Sister City Program: Australian Designers Attend Boot Camp in Yogyakarta for Batik Creation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Yogyakarta Government has brought in three well-known young designers from Victoria, Australia to undergo a two-week boot camp starting August 11, 2024, in Yogyakarta.

The boot camp is intended to push the three designers to create new batik designs with a different approach or perspective. The three designers from Australia are Zhao Canwen, Nikki Edgar, and Josh Deane.

"Batik created by the three Australian designers will be displayed at the 2024 Jogja Fashion Week," said the Head of Yogyakarta Industry and Tade Office, Syam Arjayanti, on the sidelines of a meeting with the Australian designers in Yogyakarta, Sunday evening, August 11, 2024.

Sister city program

Yogyakarta has been connected with the Australian city of Victoria since 2014 through the sister city program. “The Victorian government in Australia recommended the three designers and they will spend two weeks in Yogyakarta to create various batik-based designs,” Syam said.  

Each designer will be given various types of Yogyakarta-produced batik fabrics to be transformed into something unique without erasing the essence of Yogyakarta itself. The fabrics are brought in from five regencies in Yogyakarta with different patterns. 

"Each designer will be given at least three of Yogyakarta's typical batik materials to be transformed into apparel with their perspective and imagination," Syam said.

The designers will also visit many batik centers in Yogyakarta to understand Yogyakarta’s batik characteristics. During their stay, the Australian designers will be accompanied by renowned Yogyakarta designers, one of whom is Lia Mustafa.

Brief profiles of the Australian designers

The 2024 Jogja Fashion Week will start on August 23 at the Jogja Expo Center or JEC. Zhao Canwen is known as a multidisciplinary fashion designer based in Melbourne. Canwen has worked in film costumes, production design, to commercial illustration design in the past decade.

Nikki Edgar is a regular at various international fashion events. She’s known for her ready-to-wear and custom pieces that emphasize shape and structure, with a strong focus on femininity and a strong emphasis on recycled materials. 

Josh Deane, meanwhile, is a designer known for combining his work with aspects of art inspired by personal experiences, ancestral wisdom, and Australia’s cultural heritage and biodiversity. His work spans a variety of media and reflects his journey as a survivor, offering solace and empowerment to others.

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