Rini: An extraordinary craftswoman

Rini: An extraordinary craftswoman

By Ananda Moersid

JAKARTA (JP): It all started in 1979 when the fingers of a
small, gifted woman couldn't stop turning out beautiful bamboo
basketry following classic lines while incorporating strange new
shapes.

Rini Yoeda is no ordinary craftswoman. Her interest was
sparked in 1979 when she participated in a project initiated by
the Department of Fine Arts of the Bandung Institute of
Technology and the National Export Promotion Board. The bamboo
section of the project was headed by her husband, interior
designer Ahadiat Yoedawinata, who made design prototypes in
various media for the local craftsmen to copy.

Bamboo basketry was one of the media covered. Designers,
craftsmen and artists pooled their talents for several months to
create prototypes that they hoped would revitalize Indonesia's
handicrafts industry. The team disbanded when the project ended,
but some of the village basket weavers continued asking for more
work.

The village weavers were inspired by the project's innovation
and creativity but were unable to do anything in their villages.
Looking for someone to back them, and a way to make a living,
they turned to Rini. With very little capital she established
Craft Works, a small workshop in her husband's studio and set the
basket weavers to work. For a long while, the only buyers were
friends who happened also to be designers.

The first outlet was Bob Sadino's Kem Chicks in Kemang,
Jakarta, then the big department stores like Sarinah and Pasaraya
followed. But success breeds imitators. Almost all the basket
weaving villages in Tasikmalaya, West Java, copied Rini's designs
-- poorly.

When she complained about this, Bob Sadino, himself a noted
entrepreneur, told Rini not to worry.

"As a designer, you will always be ahead of everyone as long
as you maintain the quality," he assured.

This mother of three didn't give up. Problems like quality
control, using glue instead of nails and heating the strips of
bamboo to bend were easier to tackle than the human factor.

"Once, basket weaving was an essential part of village life,
like potting. A basket maker was a respected member of the
community. Today they have to compete with plastics and other
modern materials. Their loss is not just financial, their entire
being is shattered," Rini explained.

Motivator

Rini therefore played the part of designer and motivator. She
sat down with the weavers to help solve problems that cropped up
as they weaved a new design she had sketched on a piece of paper.
Design solutions surfaced as they shared their experience.

Both Rini and the weavers discovered that the design process
was beneficial for all parties. The craftsmen learned about the
language of design, like good proportion, color and texture while
she found out about things she couldn't have learned in school,
like basket structure related to the tensile strength of bamboo.

"The basic skill was already there and needed only minimal
awareness (she doesn't like to use the word education) to make it
work," Rini explained.

To ensure that the weavers felt they had earned their skills,
Rini never paid them a salary. Instead, she bought everything
they produced. The price was based on workmanship, so quality
control was introduced without really trying. At first, the
weavers naturally overpriced their work, but they soon had their
own friends as their competitors and quickly learned about the
free market.

Then Craft Works began to participate in exhibitions and sell
their wares in shops on commission. Orders began to come in from
as far away as Japan, Finland and America.

After 12 years, Rini was exhausted by the financial and
bureaucratic hassles she faced as a businesswoman. She longed to
be an artist again. She collaborated with her husband to create
some beautiful aesthetic elements at the Preanger and the
Panghegar hotels in Bandung, and the office of the Indonesian
Emissary for the Common Market in Brussels, to name a few.

Green

Bamboo termites are a big problem. They can ruin entire
shipments of bamboo goods. Some companies use mild insecticides
to kill the insects that are attracted to the glucose in the
wood, but Rini is against the use of harmful chemicals. All her
finishes and paint are non-toxic.

Rini believes that by employing the time tested method of
harvesting bamboo only during the dry season, when there is less
moisture in the wood, and good planning can limit the damage done
by termites.

She gets her suppliers to harvest the bamboo during the dry
season and stands it upright while it dries. The basket weavers
can then obtain the bamboo directly from the airy storage areas.
She also hopes that the government will follow Thailand's and the
Philippines' lead in aggressively marketing the finished bamboo
products.

"There is a general trend in Southeast Asia to go Green, to
respect mother earth. I hope this goes along with promoting the
handicrafts industry a Green way. I also hope that revitalizing
the industry leads to jobs and boosts income, not only for the
village weavers but for everybody concerned," she asserted.

Tailor made

Today, baskets bearing the Craft Works trademark are only sold
at her studio and at Kem Chick's. But you can find her newest
designs in some of most the exclusive restaurants and hotels in
Java. Buyers are willing to pay high prices for new designs,
although some are done poorly.

Close examination shows why Craft Works products are different
from the rest. They are sturdy and last more than five years. Yet
they are gracefully airy and follow classic basketry lines while
remaining modern. They therefore blend easily into any modern
household. More importantly, they are very useful.

All her baskets are very detailed, every handle and rim are
finished in bamboo or rattan binding sometimes as thin as two
millimeters. That is something that has almost vanished in
traditional basketry because nowadays they are using more yellow
plastic string.

Rini also derive some of her inspiration outside of Java. She
has been influenced by the traditional backpacks worn by the
Dayaks in Kalimantan and the ceremonial rice baskets of North
Sumatra. You can also find Japanese sushi tray influences
alongside the humble besek from the crowded and noisy markets of
Java.