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Weekly 5: Places to bring out your crafty side
Are you feeling artsy this week? Jakarta is home to many places where you can create something with your hands
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em>Are you feeling artsy this week? Jakarta is home to many places where you can create something with your hands. The following places offer quick tutorials on crafting and you can leave the premises toting your own creations. Don't worry about your skills, just enjoy yourself as creating art can be therapeutic.
Fun with batik
The Textile Museum in Tanah Abang, West Jakarta, offers a batik-making workshop to the public from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. every Tuesday to Sunday.
Five experienced instructors assist workshop participants in making batik-drawing on cloth, applying hot wax with the canting (traditional pen-like tool), and dyeing.
Beginner-level participants usually finish the whole process in one workshop while advanced-level participants can take up to four workshops to finish their batik.
The museum charges Rp 40,000 (US$3.10) per participant for beginner level and Rp 200,000 for advanced level. The costs include materials used during the class, such as the fabric, natural dyes and wax. Beginner-level participants use a 30 by 30 centimeter piece of fabric and only one color while the advanced participants use a 100 by 50 cm piece of fabric with up to three colors.
The museum, located at Jl. KS Tubun No. 2-4, in Tanah Abang, West Jakarta, can accept up to 50 participants for each of its batik classes.
JP/Prima Wirayani
Kites
Besides showcasing kites from across the archipelago and around the world, Layang Layang Museum located on Jl. H. Kamang in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta offers various activities for visitors, especially children.
Museum visitors can get creative making kites and ceramics, as well as through umbrella and shirt painting. It is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
With an entrance fee of Rp 10,000 (77 cents), visitors get to enjoy a tour and make kites.
Other activities are priced from Rp 35,000 to Rp. 50,000.
All creations can be taken home by visitors. Kites can also be flown in the museum's yard.
Ceramics
Rumah Keramik F. Widayanto in Tanah Baru, Ciganjur, Depok, is not only a workshop where children and adults can make crafts from clay but also offers a spot to enjoy nature. Also called Rumah Tanah Baru, the place is also the home of the artist himself, F. Widayanto.
The entrance fee to Rumah Keramik is Rp 10,000, but if you want to try crafting clay, you have to pay an additional Rp 140,000, including clay, the use of molds as well as complimentary drinks and a snack (banana fritter).
The place also has a restaurant offering Indonesian food and a gallery where Widayanto displays his artwork.
Crafters only work with the mold while the artisans of the workshop paint, glaze and burn the ceramics for you.
After about three weeks, you can pick up your ceramics at the artist's gallery in Setiabudi, South Jakarta or have them delivered.
More information, visit fwidayanto.com.
Crafts and sundry
Kittykitz Workshop, founded by Kitty Manu in 2014, can be your source for craft-making classes. The workshop offers a wide range of classes, such as those centering on party decor, hand-printed tote bags and gift wrapping. The crafts are usually made from recycled paper, cloth and embroideries.
Kittykitz holds monthly classes as well as classes initiated by the public through its website, kittymanu.com.
You can post your class ideas through its website and once the participant quota is achieved, Kittykitz will offer a class based on your submitted idea.
Workshop venues vary, such as in cafes, depending on the numbers of participants and the type of class held. Participants are charged a registration fee, which includes the cost of a workshop starter kit. Past workshops, for example, included a DIY (do-it-yourself) workshop for bridal showers where participants made garlands, giant paper bows and paper flowers.
Today, Kittykitz holds not only craft-making classes but also calligraphy, photography, book binding, drawing and even a makeup course.
Cooking
Even for those who cook everyday, learning a new recipe at one of the many popular cooking classes in Jakarta can be a happy experience.
One of these places is the Almond Zucchini cooking studio located in Kemang, South Jakarta.
Laila, a staffer at Pantry Magic, a shop affiliated with Almond Zucchini, said cooking classes were held one or twice a month.
'The schedule is not fixed, so those who are interested in taking part in our cooking class should join our mailing list for updated events,' she said, adding that those interested could email jktinfo@pantry-magic.com or info@almondzucchini.com.
She said each class also had a different theme. In a recent class that focused on breadmaking, participants made herb focaccia, bagels and soft pretzels.
The cooking class is taught by renowned chefs such as Ian Chin, Budi Lee and Andhika Maxi.
Classes are priced between Rp 600,000 ($46.20) and Rp 750,000 per session.
