Carving out a living

Text and photos by P.J. Leo

Travel warnings and drastic drops in the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia are forcing the residents of Bobung village in Patuk district, Yogyakarta, to work extra hard to promote their handicrafts.

Fewer and fewer tourists are visiting the village, where most residents make a living from the production and sale of wooden handicrafts. With good quality and reasonable prices, the village had been a favorite for tourists looking to buy wooden handicrafts like masks, puppets and statues.

Although sales are sluggish, the villagers, most of whose families have been carving wooden handicrafts for generations, continue to work hard at their craft. They can only hope that things will get better in the New Year.