Craft Village Destroyed – Kasongan: Central Java, Indonesia

Once renowned for its erotic pottery, Kasongan, a small village outside of Yogyakarta, has succumbed to the earthquake. Most, if not all, of the pottery has been destroyed along with the livelihood of the residents.

I was saddened to read this article on Kasongan by Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto. Many times I have enjoyed walking around the village and remember it in the earlier days when it was less known to travellers. We can only hope that this village is able to get back up and running as we all hope for the city of Yogyakarta.

Quake leaves craft center in pieces

Bantul regency has lost its famous Kasongan earthenware production center, causing business to grind to a halt and leaving more than 2,500 workers jobless.

Nearly all earthenware supplies produced by local home industries and owned by up to 600 businesspeople on display at the center in Bangunjiwo in the Bantul district of Kasihan were destroyed in Saturday’s powerful earthquake.

Besides meeting the domestic demand Kasongan used to be the regency’s foreign exchange earner, exporting its products to Italy, the Netherlands, the United States, Japan and other countries.

In its heyday just before the deadly 2002 Bali bombings which badly dampened Indonesia’s tourist industry at least 150 containers of earthenware products were shipped monthly overseas, Yanto, one of the local businesspeople, said.

"Each 30-foot container used to be worth Rp 40 million (US$4,400) to Rp 50 million" said Yanto who is also head of the Kasongan Handicrafts Cooperative.

He explained the earthenware business in Kasongan had just started to get back on its feet again this year with overseas shipments reaching an average of 50 containers per month, after dropping to the lowest level of only 40 containers.

"We dont know what to do…this is a natural disaster. We dont know what our losses are either" he said. "We don’t know how much capital will be needed to start all over again. We have to start from zero as our production facilities have been damaged and can no longer be used" he said.

Yanto looked drawn and pale from lack of sleep. He is sad to see his village devastated by the quake where there are no longer luxury cars stopping by to look for arty knickknacks. The name of Kasongan was synonymous with quality earthenware goods. Kasongan is now grieving.

Tukiran, another earthenware producer said "I initially thought only Kasongan was totally devastated. I could not follow reports on the earthquake as a power outage has prevented me from watching TV" he said.
"The most important thing is that we are all safe here" Tukiran added.

Kasongan has long been a center for earthenware products ranging from jugs to rice pots, pitchers and the like. The industry started to pick up through the involvement of noted painter Sapto Hudoyo in the early 1970s. Sapto started by introducing new skills to the workers and encouraged them to produce not only the kitchen utensils but other products including ornaments with dragon and lion reliefs and other modifications that added value to the products.

Steadily the local earthenware industry started to pick up and received a positive response from the domestic market and later from the international market. With developments and modifications Kasongan produced various earthenware products ranging from tables, chairs, ashtrays and statues to ornamental vases.

A large earthenware vase, for example, was sold at Rp 500,000 while an ordinary earthen jug was on offer at Rp 50,000.

Kasongan was still in a state of disorder as of Tuesday. Many of its residents are still living in tents at the evacuation centers near their damaged homes.

Dani,, one of the earthenware workers said he did not know when everything would return to normal. "We don’t know how we will go on. We are all suffering… we all have the same sorrowful fate" he said.

Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul, Yogyakarta