can be enhanced when the craftis

elevated into pure art. That is why we plan to make a

craft in the first year then elevate it into art in the

second year. The concept of creation of craft in the

first year is generated from codes that distinguishes

Japanese culture from Javanese culture represented

in the contextual code. The concept of creation of art

in the second year is generated from the equality of

cultural codes present in Japanese and Javanese

cultures that represent the basic idea of naturalism.

In Japanese and Javanese culture there is the idea of

a tree of life. The contextual code in the creation of

artwork in the second year comes from the meaning

of the tree of life in Japanese culture and the

articulation of its form (icon/index/symbol)

combined with the meaning of living trees in

Javanese culture and articulation of its form (icon/

index/symbol). The Individual translations of artists

come from the interpretation of each individual artist

involved in the concept of a tree of life or a living

tree in each culture. Because the creation of artwork

in this second year is generated from the same

concept and describes a tree of life, the relation

between elements of the various materials that make

up the installation artwork is expected to be more

hybrid.

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4 CONCLUSIONS

The language approach and hybridity model is one

of the methods that can be used in the collaboration

of art creation project that is a cross cultural artwork.

Hybridity model is a combination of common

pattern (syntax), contextual (syntax) pattern and

individual code. The nature of the composition

created is syncretic or hybrid. The composition of

the form or relation between art elements that make

up the composition is syncretic when each element

represents a certain function that can be separated

from one another. Example: vase with decoration on

top of vase. Without the decoration on the vase, the

vase can still serve as a vase and can still be called a

vase. The composition of the form is hybrid when

each element of art forms a unity of compositions

that can’t be separated because when separated, each

element loses its meaning. Composition in pure art is

hybrid because we can’t decipher an artistic

composition because when it is parsed, the art

composition becomes corrupted and loses the

meaning or the represented message.

Apart from the problem of material composition,

material processing techniques and cultural codes,

the more important thing is actuallythe opportunity

to dialogue the differences between cultural spaces

in this cross-cultural collaboration. In this context,

the individual factors of artists act as the

independent variables that have creative, flexible

and naturally fluid in responding to the different

contextual codes and view translations as the

opportunities to create novelty and ensure the

originality of artwork.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We like to thank the government of Republic

Indonesia, Ministry of Research, Technology and

Higher Education, who become the sponsor of our

research. We also thank the University of

PelitaHarapan, Institute of Technology Bandung

(ITB), UniversitasKomputer Indonesia (UNIKOM)

and the Tokyo Bamboo Class for the cooperation in

conducting the research of bamboo craft

development. Last but not least, we thank the Beppu

City Traditional Bamboo Craft Center for the data of

bamboo processing and bamboo culture in Japan.

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Indonesian and Japanese Artists

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