Bukittinggi and Creative Economy Ministry accelerate post-disaster economic reconstruction
The Bukittinggi city government, together with the Creative Economy Ministry (Kemenekraf), is accelerating post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction in Sumatra for creative economy practitioners by holding a packaging design workshop.
Deputy Creative Economy Minister Irene Umar said in Bukittinggi on Thursday that it is important to understand the story behind every regional creative economy product so that it has higher selling value and is able to compete in the global market.
“Cultural wealth such as weaving, culinary traditions, and even the tradition of merantau can become a strength for the people of West Sumatra,” she said.
She urged the public to give every product a selling value derived from its history, because that is the most important thing to differentiate our products from others.
“If we ourselves do not love and appreciate our products, then who else will? Let us together elevate the cultural wealth we have so that it is not only known in Indonesia, but also reaches the whole world,” she said.
The activity featured resource persons from the Indonesia Design Development Center (IDDC) of the Trade Ministry, Baginda Wisnu Wardhana, an expert in product and packaging design at IDDC, and Darfi Rizkavirwan, an academic, lecturer and professional in the field of Visual Communication Design from Indonesia.
“The workshop is presented as a form of concern and one of the government’s concrete actions in boosting the post-disaster economy for creative economy practitioners in Bukittinggi,” she said.
She described the activity as a programme based on cultural creativity and design within the scope of the Ekraf Peduli programme, organised by the Creative Economy Ministry through the Directorate of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the Trade Ministry.
The activity was attended by 50 participants from three subsectors: culinary, craft and fashion.
The workshop was held over one day, with a series of material presentations, followed by case studies, practice and simulation, as well as feedback for participants.
Bukittinggi Mayor Ramlan Nurmatias said Bukittinggi is a city rich in product excellence, such as embroidery, songket and handicrafts, as well as culinary businesses.
He expressed hope that young people and the community there can create a creative economy that reaches the global market.
“We see the creative economy developed by the community as one of the important things for the Indonesian economy. We need to explore the history and culture of what we are engaged in. With this workshop activity, it is hoped that participants can take it seriously,” he explained.