Asep’s creations are just setting the earthenware industry in Plered, Purwakarta, West Java, in motion. This business keeps running in spite of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic throughout the country.
By
MELATI MEWANGI
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI
Asep Supriyatna
The creativity of Asep Supriyatna, 42, has managed to fashion earthen ornaments, once a target of skeptical response from people around him. Today, however, Asep’s creations are just setting the earthenware industry in Plered, Purwakarta, West Java, in motion. This business keeps running in spite of the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic throughout the country.
“Why take the trouble to make such (ornamental) earthenware, nobody will buy it. You’re better off crafting easy pottery with a surefire market.” Asep clearly recalled how some craftsmen had once responded to him directly.
Asep chose to face all criticism and make it a driving force to boost his creative spirit. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, his innovations had just succeeded in making earthen ornaments Purwakarta’s prized products.
His business workshop, Krapel Craft, in Plered district, Purwakarta, is always hectic, with orders continuously coming in. Heaps of earthen pots in various shapes and sizes pack the workroom, indicating its unending production.
The workshop, measuring 400 square meters, for Asep is a vital laboratory for his process of creation. “These are latest pot designs, tortoises and owls,” said Asep, showing his works.
If (earthenware is) sold only in simple piggybank form, it’s cheap. I’ve found it can be modified into solid pots and sold at higher prices.
Pots in animal form are among his favored innovations. Besides, there are deer, rhinos, sheep and hippos. These designs are trendy, especially during the pandemic, with high demand for different sizes.
“If (earthenware is) sold only in simple piggybank form, it’s cheap. I’ve found it can be modified into solid pots and sold at higher prices,” said Asep on Tuesday (9/2/2021). The trendy pots are processed in the same way as piggybank making, but a hole is made atop the clay already shaped and the inner wall is toughened. The hole allows some space to grow plants.
Ornamental details are the other typical feature of his products. He takes care to duplicate the real configurations of objects he finds, such as bamboo stems, ropes, honeycombs and animal faces. The price of one set of three different sizes is around Rp50,000-Rp70,000. In a week, he can produce 10 sets. No less than 50 ornamental innovations have been crafted
KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI
Asep Supriyatna
All of them are unlike most conventional earthen pottery that has still been produced in Plered up to the present. The price is Rp5,000-Rp10,000 per piece.
With Asep’s works becoming trendy, about 20 other craftsmen have begun imitating. Among them are those who previously doubted the benefit of
Asep’s creations. Instead of having any objection to the reproduction, he is just pleased to see his innovations become their inspiration.
As long as the business can help the survival of craftspeople particularly in this hard time, Asep openheartedly accepts the reality. “Earthenware craftsmanship is the culture and tradition handed down through generations to the community of Plered. I’m striving to preserve it by way of innovating,” he said.
Preserving tradition
Asep has been fond of experimenting since childhood. Returning home from school, he frequently helped his parents, also pottery makers, with crafting piggybanks. While working, he also made toy cars and miniature trucks, some of which were bought by his friends.
After graduating from senior high school, he worked with his uncle, Eman Sulaeman, an earthenware exporter in Plered. Unlike his parents’ products, Eman focused on earthen jugs and vases.
Asep trained in pottery making with a rotating device there. Earlier, he crafted earthenware by printing. From his uncle, Asep also learned marketing and how to maintain customers’ loyalty, among others through innovation.
Some of his works were consigned to his parents’ shop to be sold. It turned out that some buyers liked his creations. Noticing this opportunity, Asep was determined to open his own earthenware business. With his savings, he set up Krapel Craft with two workers in 2007.
ASEP SUPRIYATNA
Plered earthenware developed by Asep Supriyatna.
In the beginning, there were only a few orders and buyers in the region. He was later taken by his uncle to join displays in other cities. There, Asep met with a number of buyers who showed interest in his products.
Open to share
When his business thrives, Asep chooses to share with other craftsmen. Since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, for instance, demand has doubled the normal capacity of 1,500 pots. His business turnover is worth tens of millions of rupiah per month.
In order to serve the market demand, he involves small-scale craftsmen with a production capacity of around 250 pots per months. He wants to arouse the craftsmen’s business enthusiasm and maintain the activity of the small earthenware industry in Plered.
However, he isn’t just picking partners. He often roams and directly inspects their production sites to ascertain their proper crafting process. Four partners are now assisting him, each with one to three workers.
When many people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, Asep offers new employment. “I teach them until they’re really capable. I keep telling them to always maintain precision and quality,” he said.
Ato Supriyanto, 46, a craftsman who has collaborated with Asep, feels the benefit of the initiative. Ten years ago, Asep encouraged him to become more innovative. Now he enjoys its great advantage. Today, Ato employs three workers at home. “Asep has opened the horizon of my earthenware creations now further expanded and emboldened me to innovate,” said Ato.
To date, Asep has remained open to anybody wishing to learn and be better acquainted with Plered’s earthenware innovations. Many school or college students are engaged in research and field practice at the workshop of Asep.
“Asep is happy to share his experience and knowledge. He doesn’t only focus on his business, but also contributes to the preservation of Plered’s culture and tradition of earthenware making,” said Head of the Technical Executive Unit of the Plered Purwakarta Ceramic Center Development Region, Mumun Maemunah.
Asep Supriyatna
Born: Purwakarta, 16 August 1980
Education: State Senior High School 1 Sukatani, Purwakarta (2003)
/https%3A%2F%2Fkompas.id%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F09%2F0fe3a42d-05ce-462a-bd72-a87bacdfc551_jpg.jpg){kind=logo}
/https%3A%2F%2Fkompas.id%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F09%2F037e2e88-d2d5-4c2a-b427-8cd2f5613042_jpg.jpg){kind=logo}
