Leadership
HYPATIA is led by Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum and Bettina WitteVeen - two friends whose work has influenced culture, communities, and artistic expression worldwide. They share concern for, support for and a deep understanding of Indonesia’s cultural and environmental heritage.
The Greek philosopher Hypatia, mathematician and teacher, lived in Alexandria. Her biography serves as the paradigm on which HYPATIA’s business philosophy is based. HYPATIA preserves and upgrades traditional crafts of women, such as weaving and embroidery. Creating beauty and protection in the form of clothing is mostly a woman’s endeavor that HYPATIA seeks to empower by producing garments that are authentic, unique and respectful of our nature.
Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum
Co-Founder, Director
Research and Community Outreach
Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum is a dancer, choreographer, producer, and cultural leader. She is the founder of the Indonesian Heritage Preservation Agency and recipient of the “Ordine della Stella d’Italia” from the Italian Government for her role in promoting cultural and social ties between Italy and Indonesia. In 2019, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture accorded her the “Culture Award” for her role as a Creator, Pioneer and Innovator in DKI Jakarta.
She has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists and theater directors, such as Tadashi Suzuki and Robert Wilson. She produced I La Galigo with Robert Wilson, bringing the world’s longest epic to international contemporary audiences. The cultural importance of I La Galigo has been recognized by inclusion in UNESCO’s Memory of the World.
As director of HYPATIA, Kusumaningrum endeavors to align traditional Indonesian crafts with contemporary applications preserving their integrity. She creates a working eco-system in which future generations can thrive by bringing people, processes, and knowledge together. Kusumaningrum travels extensively between regions and villages, working directly with artists and communities overseeing the production of HYPATIA’s materials and embroidery. She is instrumental in the innovation of HYPATIA’s signature Serat material.
Kusumaningrum is passionate about a dialogue between cultures; how the ancient can be integrated into the present, how traditions can inform and be uplifted by the contemporary.
Bettina WitteVeen
Co-Founder, Art Director
Design and Visual Language
WitteVeen is an internationally acclaimed conceptual artist and visual poet. Her commitment to peace initiatives, animal rights, and poverty alleviation finds expression in her renowned exhibitions and installations. With her involvement in HYPATIA, she extends her visual expertise into the art of design.
As part of her personal and artistic practice, WitteVeen has been a social activist for several decades; in particular, she has worked closely with communities in Southeast Asia to foster communal local leadership and economic participation in the international marketplace.
As Art Director, WitteVeen is responsible for HYPATIA’s visual language and expressions, as well as product design. She innovated the brand’s Combinables fashion line and its buttons-only system as a deliberate response to conventional construction and fastening methods, thereby using locally sourced materials only and contributing to a Circle Economy.
WitteVeen does extensive research before designing her fabric patterns and embroidery motifs with the intention of bringing meaning beyond the surface. She seeks to ensure that her creations for HYPATIA have integrity and authenticity, and carry truth and beauty.