Tourists flock to old furniture and statue gallery in Jepara

By Ahmad Solikhan

JEPARA, Central Java (JP): The old building at Kartini beach, houses many antiques, mostly furniture and wooden statues. In the 500 square meter building, about 1,000 reproductions of antique statues are neatly arranged.

Approaching the building in the village of Kauman, you can see fishermen at work as waves crash onto the beach nearby.

A stranger to the building might think it a museum full of artifacts. But, in fact, it is Galeri Chody, which exhibits reproductions of antique wooden statues in various styles and sizes.

Every day, the gallery is visited by foreign tourists who come to Jepara for antique furniture and reproductions of old statues. Usually, they buy them to be resold in their countries.

The gallery's owner, Chody, 57, says that the furniture pieces are original creative works while the statues are reproductions from different ethnic groups across Indonesia, such as Nias in West Sumatra, Karo in North Sumatra and Irian Jaya.

Founded in 1991, the gallery aims at introducing an aspect of ethnic culture to foreign tourists. Chody, a father of four, likes to call the furniture mebel imajiner (creative furniture).

"Those wanting to have a collection of Indonesian furniture and repro statues do not have to go all the way around the country," he says. "Most of my visitors are foreign tourists."

The "creative furniture" has no standard design. Each peace is made to make a comfortable rest. For example, the chair's back rest is designed to suit the body's contour when seated. Generally, the furniture is made to order. Each peace has a different price depending on its "art value".

"If you don't understand art, don't come to buy furniture at my shop. Go and buy it in other shops where you can get it at a lower price," says Chody, a 1971 graduate of a carving technical high school in Jepara.

An artisan needs a week or two to reproduce an antique statue. Quality is not negotiable, Chody says, and the repro is made more beautiful and artistic than the original. Their sizes range from 30 cm to 200 cm. He declines to say the price.

The raw materials, woods of various types, are imported from several areas in Central Java. Logs are dried in the sun for about two weeks before they are cut.

"We use only very mature wood and it is very expensive and is rarely available in shops," Chody said.

Each piece is made with extra care because the wood is extremely hard and breakable. Once it breaks, the piece will be dumped because it has lost the artistic design. Therefore the artisans take their time to make a perfect reproduction.

Special care is needed in the finishing. Only careful finishing will result in a product with a fine texture. "Not all statues are varnished. I like those with natural color."

Chody employs 17 artisans specialized in making statues. Their wages are calculated based on the works sold. The gallery sells between 25 and 50 statues of different sizes and prices a day.

Chody is very secretive about his employees' wages and his company's income. It could be his trick to deal with the local tax office. Whatever, he is a visionary artist who is concerned about preserving traditional culture.