KUCHING: Over 250 local and international participants recently took part in the Inaugural Cultural Entrepreneurship Factory (CEF) 2022 organised by Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus’ School of Design and Arts in collaboration with What About Kuching (WAK) Festival 2022.
The event, themed ‘Heritage and Technology: Preserving Through Creative Industry’, was held at Swinburne Sarawak and The Waterfront Hotel Kuching on October 21 and 22. It was supported by Business Events Sarawak.
CEF 2022 aimed to showcase and applaud researchers, practitioners, entrepreneurs, industries, and government bodies in the cultural entrepreneurship discipline. This was done through crucial addresses, plenary sessions and interactive workshops involving local and international creative industry experts and academicians.
At the opening ceremony held at Swinburne Sarawak, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan, who represented Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, mentioned that the preservation of Sarawak’s arts, culture and heritage could be achieved through physical and digital mediums such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality.
“Elements of uniqueness and diversity found here in Sarawak can be fused and embedded in various contemporary creative outcomes such as digital games, animation, film, fashion, packaging, and music.
“The works produced by our local Sarawakian creative industries have a direct impact on the preservation and promotion of our richness in arts, culture and heritage,” he said in his speech.
During the opening ceremony, Swinburne Sarawak pro vice-chancellor and chief Executive Officer Ir Professor Lau Hieng Ho also announced the introduction of two new diploma courses – Diploma of Digital Media Design and Diploma of Early Childhood Education – to meet the local demand in the creative industry and education sector.
Meanwhile, the inaugural CEF 2022 also saw the launch of The Hive Design Studio and the School of Design and Art’s ICONs featuring Noor Irwan Junaidy, an award-winning animation producer, and Neng Kho Razali, a cultural entrepreneur and fashion designer.
The studio is a creative space located at Level 9, Block G, Swinburne Sarawak. It was created to meet the future design and creative multimedia production needs of the courses from the School of Design and Arts as well as the local creative industry and government bodies.
