'Vessels of Life' documents Lombok earthenware

By Diana Darling

LOMBOK, West Nusa Tenggara (JP): Most people who still have to carry water on their heads prefer to use a lightweight plastic bucket that costs a dollar rather than an earthenware vessel that costs three.

This was part of the dilemma faced by the Sasak potters of Lombok a decade ago, when economic hardship forced these artisans to live from a craft that was becoming obsolete. Only a few connoisseurs were aware of Lombok pottery and the traditions behind this quietly noble form of domestic art. Now, even as Lombok pottery gains recognition among international collectors, it faces new challenges of commercialism.

This story is given a human face -- indeed many beautiful human faces -- in the new book Vessels of Life by Jean McKinnon, published by Saritaksu Design Communication of Denpasar.

The Sasak potters of Lombok are women, practicing a craft that has been handed down from mother to daughter for longer than anyone can remember, possibly for over a thousand years. Pottery shards dated from the fourth century A.D. have been excavated in South Lombok. Relief panels at Borobudur show women forming pots and men carrying clay on shoulder poles, scenes that differ from present-day Lombok only in the hairstyles and the absence of wristwatches.

Vessels of Life is probably the first and is certainly the definitive study of the forms, techniques and cultural context of Sasak potter. It is also a beautiful and unusually coherent book. The author -- an artist in her own right and uniquely qualified for the task by her years of collaboration with the Sasak potter -- has illustrated the text with her own photographs, many of which are superb. The writing is balanced and clear; and McKinnon's sympathy with the pottery, the people, and the elementary power of the earth is luminously apparent without ever becoming a subject in itself.

The structure of the book moves with the logic of a single sentence. It begins in a dreamy way and moves gently through the world of rural Sasak village life, introducing the reader into people's houses and finally to the pots themselves -- the warm belly of the book. McKinnon identifies five main types of traditional pots, all associated with water and rice. She illustrates the pots both singly, as purely aesthetic objects, and in the context of their domestic and ritual uses. She also provides a generous survey of local variations in forms, techniques and terms.

The next chapter shows master craftswomen forming pots in the three major techniques -- paddling, assembling, and building with coils -- a section so lucidly documented that it is like watching a film. One is stuck at once by the leanness of the technology and the dexterity of the artisans, who achieve perfect roundness without the mechanical aid of a wheel. Best of all, with the appearance of this book, the artisans are no longer anonymous. They are presented here as individuals, with names and their own special expertise.

The production process climaxes in the firing. The traditional method, tenunuk lendang (firing in the garden), looks a bit like the one most people use for burning trash. McKinnon shows us how very difficult it is. In passing, she points out stages in the process where potters are forced by economic pressures of time to make technical compromises -- a point that becomes relevant in the concluding section of the book.

In the final chapter, Potter, Tourists and Traders, a quick historical sketch traces the evolution of threats to Sasak craft traditions: colonization; agricultural hardship; the erosion of adat; and the introduction of cheap utensils of metal and plastic. In response to this, the Indonesia-New Zealand Lombok Crafts Project -- a bilateral collaboration between the two governments -- was devised to help the Lombok potters develop an export trade by improving quality and building market relationships. (McKinnon is modest. One must read the jacket cover to learn that she managed this program for its initial three-and-a-half years).

Besides teaching management skills, the New Zealand advisors introduced a few technical and design innovations based on Sasak traditions. The success of this project has transformed the local economy of several traditional pottery villages, bringing general prosperity and a much-deserved respectability to the artisans.

McKinnon is clear-eyed, however, about the danger that this commercial success holds for the integrity of the craft. She acknowledges that aesthetics are subject to the rule that whatever sells is good, and she does not shirk from showing some harsh examples of new tourist wares. She also points out that "within the network of artisans, trades and middlemen, it is invariably the artisans who fare least well."

Hope, she suggests, lies in the diffusion of understanding of this art and its origins. Thus the importance of this book.

Sarita J. Newson, the New Zealand-born Indonesian owner of Saritaksu Design Communication, has been involved in the Lombok Crafts Project since she worked with McKinnon to create its promotional materials. Newson settled in Bali, married and took Indonesian citizenship 24 years ago. Saritaksu is a design company specializing in corporate communications in the visual arts field. Vessel of Life is Saritaksu's first book.

The book was officially launched in Jakarta yesterday at the residence of the New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia Tim Groser.