Enriching cultural experience at Yogyakarta, Indonesia
In December 2023, I was blessed with the opportunity to complete some units of study in Yogyakarta, Indonesia to study cross cultural design. This would be my second time leaving the country, the first time which was way back in 2015, so I was extremely excited to experience a new culture and country. Me and some friends travelled to Indonesia prior to the start of the course to explore Jakarta and had then taken the train to Yogyakarta.
For the course we were tasked with interviewing a local business about how they implemented sustainable practices into their business as a group. I was in a group with two lovely peers and the business we were assigned was Palem Craft. The company focuses on designing home décor out of local materials. We were able to talk to both CEO’s about their design process and it was really interesting to learn how they would take waste materials from their design process to create new designs which use the waste. As you can see, they have beautiful products.
As a part of the course, we were able to get a guided tour of the Borobudur temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the world. It was a beautiful sight and it was very interesting learning about how the teachings of Buddha were engraved into the stones all around the structure. Interestingly, a few of Palem Craft’s lamp shades are inspired by the shape of the stupa. The picture above shows an opened stupa, showing the buddha statue within.
We had free time to explore around Yogyakarta during the course as well. Nearing the end of the course I was able to go explore the Jomblang cave. You repel down a large opening and hike through a cave to reach this beautiful opening above the cave. Even simple things such as walking around the city was really enjoyable, coming across random landmarks and just taking in the surrounding culture. You can clearly see why Yogyakarta is considered the culture capital of Indonesia with the large amount of temples and cultural landmarks within the city.
This opportunity to go to Indonesia was amazing and I’m extremely glad I was able to partake in this course. I was able to make plenty of friends over there and also discovered my love for travelling. I plan to go on many more trips after this and deeply encourage anyone to take on any similar opportunity if presented it. Being able to study at another country, a new environment and new culture is an experience like nothing else.
Jerry Zhang
Bachelor of Design in Architecture & Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation
DAB Global Studio (Indonesia) – Global Studio A
Global Short Programs Travel Scholarship
For more information about the UTS Global Short Program visit: www.uts.edu.au/thinkglobal
Categories
Business, DAB, Global Short Programs, Indonesia, Summer or Winter School
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