Bandung as an emerging creative city

Bandung is a small city in West Java, Indonesia, which is a thriving area for creative entrepreneurs. It is a place where innovation and artistry flourish. 

British Council offices in the East Asia region visited Bandung in August of this year to see firsthand the city’s emerging creative culture. Under the British Council’s Creative Cities program 11 countries in East Asia including China and the UK have pooled together resources, skills and talents to bring people of varying backgrounds and interests together to discuss how the creative industries can contribute to a city’s regeneration.

A mix of creative entrepreneurs, media people, government officials and British Council arts managers witnessed how Bandung has made a niche for itself by bringing creativity and innovation to the fore. In Bandung where 60 percent of the population is below 40 years old, young creative entrepreneurs have opened businesses catering to the young market. T-shirts are a major hit — with the streets of Bandung littered with distros (stores where only brands from local artists are sold). The distros have become such a phenomenal hit that an enterprising young entrepreneur called Fiki Satari set up a fashion festival called Kickfest wherein all local T-shirt brands found in Bandung are showcased. The Kickfest has gained so much popularity that people from all over Indonesia troop to the Kickfest every year to check out new T-shirt designs available. In fact, the Kickfest, now only in its third year, has earned a whopping 10 billion rupiah in 2008. That’s about P50 million. Not bad for an entrepreneur who’s barely even 30 years old.

But Fiki’s story is not an uncommon one. 

Ridwan Kamil, a young architect from Bandung has set up Helarfest. Helar means to show off or brag in Indonesian. The Helarfest has given the people of Bandung a platform to present all the great things found in their city. Within this festival all things creative from Bandung are showcased from eco- fashion to the more traditional batik art, jazz festival to the Deathfest (featuring Bandung’s unique death metal music scene that sounds heavier than heavy metal), indie movie workshops, Pecha Kucha nights, public art and a host of other activities that are truly a feast for all those lucky enough to be there. 

Ridwan has a vision of turning Bandung into a creative city similar to the ones that he’s been to around the world. It’s a vision he shares with a lot of young creative entrepreneurs in Bandung. 

A lot of young creative entrepreneurs are cashing in on investments on creativity. The British Council reps met person after person who through involvement in a business within the creative industries like design, music, fashion and film, just to name a few, have not only made profitable businesses but have changed the outlook of the city they live in. Bandung is an example of how young creative entrepreneurs are slowly changing the personality of a city.

In a creative city or space there is a sense of openness where people can think creatively and at the same time nurture distinctive identities. It is a place where opportunities are grasped and problems are solved inventively. There is a lack of infrastructure in Bandung but it has become an artist’s haven. Bandung citizens have converted their homes into cafés and mini galleries, T-shirt shops are sprouting from garages at home and festivals are held in the streets because of a lack of an appropriate space and yet all these businesses are thriving. People flock to see what’s new in Bandung. Before long it’s not going to be Indonesia’s best-kept secret anymore.            

The Bandung trip is just the first stop in a series of discoveries towards finding creative places in East Asia. The British Council hopes to build that network of creative entrepreneurs where a true exchange of ideas and opportunities are made available for people who live within these cities.

Cebu will take center stage in March 2009 when delegates from East Asia, China and the UK come to the Philippines to explore all that Cebu has to offer. With the abundance of creativity and world-class artistry found in Cebu, they will not be disappointed.