People of Kerebet carve a living out of wood<\/p>\n
By Ahmad Solikhan<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): A young woman was sitting at the side of a
\nfurnace, her lips once in a while puffing into a canting, a small
\ndipper to apply wax in batik printing, held between her slender
\nfingers. She was designing batik motifs on wood. Meanwhile, other
\ncraftsmen were busy cutting, carving or polishing wood to be
\nshaped into masks, puppets, animal figurines and many other
\nforms.<\/p>\n
This skill has been passed down from generation to generation
\nfor years. Bantul is an arid area, not suitable for rice
\nplanting. Located on a lime hill, Kerebet looks barren, with only
\nteakwood trees growing here and there, especially in the dry
\nseason.<\/p>\n
A strong wish to survive, however, had led to the creation of
\nesthetically valuable works. More than half of the 200 families
\ncomprising 770 people are woodcraftmen. Others, believing they
\ncannot make ends meet in their hamlet, have migrated to other
\nareas.<\/p>\n
In a visit to Kerebet, The Jakarta Post found 11 woodcraft
\nworkshops offering woodcraft products at very competitive prices,
\ndepending on the quality of the products. Of all the workshops,
\nthe biggest was Sanggar Punokawan, in terms of workers employed,
\nquantity of handicrafts produced and monthly turnover.<\/p>\n
Anton Wahono, 39, owner of the workshop, said that batik masks
\nand batik puppets, all wooden, are his prime assets to gain
\naccess to international markets.<\/p>\n
Wooden masks which comes with a thousand faces were used in
\nGedok masked shows with wayang (shadow puppet) themes, which
\nusually depicted stories from Panji Asmarabangun. There are
\nwooden puppets representing characters in Javanese wayang that
\nhave their origin in the epic Mahabarata and Ramayana stories.<\/p>\n
Thanks to his creativeness, Wahono, a father of two, now
\nemploys some 50 craftsmen and produces some 5,000 masks and
\npuppets with turnover standing at Rp 30 million a month. His
\nproducts are sold in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surakarta,
\nSurabaya and Bali where the demand is the highest. He also
\nexports these products to Japan, Italy, France, Britain and the
\nUnited States at prices 15 percent to 20 percent higher than that
\nset for the domestic market to cover packing and dispatch costs.<\/p>\n
A winner of some 30 awards for his achievement in this
\nwoodcraft, Wahono said today the production had dropped compared
\nto the levels in 1997 - 1998 which were about 10,000 items a
\nmonth with some 110 workers in his employ and a turnover of some
\nRp 60 million a month. He said the economic crisis and the
\nuncertain domestic security conditions are responsible for this
\ndecline. \"To ensure that the workshops survive, I had, though
\nvery reluctantly, to lay off half of the craftsmen,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He learned to make leather puppets from a Pak Tumpuk of
\nGendeng hamlet while still in elementary school. When he found
\nthat the locals were paying little attention to wayang klitik
\nshows that uses flat wooden puppets to describe stories
\noriginating from Majapahit chronicles, it occurred to him that it
\nwould be a good idea to make wooden puppets.<\/p>\n
In 1984, Wahono and his four craftsmen began to make wooden
\nmasks and puppets.<\/p>\n
And to ensure that woodcraft products continue to interest the
\nmarket, Wahono is trying to diversify his products. Now he makes
\nwooden statues of Loro Blonyo (a young couple donning Javanese
\ncostumes) and other kinds of batik wooden souvenirs. These wooden
\nmask and other souvenirs are on average between 15 centimeter and
\none meter high and are sold between Rp 3,000 and Rp 1 million.
\nThe price of an item depends on the level of difficulty in its
\nmaking.<\/p>\n
These wooden items are made of Klepu, Sengon and Pule wood,
\npurchased from the locals at between Rp 150,000 and Rp 300,000
\nper cubic meter. These logs are mechanically cut into desired
\nlengths and are then dried for a week. They are then carved as
\ndesired with a chisel and then smoothened. Then batik work is
\ndone on it. To ensure that they are durable and glossy, they are
\ncovered with melamine (a transparent liquid chemical). Craftsmen
\nare paid in accordance with their skills. Daily workers will earn
\nbetween Rp 5,000 and Rp 12,000 a day while contractual workers
\nearn Rp 3,000 to Rp 5,000 per piece.<\/p>\n
The latest recognition of his successful wooden handicraft
\nundertaking came when Bantul regional administration gave Wahono
\nthe honor to represent his region in an exhibition of wooden
\nhandicraft products held between 10 and 14 August 2000 at Taman
\nMini Indonesia Indah park in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Ashadi, regional secretary responsible for promoting Bantul,
\nhas placed an order for 40 Loro Blonyo statues which will be
\npresented to the envoys of 40 countries as souvenirs in an
\nexhibition of regional handicrafts and arts for tourists.<\/p>\n
However, Wahono's dream to turn his Kerebet hamlet into a
\nhandicraft and tourist village will take time to materialize.<\/p>\n
Suarman, head of the public relations division of Bantul
\nadministration said Kerebet will be made as one of the stops in
\nthe tourist route in the region and that for this purpose it will
\nbe included in the regional budget for 2004 - 2009. The route
\nwill include Kasongan (clay handicraft), Kerebet (wooden
\nhandicraft), Imogiri (leather puppet carving) and Manding
\n(leather handicraft such as shoes and bags).<\/p>\n
\"So, don't worry because this tourist route was covered in
\ntest trips in 1999,\" Suarman said.<\/p>",
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