JP/17/PITLOK

JP/17/PITLOK

The highs and lows of a Sundanese wooden puppet maker

Yuli Tri Suwarni The Jakarta Post/Bandung

The Sri Lankan couple and their son were impressed by the skillful way in which Hedi carved a piece of albasis wood into the shape of a crown, and then a face with a sharp-pointed nose beneath it. Hedi's workshop is located in a house in an alley called Japan Pengarang, right behind the Savoy Homann Hotel in Bandung. The second story is a rough extension of the original building, as though the occupants suddenly ran out of room. Certainly, the living room is taken up with hundreds of wooden puppets: lined up on shelves, on the long dining table and in the glass cabinet.

Although the family did not buy any of the puppets displayed, 52-year-old Tatang Haryana, the owner of the place, known as Pitaloka Gallery, was not in the least offended. Tatang has followed in the footsteps of his father, one of the early makers of wooden puppets in Bandung.

"I'm just happy someone has come here to have a look at the wooden puppets -- which are the pride of the Sundanese -- and ask so many questions about them," he told The Jakarta Post.

In the past, he said, visitors had been frequent but today only a few tourists made it to the workshop.

Before the financial crisis hit the country in 1998, Tatang had 14 employees. Now, there is only Hedi.

In that mixed-up year, Tatang -- who was at that time working as a designer in a textile mill somewhere in the suburbs of Bandung -- made the decision to take up the work of his father, Alun Ruchiyat Asmawijaya.

"I couldn't help but fall in love with the puppets. It would be a terrible shame if this tradition was forgotten," said Tatang, the fifth of Alun's 11 children.

Pitaloka, established in 1956, enjoyed its heyday in the 1960s. Today, Tatang said, very few Sundanese people buy his wooden puppets. Meanwhile, the export of these puppets to the United States stopped following the 9/11 attacks.

Alun Ruchiyat, formerly a comic strip illustrator at the Regional Military Command of Siliwangi III, West Java, began to show an interest in making wooden puppets and then learned how to make them from Pak Soma, a local wooden puppet maker. When he had mastered wooden puppet making, Alun set up Pitaloka Gallery.

The fact that Pitaloka's puppets are two dimensional does not help business. Today, three-dimensional puppets are more popular as they are more human-like. They can "smile" and wear modern clothes, for example. Several modern wooden puppets -- specifically those modified by noted wooden puppet master in West Java, Sunandar Sunarya of Kampung Jelekong, Ciparay -- can even spit out instant noodles from their mouths.

At Pitaloka, the wooden puppets are made in a conventional way:

The albasia wood, which is already very dry, is first cut into oval pieces. A small knife is used to carve out the features, which takes two days. Another day is needed to carve the body.

"The face is the most difficult part to carve as we must carve its features accurately while keeping in mind the character of the puppet. The slightest mistake results in the face expressing the traits of another character," said Hedi, who has worked with Tatang for seven years.

After the puppet has been carved, it is sanded and then painted with an anti-termite solution.

Caulking and gold paint are later applied to cover any small holes left on the surface of the wooden puppet. This process is repeated four times.

"As the surface of our wooden puppets is very smooth, many foreign tourists think we use molded fiberglass. They are really amazed when they learn that the puppet is made entirely of wood," Tatang said.

When the surface is perfect, the wooden puppet is painted in accordance with its character. Then, the dress is prepared. The color of the face, Tatang said, represents the main trait of the character, as depicted in either the Mahabharata or the Ramayana epics.

A wooden puppet depicting a knight and a truth defender like Bima and Arjuna, for example, are given blue faces. While characters with quick tempers, such as Cepot, Rahwana or Dasamuka, have red faces. White is reserved for wise characters like Kresna and Dawala.

Semar, the father of the servants of royalty in shadow and wooden puppet shows, is unique in that he has a white face and a pitch black body. These colors, Tatang said, show that Semar is a wise character with strong magical powers -- though he remains a modest person.

Hard-to-sell items

Alun's wooden puppets are noted for their fine craftsmanship and their durability as they are made of perfectly dry albasia wood. In the past, wooden puppet masters from Bandung and other places in West Java bought Alun's puppets.

In fact president Sukarno was a regular buyer of these puppets between 1960 and 1965

"Pak Karno usually ordered one set of 76 characters to give as souvenirs to outgoing ambassadors," Tatang said.

Thanks to the president, Pitaloka became known far and wide. Most foreign tourists to Bandung would stop by the gallery to see how the puppets were made. In 1970, local travel agencies organized gallery tours marketed at foreign tourists, Tatang added.

In 1976, an Australian journalist working on an Indonesian guidebook visited Pitaloka and later included it in his directory. Two years later, Pitaloka was also included in a tourist guide book for Germans.

Foreign tourists are most interested in buying wooden puppets depicting the characters of Shinta, Hanoman and Rahwana. The price of a wooden puppet is dependent on its size. There are seven sizes, ranging from 20 centimeters to 85 centimeters tall and priced from Rp 25,000 to Rp 250,000 apiece.

Besides selling wooden puppets, Pitaloka also sells wooden masks depicting the characters in shadow or wooden puppet shows.

Each mask costs Rp 90,00. A complete set of wooden masks costs between Rp 35 million and Rp 40 million.

As many puppet masters make their own wooden puppets, the traditional wooden puppet business is struggling. Actually, Tatang said, up until 1998, the workshop could produce 60 sets of wooden puppets a month.

The slump in tourism here in recent years has also affected the puppet business.

In an average month, only two small groups of tourists visit the gallery, Tatang said.

Exporting the puppets is arranged by a broker in Bali. They are sent to Australia and the U.S., but Tatang said he would only send a load once in six months at the most.

To keep his business afloat, Tatang sells his puppets on consignment at star-rated hotels in Bandung.

"To survive, we also make traditional Sundanese houses in miniature from bamboo. They are popular among Malaysian tourists," he added.

The local administration seems reluctant to lend a hand. The sign directing visitors to Pitaloka Gallery is barely readable and needs replacing.

Pitaloka Gallery Jl. Pangarang Bawah IV No. 78/17B Bandung.