“The study of rice, ultimately allows us to appreciate not only its key role in Asian culture but also in the way that all of us are increasingly drawn together in an ever more inter-related way“1
Crystal & Whittlesey, 2004
Middle left to right: Team at Udayana & Britta, Gaby & Lisa; Lisa, Britta & Gaby; Pak Adhi
Year: 2024 – 2025
Rice is both cultural heritage and a connector of global systems and our collaboration, between Design Ecologies (UK) and Navetta Studio (Indonesia), was supported by field‑research assistant Gabriella Manurung and has been generously funded by a 10k British Council’s ‘Connections Through Culture’ (CTC) 2025 grant and student fieldwork grants from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB).
Below is the i-lab collective2, the vast networks of human support, that made this project possible.
Connections Through Culture (CTC) 2024
- Dr Britta Boyer (Lead, UK) – Design Ecologies Ltd
- Dr Adhi Nugraha (Co-lead, Indonesia) – Navetta Design Studio
- Gabriella Manurung (Research assistant, Bali)
Design Ecologies project advisors:
- Professor Lisa Butler (Queens University, Canada)
- Dr. Markus Wernli (Hong Kong Poly)
Design and Culture Research
- Gabriella Manurung (Bali)
- Sophie Digby (Bali)
- Dr. Prananda L. Malasan (Bandung)
- I Gusti Made Arsawan (Bali)
- Alyson Tobin (UK)
- M. Fata Habibullah (Bandung)
- Wanda Widiyawati (Bandung)
Udayana University
- Dr. Sumiyati (Faculty)
- Dr. Ni Nyoman Sulastri (Faculty)
- Ir. I Wayan Tika, MP (Faculty)
- I Putu Budisanjaya, MT (Faculty)
- I Putu Agus Arnadi (Faculty)
- I Putu Agus Arnadi (Student)
Navetta Design Workshop
- Abbyzar Raffi Hernawan, M.A (Bandung)
- Farras Taufiqurrazak (Bandung)
- Hendriksen (Bandung)
Rice Culture Experts and informants
- Ketut Suweden (Bali)
- Made Bakti Wiyasa (Bali)
- Sakagala Gema L (Bandung)
Institut Teknologi (ITB), Bandung
Faculty of Art and Design (MA Design Program)
- Dr. Andriyanto Wibisono
ITB Student participants:
- Wanda Widiyawati
- Abi Sutanrai
- Abdurrahman Raihan Syahid
- Ahmad Hudya Alyazidi
- Alifia Nihayatul Safitri
- Alya Puspawati
- Annisa Noor Innaya
- Arief Hartanto
- Arum Kartikaningbudi
- Deby Nur Azizah Hasanuddin
- Diva Getari Dijiwa
- Faiz Aulia Rahman
- Hafizh Putra Wedyapratama
- Inayah Alfatiha
- Lathifah Hasyiem
- Nabiilah Alyaa Zen
- Naviatul Ilma
- Nuraman Muh. Iqbal
- M. Fata Habibullah
- Mizan Allan de Neve
- Muhammad Ardhia Wardhana
- Prima Yulina
- Rahmat Sonjaya
- Riza Mubaroq
- Rizka Malinda Berliana
- Satria Mahardhika
- Salsabila Alfi
- Shazrie sukur
- Shofi Rifatul Imamah
- Taufik Achirjun Ibrahim
- Vania Ardelia Putri
- Yasshirly Amria
Creative infrastructure, illustrations & archive
- Teresa Inés Cruz (Studio Pacha)
- Kerry Ann Cleaver (UK)
- Stevie (UK)
- Wanda Widiyawati (ITB Student designer)
- Fata Habibullah (ITB Student designer)
Audio-visual narratives
- Visual Story and Videography – Matakarsa Visual Team
- Creative producer – Dr. Britta Boyer
- Research & Story – Gabriella Manurung & Dr. Britta Boyer
- Sound Design & Sound Mix – Matakarsa Visual & Liam Clayton
- Assistant Sound Design – Ardharaja Marshel Theo
Project Locations
West Java: Bandung, Sumedang
Bali: Tabanan, Jati Luwih
- Crystal, E., & Whittlesey, P. (2004). The role of rice in Southeast Asia. Education About Asia, 9(3). ↩︎
- Our symbolic inversion of spelling Bali backwards signals our collective rethinking of systems and turning conventional approaches inside out. Whilst it embeds the experimentation to its geography, our regenerative rice material innovation project looks at traditional practices through a new lens and brings together ideas and teams that would not normally work collaboratively in academic settings. ↩︎