Kerebet village gains fame for its handicrafts

By Singgir Kartana

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Kerebet is only a small and remote village in Yogyakarta yet it has great potential as one of the region's biggest handicraft producers.

Located 23 kilometers southwest of Yogyakarta, Kerebet has been transformed from a muddy village to a prolific handicraft center with a monthly turnover of more than Rp 500 million, a fantastic figure for an isolated hamlet.

The handicraft business here started to flourish in the early l990s when a number of villagers produced cheap yet artistic wooden masks. Their businesses generated quite a lot of money and their products attract a lot of buyers in Yogyakarta's art shops.

Many Kerebet residents, mostly teenagers, are now involved in this profitable business. The villagers produce a large variety of wooden products such as wayang klitik (small puppet), wayang golek (wooden puppet), jewelry boxes and other artistic souvenirs.

Currently, there are about 11 handicraft workshops including Sanggar Peni, Sanggar Sekar Melati, Sanggar Budaya Lestari, Sanggar Kerebet and Sanggar Punokawan.

Each workshop employs between 15 and 50 craftspeople, mostly teenagers from the village or those living in adjacent areas. These teenagers receive a daily allowance and a salary.

"I've been working here for about three years. I'm very happy working here because it is not far from my home and I get a reasonable wage," Waliyem said, adding that she could earn about Rp 160,000 (US$22.50) a month.

Handicraft products from Kerebet are mostly painted with batik motifs in kawung, parang rusak and truntum designs.

The coloring process often takes quite a long time. All workshops produce similar handicraft items with almost uniform quality.

Most craftspeople use soft wood imported mostly from Purworejo and Kulonprogo near Yogyakarta. The price of these types of wood usually costs around the Rp 300,000 mark per cubic meter.

Kerebet's handicrafts are now available at many art shops in Yogyakarta, Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. The products are also exported to the United States, the Netherlands and Brazil.

The prices of the products vary between Rp 15,000 and Rp 500,000 each.

The handicraft business in Kerebet employs more than 500 workers. It is difficult to find jobless teenagers here.

"If we had better road facilities, our businesses would thrive even more," said Musidi, owner of a workshop.

Most handicraft producers said they planed to expand their businesses provided that the local government built the necessary infrastructure. They said the area needed roads, bridges, and other transportation and accommodation facilities to enable people to reach the village.

Musidi added that the local government had planned to include Kerebet as one of Yogyakarta's tourist villages.

Unless the needed facilities are soon built, Kerebet will remain unknown to many art lovers and, more importantly, prospective buyers.