Painters snub high art for volume in Sokaraja
Painters snub high art for volume in Sokaraja
Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Banyumas, Central Java
A community of painters in Central Java have achieved commercial
success through sacrificing the creative vision of their work for
mass production.
Often referred to here as pelukis kodian, they sell paintings
in lots of 20 (or one kodi).
This is not dissimilar to the way they paint, as in one day
they can produce 20 paintings, though all of the same subject or
variations of the same scene.
The community can be found in Sokaraja, Banyumas regency, some
200 kilometers southwest of the Central Java capital of Semarang.
Sokaraja is also known for its gethuk goreng (traditional
snack made of fried dough of boiled cassava and palm sugar).
Passing through Sokaraja, which is on the way to Yogyakarta
from Jakarta, is a bit like entering a drive-through gallery due
to the mass of landscape paintings positioned on either side of
the main road
Far from being art school graduates, many of the artists only
graduated from elementary school, which probably accounts for the
price of their works -- between Rp 20,000 and Rp 40,000 per
painting, depending on the size. The smallest one measures 1.5
meters by 70 centimeters.
Seen from a distance, the paintings appear to be
oil on canvas. A closer look, however, reveals they are painted
using substandard materials.
Rather than canvas, for example, blacu cloth -- which is much
cheaper than canvas at only Rp 2,500 per meter -- is used.
Sometimes, they even paint on flour bags.
The paint, similarly, is not oil or acrylic, but cheap house
paint, known locally as oker, mixed with water and coloring.
"That's the way we work. But, thank God, people still like our
paintings. The orders we have been receiving are evidence enough
of that," said Ahmad Hasin, 45, one of the artists who resides in
Sokaraja Kulon village.
To prepare the unique "canvas", the blacu or flour bag cloth
is first smeared evenly with a paste made from tapioca flour and
water and then dried under the sun to make it harder.
"When it is dry it is easy to paint on," said Ahmad Hasin, who
said he could sell seven kodi of paintings (or 140 paintings)
every two weeks.
"I sell them for just Rp 10,000 a piece. It's the normal price
here. But, in an art shop, they can sell them for Rp 20,000
each," said Hasin.
Another artist, Jamingi, 65, who has been in the business
since he was still a little boy, said making paintings had been
the main source of income for his family for generations.
"Initially I only lent a hand to my parents. When I felt I had
already mastered paintings techniques I branched off on my own,
established a workshop and earned enough to support my own
family," Jamingi said.
Jamingi said he had four assistants working in his workshop.
Two of the assistants are his sons.
He said his profit margin was usually 50 percent of the
capital he used to buy the materials.
However, after paying the wages of his assistants he could
only collect a net profit of 30 percent.
With his four assistants, he said, he could produce between 15
and 20 paintings a day. His buyers are mostly domestic ones.
"The days ahead of the Ramadhan fasting month or Idul Fitri
celebration are the peak season for us," Jamingi said.
Besides local buyers who wanted to decorate their houses ahead
of Idul Fitri, there are also buyers who want to sell the
paintings in big cities like Jakarta and Bandung.
No one, including Jamingi and Ahmad, however, could say how
the business started up in the area.
"The skills pass from generation to generation. Even our
parents cannot say when paintings were first produced here,"
Jamingi said.
"Thank God we have survived until now," said Jamingi,
who favors rice fields and mountains as subjects, adding that
with more capital he believed his business would really take off.
"For the time being, however, I am thankful that I can buy
food for my family and pay my children's school fees," he said.