A bird's cage is its castle, as industry continues to thrive

Singgir Kartana ,  Contributor ,  Yogyakarta   |  Fri, 06/12/2009 2:43 PM  |  Java Brew

Most bird lovers want the best for their cherished pets, and usually that includes the gorgeous cage. But finding the ideal cage can be difficult - not to mention expensive - unless you order one from a cage maker or sellers.

Anyone looking to upgrade their Tweetie's home should try heading to one of the birdcage handicraft centers in Argosari, Sedayu in Yogyakarta's Bantul regency, where there is a wide range of choices to get into a flap over.

Argosari village has long been known as a birdcage handicraft center, with at least three hamlets home to birdcage industries - Botokan, Jaten and Gunung Mojo - and scores of craftsmen engaged in fashioning and producing various kinds of coops.

Nobody knows for sure when the village's cage-making tradition began. According to legend, the late Kariyo Pawiro pioneered the handicraft business. A resident of the village, he was also a servant of the court of Yogyakarta and began making birdcages after taking an order from a court dignitary.

His craftsmanship attracted more orders from other court officials. Pawiro's skills grew with the variety of orders his diverse customers placed. Although working a part-time job, he ended up making cages to meet the demand of not only the nobility but also the community in the court environs.

"From then on the birdcages produced in this area have mostly been sold in the Ngasem traditional market near the court," said Suwarto, a 44-year-old artisan who has been in this business for the past two decades.

Bamboo is the main material for making the cages, with the preferred variety being the yellow apus species, which used to be abundant in the village. But as the birdcage handicraft industries started booming, the bamboo plants in the area were cut down. With their main material increasingly scarce, today cage makers have to import bamboo stems from other regions, such as Kulonprogo, Purworejo and Banjarnegara.

For Suwarto and his peers, this craftsmanship is their main livelihood, rather than a mere job on the side. The birdcage handicraft centers absorb no fewer than 200 workers, among them men, women and some children. The women also do work weaving in cottage industries.

Local craftsmen only ever receive orders for half-finished birdcages, that is, cages that are not yet painted or given their finishing touches. The village produces hundreds of cages daily, of varying sizes and in shapes ranging from square and rectangular to spherical.

The most sought-after cages are those for turtle doves, which cost at least Rp 100,000 per cage. They usually are round, and those with paintings or carvings on top sell for around Rp 350,000 per cage.

Craft workers rely on simple hand tools such as knives, drills, pincers, rattan scissors and planes made of pierced used cans. Though the cages from the village in Sedayu are entirely handmade, they are generally admired for their craftsmanship.

"Sedayu-made birdcages are comparatively the neatest products," said Samidjan, 58-year-old bird lover living in Krapyak in Mantrijeron. "Their bamboo sticks are slim, round and fine. The holes to keep them in place are also drilled with precision."

In a recent development, the craftspeople in the village have taken to making souvenirs in the form of mini birdcages, measuring about 20 cm in diameter, as house ornaments. Their miniature size and ornamental nature mean they are more complicated to make. This means they cost more, but they sell well.

"Most cage makers now even fill orders for these souvenirs rather than for mere normal-sized birdcages," said Sugito, the 40-year-old chief of Botokan hamlet.

Suwarto recently received an order from Singapore for 250 miniature cages, for which he had to rope in his family and some neighbors to help him make them. The souvenirs, to be sold at Rp 25,000 each in a semi-finished form, were ready in about 20 days.

The market for Sedayu's birdcages has now expanded to cover buyers not only in places such as Ngasem, but also in other regions and even overseas. Domestic customers come from Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali; foreign buyers tend to be interested in the miniature cages as souvenirs.

Sugito said the handicraft industries had created job opportunities for local people and had not been affected by the present financial crisis. The turnover from the business remains stable, he said, even showing an increase on pre-crisis years.

"Five years ago only 5,000 cages were produced monthly, but this is almost triple today," added Sugito.

In view of the economic potential of this birdcage business, the regional administration has provided aid through support from the Trade Ministry in the form of instruction and supplying implements such as drills, knives, saws and planes for the craftspeople. In addition, promotional assistance is given through a web site on the Internet.

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