The congress, which carried the theme Local Crafts Global Market, was officially opened by the Deputy Governor of DIY through (Plh. Assistant 2 of the DIY Regional Secretariat for Economic & Development Affairs Yuna Pancawati SE, MSi.). The congress was divided into two sessions, namely session 1 (Leader Forum) presenting the Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (Opening Speech) which was followed by a talk show by presenting resource persons from the Regent of Bantul (H. Abdul Halim Muslih), Deputy Mayor of Banjarmasin (Dr. Ir. H. Arifin Noor, M.T.), and the Head of the Gunungkidul Regency Tourism Office (Mohamad Arif Aldian, S.IP., M.Si). Session 1 discussed various creative industry issues in the field of crafts and folk art from the provision of raw materials, skilled labour, marketing, business regulations, and other matters connected with the existence of the creative industry.
The discussion is of a technical nature which specifically addresses how a city can be included in the world creative city network by sharing experiences with cities that have entered UCCN, not only in Indonesia but also presented by speakers from abroad.
Session 2 (Creative Cities Session) was presented by congress speakers, namely Ronny Lopies (Focal Point of Ambon Unesco City of Music), Mary Armstrong Hammond (Coordinator of the Unesco Creative Cities of Crafts & Folk Art) Paducah Kentucky USA, Prof. Byung Hoon Jeong (The Focal Point of Jinju South Korea).
Cities wishing to enter the world creative city network gain important knowledge and understanding to prepare themselves to meet the terms and conditions imposed by UCCN. The Unesco version of the creative city network is not solely for obtaining prestigious awards, but has a systemic and structured impact on building sustainable cultural cities towards a prosperous society.
The Indonesia Crafts Congress, which was held for the first time in the city of Bantul, attended by related agencies, practitioners, academics, craftspeople, cultural artists, students, associations, Dekranasda and MSME actors, has produced several agreements, namely:
- Stakeholder synergy and collaboration by facilitating a regulatory system that favors artisans or MSMEs to increase production and distribution value
- Strengthen the Hexa-helix network of city branding based on the advantages and characteristics of the city by building a crafts and folk art ecosystem
- There is reciprocity with and between cities that are committed to investing in creativity providing mutual support as a driver of sustainable urban development.
- Increasing public awareness in a city of social inclusion is a shared responsibility so that human dignity in the social environment obtains relational opportunities between individuals and groups that are not differentiated to access various resources in society based on the cultural values of society which are considered to have universal goodness.
The Indonesia Crafts Congress (ICC) has produced several important agreements which will form the basis for holding the ICC in the following year. This congress has a significant impact on motivating each other and mapping the potential of crafts and folk art in recognizing one’s own potential to create city branding in accordance with the wealth of each city.
The main goal to be achieved collectively is to concretize ecosystem collaboration which mutually enlivens creative industry lines in the field of crafts and folk art in a sustainable manner which will lead to an increase in the economic welfare of the community.
The main urgency for the city of Bantul is to build a real inter-city creative industry ecosystem in order to realize the city of Bantul as a creative city in the field of crafts and folk art UCCN 2023.
Contact Person: Dr. Arif Suharson, S.Sn., M.Sn. (ICC Chair 2023)