The IKAT / eCUT is a Goethe-Institut project exploring the past, present and future of textiles in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. A range of activities are taking place during March and April 2017. Southeast Asia is a region in which textiles play a hugely important role. Not only are textiles produced in many countries, but there is also rapid consumption of textiles in cosmopolitan cities. In many countries, traditional textiles are of high cultural value. Textiles carry stories, both collective and individual ones. The textile industry is as diverse as its products reaching from handcrafted ritual fabric to interior design and to the fast fashion sold in the many shopping malls. The next big trend and question looming is that of sustainability:

• How can textiles be produced in a more resource-efficient way?
• What role will traditional artisanship play in the future?
• Do we, as consumers, face the challenge to reconsider our buying strategies?
• Do textile producers have the responsibility to offer new products, ones that are eco-friendly and come from a production that is fair to the people involved?
• Do we need to buy at all?
• Can’t we just all be makers and crafters?

IKAT/eCUT is a Goethe-Institut project exploring the past, present and future of textiles in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Through different activities it is looking at the cultural potency of textiles in many fields – from the arts to design, from tradition to technology. During the months of March and April 2017 the Goethe-Institut Indonesia presents a wide variety of activities to engage with textiles, design and sustainability in Indonesia.

• Fast Fashion - The Dark Side of Fashion | An exhibition on the impacts of mass production of fashion and presentation of sustainable alternatives by Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Arts and Crafts Hamburg)
• Slow Fashion Lab | Introducing examples of sustainable fashion, traditional and local practices from around Indonesia
• Fringe Events | A series of activities that offer experiences of collective creation and learning beyond the world of fast fashion
• Textile Residencies | Workshops and production residencies bringing together German designers with Southeast Asian producers to learn from each other and establish lasting relationships

Check the websites for other Goethe-Institut centres in the region to see what's on. Follow IKAT/eCUT on Facebook