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.