Balinese clay pottery's last bastion

Wayan Sunarta, Contributor, Denpasar

Balinese pottery has been well known for hundreds of years. One of the island's pottery centers is Binoh, a small village in the Ubung area, just five kilometers north of Denpasar.

No one knows exactly when the pottery business started in the village, but village chief Nyoman Pujarsa, 45, says that pottery has been produced here for centuries.

"I have lived here since I was a child and pottery was already here," Pujarsa said.

Binoh pottery has a distinctive style, different from that produced in other parts of Bali. Its beautiful creations take various forms, from household utensils and ornaments to roof tiles.

Most of the pottery produced in Binoh is made by female artists, who are involved in both its design and manufacture. It is created using old-fashioned techniques. Prices range from Rp 20,000 (around US$2) for a large water container to Rp 35,000 ($3).

"In the l960s, Binoh was famous as a top producer of quality roof tiles. Binoh was also famous as a center for large-scale pottery items such as water containers and flower vases," Pujarsa said.

The popularity of Binoh pottery has gradually faded in line with the rapid changes in the tourism and technology industries. "People are now looking for simple and high tech products available here," he said.

Among the critical problems facing the industry is the lack of a regeneration process. "Younger people are no longer able to create quality pottery products," explained Wayan Sweta, head of the Binoh Craftsmen's Association, Kriya Amertha.

This is a result of young people's reluctance to follow their parents into the pottery trade. Many of them prefer to work in government and private offices, and in the restaurant and hotel industries rather than becoming skilled artisans, Sweta said.

Kriya Amertha was established three years ago by a group of young people who were concerned about the future of Binoh pottery.

"They don't want to take dirty jobs such as producing pottery like the older generation," he said. Currently, there are just 40 elderly female artisans continuing to create pottery in the village.

"If we die soon, Binoh pottery will vanish as well," Rabig said.

In addition to the regeneration problem, Binoh pottery also faces marketing difficulties. Before the economic crisis began, Binoh pottery enjoyed quite a secure market. Local producers used to receive bulk orders from hotels in Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia as well as overseas.

Since the Sept.11 terrorist attacks on America, orders from hotels have dropped drastically, said Sweta. "We are now relying on passers-by and brokers from the nearby Kapal village."

In addition, most local artisans are finding it very difficult to procure raw materials, including clay. "We have to spend a lot of money buying clay from the neighboring villages of Sibang, Pejaten and Darmasaba," he said.

To make matters worse, the marketing of Binoh pottery has long been dominated by local brokers called tengkulak, mostly middle- aged women.

The role of these tengkulak has been extremely significant in dictating the price, quality and distribution of each item produced. These tengkulak have intimidated local artisans by threatening them with "black magic" spells.

"If the artisans are brave enough to sell their products to unknown brokers, the tengkulak will threaten to practice 'leak', or black magic, on them," Sweta said.

This explains why only 25 of the 40 artisans have joined the Kriya Amertha Association. "We are considered the enemy of these tengkulak," Sweta said.

He added that it had been very difficult to persuade local artisans to join the association. "Many of them are trapped by huge debts so that they don't have any bargaining power," he said.

Sweta and his friends in Kriya Merta have no weapons to combat the tengkulaks' activities. "It is a slow process that requires sincerity and strong will from local artisans to free themselves from any outside influence including these heartless tengkulak," said Sweta.

But time is running out. Something needs to be done immediately by people like Suweta to secure the survival of the centuries-old Binoh pottery.

"I have promised myself that I will preserve my ancestors' legacy. I won't give up," Suweta said.