Gerabah: A Vanishing Tradition

Desa Rungkang, a small village in the eastern part of Lombok Island, is a sad portrait of a dying tradition of earthenware making. Only eight old potters, all of them women, remain. These women use the technique of paddling the pottery. Desa Rungkang used to be a center of gerabah-making where craftsmen from outside Lombok came to learn the technique.

Earthenware-making in Lombok has a long history. The tradition was introduced by Javanese migrants in the 5th century. Sasak, the natives of the island, adopted the tradition and used the gerabah in the early periods as ritual objects.

Lombok earthenware saw a surge in popularity in the 1970s thanks to an Indonesia-New Zealand project designed at empowering earthenware craftsmen on the island. But times changed. Today, with the gerabah losing popularity, most of the craftsmen went overseas to work as migrant workers.

February 21, 2006