East Javanese miniature ships operate on high seas

East Javanese miniature ships operate on high seas

By Gin Kurniawan

MOJOKERTO, East Java (JP): Various types of ships have been
created by his old hands. Not just sailing ships but also
historical traditional ships which may have been forgotten. He is
Haj Djuhhari Witjaksono, 70, a well-known East Java craftsman
specializing in the making of miniature ships.

The man, who lives in Kedung Kwali village, Mojokerto, refers
to his handicraft as "marine art". He does not remember how many
thousand miniature ships he has created. What he does remember is
that in the past 20 years he has made the miniature ships of 40
types which operate on the high seas worldwide. Some of them are
Dewa Ruci, Phinisi, James Cook, San Juan, Golden
Hind and Coast Guard.

Djuhhari is the pioneer of this kind of handicraft. It did not
take long for his products to be known abroad, thanks to the
support of the regional government and PT Semen Gresik, which
often financed his exhibitions and surveys abroad.

Djuhhari deservedly feels proud because his handicraft is a
superior commodity in East Java and beyond. The demand from
abroad for the miniature ships is continuously on the increase
and he recently opened a special showroom at Le Meridien Hotel in
Singapore. In fact, there are now more foreigners than locals who
are interested in his miniature ships.

Artshops abroad have entrusted Djuhhari to supply them with
the products, among them shops in the United States, the
Netherlands, Australia, Germany and Belgium.

"Not long ago I sent 500 James Cook ships to the U.S. I have
also prepared three containers of my miniature ships to open the
showroom in Singapore," he said.

Djuhhari's miniature ships can be classified in three
categories: traditional, historical and combat ships. Traditional
ships are truly traditional i.e. untouched by machine technology.
The antokan and lentik ships used by fishermen in Madura are
examples of traditional ships. Historical ships are those which
were used at the time of famous kingdoms in Indonesia, for
example the Majapahit and Sriwijaya ships. Combat ships were used
as battle ships by the fighters who battled against the colonists
at sea, like the Mayang ships used during the Bubutan War in Bali
with its famous hero Ngurah Rai.

"I am now finishing a Mayang ship ordered by the historical
museum in Bali," said Djuhhari.

According to Djuhhari, battles at sea do not receive as much
attention from historians as battles on land. "Actually battles
at sea were no less fierce and important," said the elderly but
still energetic man. "I am now collecting data to trace the types
of ships once used for the fights at sea," he added.

Djuhhari says he is attracted to making this kind of
handicraft because there was nobody who did such work. Another
reason is related to his philosophy of life. "I wish to live like
a ship that has served to carry men to the other side of the
sea."

It has been a long way for Djuhhari to achieve success. He
worked with a construction company after finishing Technical High
School in 1957. With his experience as an employee at a
contractor's he set up his own construction company. His company
progressed rapidly, but in the 1980s it went bankrupt and was
unable to rise again.

The closure of his construction business after many years of
hard work put a lot of stress on him. He felt he could not go
back into business and decided to look for another activity. He
was fortunate to be endowed with a manual skill that is rarely
found among others.

He admitted that he cried when his contracting business went
bankrupt. He addressed his grief to God and from his heart he
asked that he be given guidance. It was apparently then that he
was shown the way to dedicate himself to the handicraft business.
In the beginning he only made furniture from bamboo and carved
kentongan (a drum for sounding an alarm).

His revenues were sufficient to provide for his family. Nearly
all his products sold. There was even demand for more. But he was
not satisfied and tried to find another more specific handicraft.
Not long afterward he found something which he felt had prospects
for development. This was thanks to his hobby of reading books
which inspired him to make miniature ships.

In short, he then tried to make some sketches from the ships
pictured in the books. He made miniature ships based on the
sketches. The Phinisi Nusantara was his first creation of a
miniature ship.

Having succeeded in his first attempt, he continued to create
other miniature ships from different models. In order to increase
production he invited young men in his village to join a course.
"After the course I gave them money, provided they were willing
to help me," he said.

His creations continued to develop after he had found a book
entitled The Perahu which focuses on the analysis of ships. He
found the book, published in California, in a bookshop in
Jakarta.

Amsterdam

However, to create his work Djuhhari did not rely on the study
of documents only. He embarked on a survey in the coastal areas
where there were ports for fishing ships. He also went to temples
to look at reliefs related to ships. Moreover, he visited the
maritime museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It was there that
he found the models of traditional ships from various regions in
Indonesia.

"It is too bad we are not sufficiently concerned with our own
culture so that foreigners make use of it," said Djuhhari.

He currently employs some 30 craftsmen, the greater part of
them his own neighbors. But he is unable as yet to meet the
rising demand from abroad because the production process is still
conventional, without the use of machine technology. "Our
production is 100 percent handmade," he said.

According to Djuhhari, his workmen only assembled the various
parts. He himself is the designer. "The design process is the
most difficult part because the measurements must fit the
miniature ships," he explained.

The price of the ships depends on the materials and the size.
A miniature sailing boat made from banana stems is the cheapest
at Rp 35,000. The most expensive are big ships like the Phinisi
and Majapahit which measure up to three meters. Their price is Rp
15 million. These miniature ships are made from teak and ramin
wood. The sails are made from imitation leather.