The Spirit to Preserve Central Kalimantan’s Rattan Craft

Rattan fashioning by craftspeople in the forest of Central Kalimantan has become a highly valued crafting talent. This rattan craft is preserved by following current developments and market demand.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

A visitor looks at rattan craft products at an exhibition booth during the Central Kalimantan Expo 2023 activities at the Temanggung Tilung Exhibition Area, Palangkaraya City, Central Kalimantan, Friday (19/5/2023).

The fingers of women in Pulau Telo Baru village, Selat district, Kapuas regency, Central Kalimantan, kept moving to combine strips of rattan on Monday (15/5/2023). The rattan strips were being joined to form woven products.

“We are weaving mats. People in this area call them amak,” said Bulkis, 58, a local resident who has been weaving rattan mats for decades during breaks in her farming work.

Bulkis, with the other women, was sitting on the floor in the UD Nabil Reihan Rotan production house to finish a woven mat measuring 2 meters by 3 m. One mat is woven by 2-4 people. Weavers are paid Rp 350,000 (US$23.50) per sheet. The pay is divided into two if a mat is woven by two people.

Also read:

> The City of Palangkaraya is Dressing Up

According to Suryani, 55, weaving rattan has been done for generations by women in the village during breaks in helping their husbands with farming work. They weave rattan after the planting season and paddy harvest time. “Nearly all women here are capable of weaving rattan. Our daughters can do it as well,” she said.

Slamet Riaman, the owner of UD Nabil Reihan Rotan, said with Salasiah, his wife, he had opened the rattan handicraft business in 2012 to empower housewives in Pulau Telo Baru village and its vicinity. The prized products of his business are mats, bags, chairs and baskets. They also produce wall decorations and various handicrafts blending rattan and water hyacinths. Their prices range from Rp 35,000 to over Rp 1 million per piece.

“Our rattan handicrafts are marketed to a number of cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta; Cirebon, West Java; Yogyakarta; Surakarta, Central Java; Surabaya and Gresik, East Java; Bali; and Medan, North Sumatra. Especially rattan mats have been exported to Japan,” he said.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Two women weave rattan mats at a rattan craft center in Pulau Telo Baru Village, Selat District, Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan, Monday (15/5/2023).

Slamet dan Salasiah involve residents by the casual contract system. There are around 200 casual workers in the business, mostly working at home.

Slamet needs about 1 tonne of wet rattan per month, which is obtained from several regencies in Central Kalimantan, including Kapuas, Pulang Pisau, Katingan, East Kotawaringin, South Barito and North Barito.

Brand name’s partners

A social business with the brand name Handep in Palangkaraya city has also been empowering craftspeople in Gunung Purei, North Barito, since 2019. Yoan Taway, a cofounder of Handep, said Handep was a social business and brand name established by Randi Julian Miranda, a native of Central Kalimantan.

“At present, around 400 craftspeople are Handep’s partners. The majority of craftspeople come from Central Kalimantan, and the rest from West Kalimantan, West Java and Bali. Besides in Palangkaraya, the outlets of Handep are in Bali,” he said while attending Central Kalimantan Expo 2023 in Palangkaraya on Friday (19/5/2023).

Also read:

> Crying at Upstream, Screaming at Downstream

> A “Dowry” of Rattan, a Heritage for the Future

Handep creates premium rattan crafting products through various design innovations. Among its diverse regular products are limited editions only produced once. In the country, its products are marketed in Kalimantan; Jakarta; Surabaya; Bandung, West Java; and Bali. As to the overseas market, Handep products go to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Japan and Europe. Prices of its products range from Rp 400,000 to Rp 6 million per piece. For certain collections, their prices can amount to Rp 10 million.

Director of Save Our Borneo, Muhammad Habibi, said rattan commodities would be sustainable as long as farmers were ready to plant rattan. The central government and regional administration should pay attention to the price of rattan so as to remain profitable for farmers. Ideally, the price of wet rattan is no less than Rp 2,000 per kilogram.

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.