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Manote Tripathi

THE NATION

Singapore

If the wealth of Indonesia's cultural life

is known the world over now, then most

of the credit should go to one man, Joop

Ave - former culture and tourism minister

in the Suharto administration.

During his time in office, Ave was

struck by a passing remark: "How can

you expect to build tourism in your

country when there's nothing on the

bookshelves on Indonesia?" He checked

out the bookshops and found his critic

was right. The discovery prodded his

determination to fire up Indonesia's

tourism industry, using its culture as

fuel. 

"I took it upon myself to do something

for Indonesia - it was a personal

challenge. I teamed up with experts from

overseas to publish books on aspects of

Indonesia's tourism and the country's

cultural life," he said.

Ave founded BAB Publishing, which

has published about 100 titles on

Indonesia's arts and culture in the past

10 years . His latest coffee-table book,

"Indonesia's Arts and Crafts", was

launched recently at a function held at

the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore,

which also included a fashion show.

The event attracted a huge turnout

from Indonesian designers and

luminaries of its creative industries. One

of the objectives of his publishing |

venture is to offset the dominance of 

books on the Indonesian market written

by foreigners.

"This book is the culmination of my

whole life of studying and collecting

Indonesia's arts and crafts. It's a

repository of the riches of our

country," he explained.

"On a diplomatic assignment to New

York City many years ago, I used batik

for the first time to represent my country.

It's now a symbol of Indonesia that's

recognised all over the world, but it was

part of an interest in arts and crafts I've

had my whole life. My house is like a

gallery of handicrafts."

Ave recalled his seven-year political

career in the administration of

Indonesia's first president, Sukarno,

himself a great art lover. It was a life of

constant travelling that heightened his

interest in the arts and crafts of his

homeland and spurred him to help found

the National Craft Council of Indonesia. 

Ave wants readers to share his

appreciation of the creative genius of

Indonesians as expressed through the

wide range of traditional handicrafts and

other designs depicted in his book.

Indonesian craftworkers and artisans

are blessed with the creative ingenuity

born of humble backgrounds, he said.

He recalls visiting a village in

Lombok and being amazed by

the textile-weaving prowess of the

ocal women, who were themselves

shabbily dressed.

"I was sitting beside this woman who

was weaving a piece of cloth. That

woman may have been poor in the

material sense but God had given her

the innate skill to make such a

wonderful piece. It was really

of museum quality. It could

have gone on display in the Louvre,

or any museum in London or New York.

The creativity of the Asian mind can

leave you awestruck.

"The beauty of the tradition is that

these artisans are not rich or even

literate people. But they can pass

on their skills from one generation

to the next. In the West, you have

to go through formal training

to acquire these skills," he said. 

Ave found a similar subtlety in Thai

craftsmanship on his recent trip to

Chatuchak weekend market. It didn't

stop him joking with the sellers, though.

"Whenever I'm there, I ask,

'Handicrafts? You mean they are hand-

made, not foot-made - that's why you

call them handicrafts?'" he said.

The islands that comprise modern

Indonesia are endowed with a wide

variety of craft traditions, ranging

from the celebrated batiks of Java

and Sumatra to the precious metal

wares of the Malays and Makasarese,

and the resplendent carvings of Bali.

The author writes that with some

noteworthy exceptions, such

as Balinese architects and sculptors,

craftsmen were traditionally commoners

in the court-based societies. However,

despite their lowly status, they were

esteemed for their expertise - even

feared in some cases. Makers of kris |

daggers, for example, were deemed

extremely powerful.

"Indonesia is unbelievably rich. God

has placed us under the equator, spread

out on 17,000 islands. In the morning,

we are farmers, but in the evening we

turn into musicians, and the women into

the most delicate dancers. For whom?

For ourselves. These traditions are part

of our lives.

"However, it's only recently that we

have realised that our culture has value

for, say, tourism," he said.

He believes that the arts and crafts

represent the identity of a country. So

proud is he of batik, that he's written an

entire book on the subject.

While reluctant to claim its origins as

Indonesian, Ave is confident that

nowhere else in the world is batik

created, produced and used to such an extent.

"It's already become an icon. Thai

silk, another beautiful thing, is one of

your icons. But we shouldn't say it's

mine, not yours. We are all the same, just

human beings.

"Once, I was invited to a conference

where I sat next to a female Thai

ambassador. I asked, 'excellency,

I'm dying to know how you entertain

people in the embassy. What

chinaware do you use?' When she

mentioned a very famous

German brand, I was shocked.

But it's not Thai - why don't you use

benjarong?', I asked. 'Too

expensive,' came her reply. I pointed

out that representing the country was

vital, nothing short of nation-building,

and that was worth the expense.

"By the way, I have a whole set of

benjarong," he quipped.

When asked what represents the

spirit of Indonesia, Ave gives an

enthusiastic reply.

"It's the people. I think Indonesian

people are not easy to understand and

easily misunderstood. We are very

deep. The moment people think they

can play with us, they find they are

wrong.

"There's something like rubber in

the spirit of Indonesians. You throw

them on the ground, and they bounce back."