More than a decade since the deadly Yogyakarta earthquake, Manding Village of Sabdodadi subdistrict, long recognized for its handmade leather goods, has evolved into a desa wisata (tourism village).

Situated about 11 kilometers south of Yogyakarta in Bantul regency, Manding tourism village is more than just a popular place to shop for leather goods. If you wish, you can also partake in culinary tourism and try bakmi rebus, a noodle soup that is much sought-after among visitors. If you are passionate about traditional Javanese arts, the hamlet offers wayang kulit (leather puppet) shows as well as the Jathilan folk dance, which depicts the skills of mounted warriors to the accompaniment of a gamelan orchestra that aims to induce trances.

Manding tourism village head Samsidi says that the people of Manding have many other skills beyond producing handmade leather goods. “Local residents who are talented and skilled in traditional dance and theater are given an opportunity to perform,” he says.

The Bantul Culture and Tourism Office has been working hard to develop the local culture and tourism by providing funding for performances, a new stage, traditional costumes and traditional musical instruments, Samsidi adds.

Manding’s wayang kulit, Jathilan dance and other traditional arts troupes perform on tour through the other hamlets, as well as participate in a variety of arts and culture competitions.

But the most popular, not-to-be-missed activity among the visitors to Manding village is to shop for is high-quality leather goods.

At least 50 leather showrooms, some with modern, luxurious interiors, line Jl. Dr. Wahidin Sudiro Husodo, displaying leather jackets, shoes, bags, hats, wallets and other fashion accessories. Other showrooms offer products made from artificial leather, which are more affordable than those made of leather.

“Some showrooms sell goods made of materials other than leather. But if you really want an original or genuine leather good, you’d better visit the workshops of home industries,” advises Samsidi.

He acknowledges that, in the past, home industry owners focused mainly on making genuine leather goods to cater to the demands of international buyers.

From 1957 to the early 2000s, international buyers used to come to Manding to place bulk orders, which left Manding’s leather craftsman extra busy working day and night to meet the orders.

“A buyer representing 20 to 30 countries, mostly European, used to come here to place orders, showing the local artisans samples [of what they wanted],” Samsidi recalls.

“It was an incredibly encouraging situation. Imagine, from a mere three leather workshops at first, [they] developed into 96 workshops with 650 artisans. The demand from international buyers was very high,” he says while showing an example of a leather bag based on a European design.

Heyday

The heyday of Manding’s leather industry ended when international buyers stopped purchasing directly from the workshops, he says, largely due to the advent of the so-called globalization era. Several foreign entrepreneurs also set up similar ventures in Bantul.

Samsidi, who owns Arum Handicraft, says that the foreign businesspeople rented a vast tract of land near Manding and recruited its artisans to work for them. Lured by wages that were three to four times more than what they earned in Manding, many artisans left to work at the foreign company.

Since then, he laments, Manding’s home industries stopped receiving direct orders from international buyers. The loss of the international market was exacerbated by the earthquake that hit Bantul on May 27, 2006, and destroyed many houses, including those in Manding.

Manding’s home industries were rebuilt following the devastation, thanks to the 2007-2009 assistance program from Bank Indonesia.

“It was then that the owners of the home industries established showrooms to display and sell their leather goods, and our products have been attracting domestic consumers since then,” says Samsidi.

“We take a positive attitude toward any challenges or hurdles to our business that we face,” he adds.

Empowering the people of Manding was the initial aim of developing the handmade leather goods business, says Samsidi. As a tourism village, Manding is empowering its people beyond honing their leatherworking skills and now offers more and varied opportunities, including preserving its traditional arts and culture.

“We also provide courses or training workshops on leatherworking, not just for visitors but also for schools, organizations and communities,” he says. “We have sent our artisans to almost every province in the country for this purpose.”

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