Making Links: Crafting Creativity and Collaboration

The Futuring Craft IOTA21 conference was hosted by the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial in collaboration with Curtin University School of Design and the Built Environment in September 2021 in Western Australia. Futuring Craft addressed matters that traverse craft from design, environment, economies and fundamental human rights.Bringing together academics, makers and the craft sector from Australia and countries of the Indian Ocean and beyond, the IOTA21 conference supported the themes inherent in the IOTA21 international exhibition ‘Curiosity and Rituals of the Everyday‘. Making Links: Crafting Creativity and Collaboration was presented online by Larasati, Hanson, Zulaikha, and Cave and gave a visual summary of their project situated within a rural area of East Java where they worked co-creatively with a group of artisans. It discussed how the economic livelihoods of craft-makers in Indonesia can be improved by developing appropriate collaborations, promoting co-creative design thinking and fair-trade principles as important aspects for export trade.