Yogyakarta craftspeople create exquisite ceramic objects

By Sri Wahyuni

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Ceramic industries in Yogyakarta have always been associated with Kasongan, a handicraft village in Bantul district, some 10 kilometers south of here.

The Kasongan village houses some 340 craftspeople producing and selling a wide variety of ceramic products. Every month, the village exports more than 100 containers of ceramic pottery valued at between Rp 10 million and Rp 20 million per container.

Kasongan, however, is not the only ceramic producer in the ancient city of Yogyakarta. There are several other places where visitors can find a selection of ceramic products.

Takaca Ceramics in Wirobrajan, is just one of the examples. Located adjacent to the heart of the city, the factory offers different styles of ceramic products than ones produced in Kasongan.

"We produce only quality ceramics which are fired at a very high temperature," owner and founder of Takaca Gatot Sudrajat told The Jakarta Post.

Kasongan ceramics are exposed to temperatures of about 800 Celsius degree while those of Takaca's are heated in temperature of over 1,300 Celsius degree. This makes Takaca products more qualified.

"It's also non-toxic as the glazing and painting process is a standard one," said Gatot, a graduate of the School of Fine Arts at the Yogyakarta Arts Institute.

Compared to other ceramic products, Takaca ceramics are uniquely artistic. Most of them are replicas of traditional kitchen utensils. Gatot modified the designs and colors of his products to make them more appealing.

There are fruit trays, candy baskets, teapots, spoon cases, coffee boxes, vases and tissue boxes. Other products include perfume pots, milk jugs, butter jars, sugar bowls, cups and saucers and dinner plates.

"Traditional appliances are beginning to disappear these days. It motivates me to reproduce them in the form of modern ceramic products. I hope it will preserve their existence," Gatot said.

Takaca ceramic products are made of waste products from the ceramic industry.

"It's more economical for us, and it is exactly the raw material we need," Gatot explained.

Founded only about one-and-a-half years ago, Takaca has so far created about 70 different kinds of ceramic products.

Every month, the factory produces approximately 6,000 items at prices which range between Rp 12,500 and Rp 1 million.

To guarantee the products' originality and to keep a lid on their prices, Gatot said that Takaca ceramics were only available at the factory's showroom on Jl. Ontoseno 11, Wirobrajan.

When visiting the factory, guests are not only able to purchase a large variety of beautiful ceramic items in the show room, but they can also watch the process of ceramic-making inside the factory.

Currently, Takaca ceramic buyers are mostly locals.

"We are now actively promoting our products on several international markets to attract more potential foreign buyers," explained Gatot.

The ceramic industry in this village has not yet reached a breakeven point.

However, Gatot feels optimistic that the business is going in the right way. "We only invested a limited amount of money in this business," he said.

Takaca ceramics are beginning to catch the eyes of local ceramic lovers. But with only 50 workers in his factory, Gatot said that it would be difficult to receive bulk orders from foreign buyers.

Another ceramic workshop and gallery can also be found in Rejowinangun village in Kota gede, near Yogyakarta.

The Reog ceramic workshop and gallery produces mostly colorful souvenirs and accessories, such as pen holders, ashtrays and flower vases.

The gallery only performs the finishing process on ceramic products supplied by local craftsmen from Bantul and Imogiri.

"I have created numerous souvenir models since I started the business in 1988," Mochtar Chudori, 34, owner of Reog Workshop and Gallery told The Post.

Every month, he creates 15 different styles of ceramic goods.

His ceramics are designed in pop and contemporary styles. He frequently uses bright and cheerful colors with flora and abstract motifs.

The coloring and finishing processes are carried out in the gallery by his 15 employees, who are mostly painters.

Mochtar, also a graduate of the School of Fine Arts at the Yogyakarta Arts Institute, for instance, can complete the finishing process on about 15,000 pieces of ceramic goods every month.

The prices of the souvenirs range from between Rp 500 and Rp 3,000 per piece. The goods are already available at various art galleries and stores in several big cities such as Denpasar (Bali), Surabaya (East Java), Bandung (West Java) and Jakarta.

The gallery has also shipped its ceramics to a number of foreign countries including France, Italy and Japan.

Another ceramic center can also be found in the remote village of Panjang Rejo in Pundong, Bantul, some 20 kilometers south of here.

The district of Pundong is home to 200 craftspeople, of which half live in Panjang Rejo village.

The village was formerly a center of traditional earthenware kitchen utensils such as stoves, pans, plates, bowls and various other items.

To attract more buyers, in l990, most craftsmen in the village decided to produce souvenirs from clay and ceramics.

"Producing souvenirs is much more promising than just making kitchen utensils," Dasilan, 40, owner of Keramik Dasilan (Dasilan Ceramics) told The Post.

Their former businesses were failing because it was difficult to find a market for their products. People no longer used earthenware utensils, he said.

Dasilan said his business was quite profitable. He said he could support his family and had even sent his daughter and son to two distinguished Yogyakarta universities

Dasilan currently employs about 10 craftspeople and produces approximately 150 finished and unfinished ceramic products per day. Each item is sold at between Rp 150 and Rp 3,500.

These unfinished products are mostly supplied to Kasongan and other ceramic producers who will further process the items.

There are many other ceramic producers in the village which produce similar types and styles of ceramics to ones produced by Dasilan's business.

Panjang Rebo could develop to be one of the most important ceramic producers in Yogyakarta, provided that the craftspeople can improve the quality of their products and expand their markets.