Institut Teknologi Bandung

General Information

The Craft study program is one of the study programs in the Faculty of Art. Craft may be said to be in the midst of design and art. Design focuses on the technical standpoint as well as the functional value, whereas art emphasizes the philosophical value of an artwork and its meaning or message that the artist wanted to convey to the observer. Craft focuses on the design and production of a functional product with the emphasis on the aesthetic value, the quality of design, and the meaning of philosophical message.

In the past, objects that were included in craft products were objects of high aesthetic value, which were usually honored i.e. keris, ulos cloth, batik cloth, and others. Nowadays the craft developed rapidly in line with the spirit of its time, technology developments, trends and the dynamically ever-changing lifestyles. However, the craft still absorbs the values and traditional elements in its products, to preserve the image of the Indonesian tradition, in the context of the present.

People often confuse craft with handicraft, although they are two different things. The study program of Craft in ITB focuses more on the mastery of design skills in creating the concept, form and style (fashion) in a broad sense, which then become very important in supporting the growth of creative industries. Handicraft is designed more exclusively and has added values in many aspects, because the process relies on the skills of hand (handmade).

In the final stages of the main course, the students are directed to be able to better cooperate with those from other disciplines such as chemistry, architecture, interior design, and management. In addition, craft may be reproduced to meet the needs in quantity, but it is not without limitation. Craft products are hard to imitate because of its uniqueness in the use of materials, as well as in the unification process and in the finishing of the work; it is always dynamic, hence, theoretically, there are no identical products.

The study program of Craft in ITB is currently divided into two course majors, namely Textile Craft and Ceramic Craft.

1. Textile Craft major
   This major covers several subjects, including:
   • Learning textile definition
   • Learning various things associated with the textile craft design world, such as textile material, color, texture, pattern, ornamentation, and cultural background.
   • Learning craft design with an understanding of lifestyle, fashion, trends, and technology that accompanies it.
   • Various craft production techniques that are studied include: weaving, dyeing, batik making, knitting, printing, embroidery, and so on, as well as the exploration of the basic techniques into innovative craft products.
   • Not putting aside leading issues of the world, such as eco-friendly products (back to nature, eco fashion, green design, eco-design, and so forth), products with local cultural values (local content, indigenous raw materials, indigenous culture), into the manufacturing process of craft products which of course have aesthetic values.
2. Ceramic Craft major
   Just as Textile Crafts, principally Ceramic Crafts also covers subjects mentioned above, only with a different medium—that is ceramic material with its own techniques. The taught subjects are:
   • Various mediums of ceramics, such as: earthenware, stoneware, porcelain.
   • Traditional decorative meaning associated with the meaning of the selected shapes, so as to create ideas that fit in with present imagery.
   • Various decorative meanings and their definitions
   • Physical and aesthetic properties of various mediums to form a craft masterpiece, which can then be mass produced but without losing its exclusiveness.
   • Various production techniques of ceramic craft: from basic materials processing stage, the formation of materials, burning process, models and mould creation, as well as the basic knowledge of the application of glazes on ceramic raw materials.