Situated within Indonesia's specific cultural and rural landscape of Borneo, this practice-based PhD aims to identify the role of design within the sustainability discourse in fostering inclusive innovation with Indigenous communities. Whilst there has been a growing scholarship positioning Indigenous knowledge as key in an inclusive design process, there remains a need to critically approach the complex and multifaceted nature of the (Indigenous) notion to avoid such homogenisation and romanticisation of the term.
In collaboration with a group of Dayak Bidayuh rattan weavers in Jagoi Babang and a Dayak Kanayatn creative group in Singkawang, both located in West Kalimantan, this research employs Participatory Action Research (PAR) to collectively explore the complexity and the precarious nature of Indigenous craft practices; how the communities’ ways of knowing and being were challenged, negotiated and adapted amidst the changing cultural and natural landscapes they were experiencing. In so doing, the research delves into the communities' everyday creativity as an exemplary mode of innovation that demonstrates situated and embodied knowledge. The term 'everyday creativity' highlights the situated material relations and knowledges embedded in the communities' everyday context, emphasising their entanglements with people, place and practice.
This research ultimately seeks to articulate Indigenous perspectives on sustainability and innovation, through exploring everyday creative practice amidst the changing (natural and cultural) landscapes of Borneo. The research promotes design-led Indigenous innovation as a mode of embodied, dialogical practice that builds on intimate knowledge of places, ways of knowing and being that are deeply connected to the land and the community. By foregrounding design-led Indigenous innovation as an embodied and dialogical practice, this study emphasises the dynamic, ever-evolving relationships between Indigenous identity, their landscapes, and their material practices. It demands a nuanced understanding of the dynamic and context-specific constructs of Indigeneity, exploring how Indigenous knowledge systems evolve, adapt, and are challenged over time.
The research contributes to rethinking (design) innovation with and through Indigeneity, proposing a new positioning of design at the nexus of craft, Indigeneity and sustainability. Through conceptualising Indigenous innovation that is rooted in everyday creativity, this study contests hierarchical knowledge systems and challenges the dominant understanding of sustainable innovation. This concept can be used to critically explore the multifaceted challenges in Indigenous practices, as well as articulating the intersectionality of craft practices and sustainable development.
