Thousands of pottery craftsmen in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara share a similar hope: to acquire patent rights for their work.

The craftsmen, particularly in Banyumulek village, Kediri sub-district, are distressed when they see other regions copying their work and claiming it as their own.

The pottery craft industry, or clay pottery in Lombok, has survived a number of crises in nearly two decades. 
Take Banyumulek Village, for example. Pottery making never stops.

Eighty percent of the population is involved in earthenware and the people have eked out a living from activities other than farming since the 1990s. Almost every household makes pottery, from pitchers to large engraved barrels.

In the past decade, earthenware products made by the Banyumulek village community have become well known and have been able to penetrate international markets, such as the United States, Australia, European countries and parts of Asia. The value of the exports has remained stable, despite a few global crises.

However, the lives of the craftspeople never seem to change. From time to time, they are live on the brink of poverty. Their hope of getting patent rights for their work is still a dream that has not materialized.

“Our pottery handicrafts attract interest in almost all corners of the world, but our craftspeople are still poor. We have been fighting for our patent rights for this special craft for a dozen years, yet we have not got them,” the village head of Banyumulek, Fathurrahman, told The Jakarta Post.

According to Fathurrahman, because the village has no patent rights, at the moment many Banyumulek earthenware products are marketed as the work of other regions. The closest example comes from Bali.

“Many of our craftspeople have gone to Bali, and clay and other materials are also taken from here, so it seems that these are Balinese products. In fact, there are examples of pottery ordered from here, but they have been stamped as though they’ve been made in their area,” he said.

Banyumulek, is one of three centers of pottery on the island of Lombok, NTB. The two other villages are Penujak in Central Lombok, and Masbagik in East Lombok. Banyumulek is also known as Pottery Village, and has been listed as a tourist village according to the NTB Provincial Tourism Office since 2001.

Lombok pottery has easily penetrated domestic and foreign markets because the products can be ordered in different sizes and models to suit different customer needs.

Most of the earthenware are household and interior accessories, starting from ashtrays, flower pots, up to antique-style urns.

According to Fathurrahman, from approximately 3,035 households in the Banyumulek village, at least 1,800 households produce pottery as a home industry. This involves about 8,000 craftspeople, because all members of the household are involved in the activity.

The community of Banyumulek village has inherited the skills to make pottery. That said, the production of pottery in this village used to supply the needs for cooking utensils during the ancient kingdoms of Selaparang and Pejanggik in Lombok.

“Almost all the residents here could make pottery, even the children. The skills came from our ancestors, but in the old days this was limited to just making household equipment,” he said.

Earthenware handicrafts in Banyumulek began developing in a modern way since 1989 thanks to NTB regional government assistance and foreign aid from New Zealand.

The regional government in cooperation with the New Zealand government conducted the coaching and mentoring process. They begin making Banyumulek earthenware handicrafts creating many different styles. It soon became easier to find market networks overseas.


The assistance program from New Zealand ceased in 2001, but the struggling Banyumulek pottery industry still exists.

“It was affected a little during the Bali bombing in 2002 and later, but it returned to normal. Even during the global crisis, Banyumulek pottery continued to be exported to other destinations, such as Arab countries, Abu Dhabi, Japan, Korea and Europe,” he said.

In addition to exports, foreign and domestic tourists can also buy handicraft pottery in at least 200 Banyumulek art shops.

In the past two years, all the pottery craftspeople have also begun to meet local market demands from Yogyakarta, Bali and Jakarta.

To make marketing easier inside the province, the West Lombok regional government has also released two hectares of land in that village, to be used as a flower garden. Around 200 farmers who have been involved in the pottery industry have managed that land since 2006.

Udin, 45, for example, one of the pottery craftsmen, said the flower garden had been very helpful in bringing new business.

“Now I can sell the pots directly, plus its flower,” he told the Post.

Udin, his wife and his two children — who are still at elementary school — can produce 10 to 15 smaller vessels or some up to a barrel size as high as an adult’s shoulder in a day.

That is done as a side business, after he’s worked as a farmer and the children have come home from school. Small pots are sold for Rp 2,500 (US$0.25) and larger ones for Rp 5,000. Pots sold art shops are sold for between Rp 25,000 and Rp 50,000.

“But mostly we supply to art shops for export, because selling directly is rather difficult, except during the tourist season when many visitors come,” he said.

Pottery craftspeople in Banyumulek find it difficult to make a living out of this trade. Up to 2008, 80 percent still lived in poverty, according to data collected by the government for BLT (government cash aid for the poor).

“That’s why we need this pottery patent, or at least regional regulations that can arrange the patents.

It could be that the patent right is held on behalf of the West Lombok regional government, so these earthenware handicrafts become the asset of regional government, in order to increase our bargaining position,” said the village head of Banyumulek, Fathurahman.

Speaking to the Post, the head of Industry and Trade of NTB Province, Hery Erpan Rayes said his management was processing the patent rights of earthenware handicrafts.

“It’s in progress along with several other special crafts,” he said.

Based on the data held by Disperindag (Industry and Trade Department) NTB, NTB handicraft exports overseas are significant, ranking second position after mining.

In 2006, exports of handicrafts including pottery were worth $1.6 million, in 2007 $684,000, and in 2008 $517,000.

Popular

To my horror, it’s just a movie!

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Pentagon chief congratulates Prabowo on being elected President