The word empu or grandmaster craftsman in Javanese relates to someone with a deep understanding of life and whose craftsmanship is unquestionable — both in its technical and spiritual aspects. The works of an empu are not only valuable due to their high quality in terms of materials, design and the engineering, but also sacred because of the spiritual experience the empu has to go through to create it.
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In the early 1980s, when the environment was rarely an issue, a man in Nganggring village, on the southern slopes of Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta, began taking steps to protect the land where he lived. Sambyah, now a 61-year-old community leader in the village in Girikerto district, Sleman regency, was not alone in his work. Some 30 years ago, he and other residents in the remote village worked hard to turn their parched home into productive land. At the time, the village’s land was dry and sandy, making it hard for trees to grow and causing water shortages during droughts. Sambyah says it was the extreme poverty he saw in the village that made him determined to effect change.
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Had Alfonso Horeng chosen to pursue her master’s degree in agriculture science, the lives of 200 women or more on the island of Flores would surely have been different. During the year 2007, Alfonso — who is often referred to as “the keeper of the culture of Sikka” on Flores — has participated in 12 exhibitions in Jakarta.
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The ancient art of voodoo was born in Dotu village, West Africa, spreading throughout the world with the slave trade of the 16th and 17th centuries. Perhaps it was this culture of enslavement that first gave voodoo its black magic reputation, as desperate slaves turned to the black arts as their only hope of rescue.
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Many Balinese scholars have admitted openly that the esthetic and religious philosophy of Ida Wayan Oka Granoka Gong is simply far beyond their comprehension. His verbose sentences and esoteric vocabulary — pairing Sanskrit words, modern scientific terms and sacred mantras in one sentence — have only further confused his listeners and readers.
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The Javanese traditional kris — a wavy, double-blade dagger, sometimes spelt keris — has a significance that goes beyond its role as a weapon. A kris can be a symbol of a man’s social status and power. Some kris are believed to possess supernatural qualities and only certain people are allowed to make them. Only master craftsmen are believed to have the skills and knowledge required to make a kris with special magical powers. Banyu Sumurup kampong is famous for producing kris — both souvenir kris and kris that possess magical powers. The kampong, which is located in Imogiri, Bantul, 25 kilometers south of Yogyakarta city, is home to 70-year-old master craftsman Djiwo Diharjo. Djiwo is well known, not only among government officials around Indonesia, but also with foreigners.
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The incessant clanging of hammer strikes can be heard as one enters Limbang Jaya village, Tanjung Batu district, South Sumatra, where the skillful hands of steel craftsmen busily shape metal into utensils and implements. The same atmosphere prevails in the district’s other two villages; Tanjung Pinang and Tanjung Laut. Craftsmen from the three villages, who have preserved their ancestor’s art of steel crafting, have helped make the area famous as the steel production center of South Sumatra.
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Adi Kharisma began producing ubi, a purple sweet potato in January 2006. His motivation to produce this nutritious potato took hold when many people in his family started dying from cancer. What started as a personal search to find the key to a healthy long life, has now turned into an amazing vision for a sustainable food source for Indonesia.
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The Museum Le Mayeur in Sanur is definitely a must-see place in Bali for the simple reason that some of Belgian artist Andrien Jean Le Mayeur’s finest paintings of his lovely wife Ni Pollok, who often modeled for him, are housed here.
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There’s a reason why I don’t like to yell out a person’s full name in public to get his or her attention.
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