Bamboo, a natural decoration for homes

By Y.R. Prahista

BANDUNG (JP): A desire to return to nature can be fulfilled in many ways, including with natural materials for interior decoration.

Owners of vacation homes or cabins often try to decorate them in the most fitting way to evoke the natural surroundings. Brick walls are covered with plaited bamboo sheets and the triplex boards usually used for ceilings are replaced by bamboo to create the natural atmosphere.

The rural atmosphere provided by the architecture of saung traditional West Javanese huts is often found in Sundanese restaurants. Huts usually located amid rice fields are constructed with local building materials made of bamboo, except for the roof which is made of ijuk (palm fiber).

Bamboo is a mainstay of traditional Sundanese life. Musical instruments like the angklung and seruling (flute) are made of bamboo. Before bricks, cement and iron were easily obtainable, most houses in rural West Java were made of bamboo.

A longing to return to local building materials has emerged again in the past few years. In Ciwidey subdistrict, the community's production of plaited bamboo sheets for walls has apparently been unaffected by the economic crisis.

"Although we are in an economic crisis, our production continues," said a maker from Pasir Jambu village, Ciwidey subdistrict, about 30 kms south of Bandung.

In the Sundanese community, walls covered with plaited bamboo sheets are called bilik. The sheets are usually made in rural communities but the greater part of the material produced is rough plaiting from a type of bamboo called bambu tali.

Bilik usually used for walls and ceilings of cabins or Sundanese restaurants is made of black bamboo known as bambu wulung or awi wulung. It is called black bamboo because of its dark stem.

Bilik for decorative purposes is only produced by Ciwidey inhabitants although the black bamboo that constitutes its raw material does not grow in the region.

Black bamboo comes from the regions south of Garut, from Cianjur and Sukabumi, by way of go-between traders. "Usually a truck with black bamboo comes every 10 days," said Ahmad, a craftsman. Each piece of bamboo measures about six meters.

The processing is simple. The bamboo is cut according to requirements with a long heavy knife. It is then divided into thin layers bearing a thickness of one millimeter to two millimeters. The pieces are three centimeters to five cms wide. The craftsmen plait the pieces according to order.

Thin layers with a width of three cms are usually used for sheets with smaller plaited motifs. Thin layers with a width of five cms are turned into material for sheets with large motifs.

Before the monetary crisis a sheet bearing small plaits cost Rp 5,000 to 6,000 per square meter. Now the price is Rp 7,500 per square meter. A sheet with rougher plaiting is cheaper at Rp 6,000 per square meter, but it was previously only Rp 4,000.

"The higher price is due to the increased cost of the raw material and transportation," said Ahmad.

The handicraft involves most villagers in Cisondari and Pasir Jambu in the Ciwidey district. They produce decorative and other types of plaited bamboo. They often receive orders for rough types used to protect the cultivation of plantation crops; part of the Ciwidey region is home to tea plantations.

Ahmad said the art of making the plaited bamboo was handed down from generation to generation. However, it is only a part- time activity "especially when there is no work in the rice fields", said Masyiah, a craftswoman.

Payment is according to the amount of work done. "One square meter of fine plaiting costs Rp 500. Larger plaited work costs Rp 300 per square meter," she said. A fee of Rp 120 per square meter is paid for rough sheets.

"Every day I make from five square meters to 10 square meters of flower bilik," said Aisah, another craftswoman.

Aisah has recruited her two daughters, who have completed elementary school, to help. "I wanted to keep them in school but I cannot pay the fee."

There is no fixed income for the workers because it is a side job.

Appreciation for the decorative bamboo plaiting is spreading from Ciwidey to other major cities. A Sundanese restaurant in Bandung changed the interior of its building using the bamboo. It has augmented the natural feel of the surroundings with pillars made of black bamboo. Varnishing has enhanced the beauty of the bilik and the bamboo pillars.