BACKGROUND

Banda Aceh is known as the city of ‘one million coffee shops’. Coffee shops have always played a strong role in its culture and history. They are places to discuss ideas, share stories and engage in conversations. Post-tsunami, coffee shops underwent substantial transformation in their role as urban spaces, they acted as a node for information gathering and network building. International emergency services, NGOs and journalists needed WiFi, which the coffee shops soon provided. The resulting presence of western women in coffee shops led to local Acehnese women and children being accepted into these traditionally male-dominated spaces.

 

Almost ten years on, coffee shops throughout Banda Aceh have become a place of entertainment and ‘passing time’ for the youth of the city. This is partly because of a lack of public spaces and entertainment venues, and partly because youth seek access to WiFi for social media. The result is that Banda Aceh youth are now ‘hanging out' in coffee shops across the city, becoming a passive and disengaged generation.

 

Kupi Culture has emerged to meet this need.

Kupi Culture rekindles the coffee shop as a place of conversation, idea generation, information gathering and network building; actively engaging the youth in the making of their city.Through a platform crossing coffee shops and a main creative hub, which operates as a co-working space, young people of the city can explore their passions, share ideas, and actively create their own future.