The first batch of designers under the STIDC and ITB collaboration.
KUCHING: Works from Sarawak Young Designer (SayDesign) are being featured in the ongoing Virtual Design Festival (VDF) in Milan, Italy which began April 15 and runs till June 30.
Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) said STIDC and Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) initiated and introduced SayDesign as a platform that showcases designs by young designers who had graduated from an enhanced furniture training programme organised by the corporation in collaboration with ITB’s Faculty of Art and Design.
It explained that SayDesign’s participation in VDF was to create greater international awareness on the works by young designers from Sarawak after two events – Salone del Mobile Milano furniture fair and Ventura Future – were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo shows the collection of works by SayDesign.
STIDC pointed out that works from SayDesign were originally supposed to be showcased at Salone del Mobile Milano last month and Ventura Future which was supposed to take place from June 16 to 21.
“VDF is a new initiative that will bring the architecture and design world together to celebrate the culture and commerce of the design industry, and explore how it can adapt and respond in these extraordinary circumstances.
“VDF, the world’s first online design festival, is a platform for designers and brands to present their concept, products and projects to complement and support fairs that have had to be postponed,” said STIDC in a statement yesterday.
On its collaboration with ITB, STIDC said it was to develop an enhanced and customised one-year furniture training programme for a pool of young designers from Sarawak, and aimed to increase their knowledge and skill in designing with international inputs and exposure through ITB linkages and networks.
Since its commencement in 2018, the first batch had successfully completed the programme in 2019 where five of them have been employed by furniture companies in Sarawak while one will join the STIDC Incubator Programme.
The second batch of nine young designers is now in ITB for their second-year training programme, while the third batch of six young designers is now in their first-year training undergoing industrial attachment with furniture companies in Sarawak.
“The Pool of Young Designers Training Programme is a two-year training programme for fresh graduates, developed and implemented by STIDC in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).
“STIDC targets to train 100 fresh graduates as emerging young designers, in line with the corporation’s vision to transform the timber industry to a high-value industry by 2030,” it said.
It also said talent development among fresh graduates and young entrepreneurs in design and creativity will become one of STIDC’s main agenda in the near future in meeting international market requirements.
“With this in mind, STIDC plans to set up Sarawak Design Centre (SaraDeC) as a venue and platform to develop potential talents in design. SaraDec will promote local products and brands produced by local entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through STIDC’s SayDesign.
“STIDC mission is to make SaraDeC a catalyst in grooming emerging young and professional designers to produce international brands from Sarawak. In the long run, SaraDeC will be able to turn Sarawak into one of the renowned design hubs in the Asean region,” it added.
STIDC also said among initiatives to be undertaken this year in collaboration with international designers and design institutes will be the staging of Virtual Conference on Design, International Summer Design Camp, Build Community through Design Programme, and Talent to Business Design Programme.
It is also looking at events such as Fresh from Sarawak Online Marketing Programme, Design Recognition Programme, Training and Knowledge Sharing Programme, exhibitions and more.