Digital Bamboo presented the results of design research into the augmentation of traditional Indonesian bamboo practices with emerging digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printing. The project’s premise arose from a provocation - what might occur if the Indonesian practice of disrupting existing social media technologies and repurposing them for their own community needs, such as ‘twitter trading’, were applied to craft practice or production? Could the “internet of things” include craft objects, and could open design practices help moderate the influence of centralisation in rapidly modernising Indonesia that affects the livelihood of traditional artisan practices. Digital Bamboo received publicity from Sydney Design Week in, through gallery talks, workshops and participation in the Feral Experimental Symposium in 2014 that received large public attendances and critical reviews. The 2015 exhibition presented a number of works to large audiences and publication of a documentary video and website on the internet.
Digital Bamboo was led by Roderick Bamford of UNSW and Dr. Dwinita Larasti of the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. The project was funded by the UNSW Contestable Funding Scheme, and contributes to ongoing research by academics of the RED Objects group.The exhibitions were made possible by a development grant from the Australian Indonesian Institute, supported by the Australian Federal Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.