Local sculptors send works abroad
Local sculptors send works abroad
By Gin Kurniawan and Kristanto W.
MOJOKERTO, East Java (JP): They are very modest in appearance. They deal only with slabs of stone every day. Behind this simplicity, though, they have great talent and skill. An apparently worthless chunk of stone will be turned into a statue with artistic and commercial values. To the people of Trowulan, Mojokerto, East Java, sculpting is their daily activity.
Recently, there has been unusual enthusiasm among stone sculptors in this area. More and more locals have taken up sculpting. No wonder, the statues from Trowulan have a good market now and have enabled local sculptors to earn handsome amounts of U.S. dollars.
About a decade ago there were only a handful of stone sculptors in Trowulan but today there are hundreds of them. Sculpturing workshops likewise have multiplied in number. This is good for the labor market because each workshop employs 10 to 15 sculptors.
The sculptures are popular among foreigners and the demand continues from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Australia and the United States, among others. Unfortunately, the local sculptors cannot export their works of art directly to the buyers. "We export our sculptures through an exporter in Bali," said Ponidi, 56, one of the sculptors from Jatipasar village.
Every month, each sculptor receives an order for six to 10 sculptures on average. Most of the orders are for the kind of statues which are usually found in temples, namely the statues of Ramayana, Ganesha, Buddha and primitive sculptures showing naked models, dubbed by the locals as 'porn' sculptures.
"Primitive 'porn' sculptures are popular among American buyers," Ponidi said.
The prices of sculptures depend on the size and the level of difficulty. Generally the prices range between Rp 200,000 and Rp 5 million. "These are our prices. We do not know how much the exporter will receive from the foreign buyers," said Jarwo, another sculptor.
Only a few of the local sculptors have had any formal training in sculpting. Most of them are elementary school graduates and have learned sculpting from the earlier generation of sculptors. They have no literature or pictures showing the types of statues they are supposed to create.
Historically, Trowulan was the seat of the Majapahit kingdom. In those days, many artisans sculpted the statues needed by the kingdom as their dedication to the king. It seems that this skill is endowed from birth to every generation born in Trowulan.
Today, the sculptors of Trowulan, who have received orders from an archaeological institution for the repair of damaged statues, attend to the needs of collectors and neophytes in Indonesia as well as abroad.
It seems that it is the link with history that has made the sculptures from Trowulan popular. "People place orders with us because of the historical link that our village has," some local sculptors have said.
The market for stone sculpting has attracted many companies with big capital to open showrooms in Trowulan. As a result, unfair competition is growing among these companies in recruiting skilled sculptors from other workshops.
However, the local sculptors do not seem worried about this tough competition. They have their own understanding of good fortune. They believe that good fortune is well arranged for them. The presence of a great number of companies running showrooms for sculptures means good business to them.
"The fact is, we receive more and more orders, although the number of workshops run by financially strong companies is growing," said Ponidi.
What worries them, though, is that the primary material for their sculptures, the andesite stone, is now becoming scarce. At first the local sculptors collected this stone from nearby Mount Kelud but recently they have had to find the stone from as far as Blitar because there is no more andesite at Mt. Kelud.
Unfortunately, the supply of this stone in Blitar is also dwindling. The mud belched out by Mount Kelud has buried the andesite stone usually found on the surface. So, now they go to Ponorogo and Pacitan in search of this stone.
As they travel further to collect the stone, the sculptors face increasing expenses. Nevertheless, they are not deterred and continue sculpting.