Making Links Together: Valuing People and Creativity

Abstract

This paper explores how the economic livelihoods of a defined group of craft producers in Indonesia can be improved through design focused activities that expand upon already established linkages and collaborations. Fieldwork uses Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods, (Swantz 2008) involving co-creative design thinking workshops that are situated within the terrain of Design Anthropology (Gunn 2012). Funded through Research England’s, 2018-19 Global Challenge Research Fund (Research England 2018), the case study project, Making Links 5, (2019) sought to empower craft makers by teaching design thinking through making in a shared studio/workshop environment. Underpinned by the principles of fair trade, the aim was to work within a specific context, where potential for the development of unique craft items for an international market, had been identified by members of the in-country project team.