Carving out a living

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.