Fair Trade Producers from around the world
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MitraBali, an Indonesian craft development organization, is located in the capital city of Denpasar on the fertile island of Bali. A small island in the vast Indonesian archipelago, it is well-known for its lush sculpted rice terraces, communal living, and vibrant craft traditions. The overdevelopment of tourism recently has led to a difficult competition amongst the thousands of Balinese villagers who make their living from craftmaking. MitraBali is dedicated to working with the poorest of craftspeople to enable them to benefit more by working together. They also provide valuable development services including product design, quality control, and export marketing. Global Exchange purchases a wide variety of Balinesian crafts, including high quality silver jewelry, coconut housewares, painted wood decor, kites, and the wonderful celadon pottery from the village of Pejaten.
Gold and silver smithery has a long traditional in Indonesia. Down the side streets and lanes of the former court town of Gianyar, traditional styles as well as finely crafted adaptations of modern art deco designs are smithed in traditional family compounds. MitraBali promotes the work of three silversmithing groups from Gianyar because of their consistently high quality and interest in working together. Balinese smiths excel at granulated decoration which requires enormous skill. Small clippings of silver are heated over a bed of charcoal until they form tiny globules which are positioned on a piece of jewelry with a dab of solder, then heated with a torch. Temperature and timing must be very finely judged to provide melting and adhesion without affecting the decorative surface or form of the piece.
The coconut palm is nature's gift to the tropics. It grows quickly and in great abundance, providing a valuable renewable resource. The woven palm fronds are used in basketry and roofing, and the nut, its milk and oil are a staple in most Indonesian's diets. The artisans who make these coconut spoons, bowls, salad servers, teacups, and planters are using the shell of the coconut that would normally be thrown away. The crafts are both functional and whimsical; a craft that turns potential waste into art!
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The small village of Pejaten, with its 4,000 inhabitants, is squeezed between two rivers in south central Bali and is accessible only by dirt road. About 90% of the villagers earn their living making the red rooftiles which grace the entire island. Unfortunately, the clay used as the raw material is growing scarce.
The villagers searched for a new craft that they could integrate into the established ceramics tradition without depending on the red clay. They developed a high-temperature porcelain, less fragile than traditional terracotta, combining a new technique with traditional skills and Balinese artistic expression. Their celadon glaze produces a range of soft greens and picks up a slight metallic shimmer. Leaf and animal motifs are set onto elegant hand-modeled vases, bowls, and candleholders to create a truly exceptional ceramic art.
MitraBali
Jl Siulatri 1, #6
Denpasar, Bali 80237 Indonesia
62/361.229.304 phone/fax
mitrabali@denpasar.wasantara.net.id
Women potters hand down this tradition of warm, earth-toned pottery from mother to daughter on the island of Lombok in eastern Indonesia. Pottery is their main source of income, and the village women have been producing it since the decline of the East Javanese Hindu Kingdom of Majapahit in the early part of the 16th century.
With simple tools and local materials, the women create a variety of earthenware traditionally used for cooking, storage, sewing, serving, and ceremonial purposes. The pots and individually hand-built and fired in a low-fire open pit that gives each piece its distinctive burn marks. The rich red-brown color of the fired pots is often decorated with geometric burnished designs, carved floral patterns, or applied decorations such as lizards and frogs. Our Sasak pottery is produced in an Indonesian women's cooperative of over 250 women from three villages; preference is given to poor women who are single mothers, have no land, or are widows.
Sasak pottery is traditionally used for cooking, and can be used in your oven or on a gas stove. It has been approved for food safety. The outstanding splendor and ancient artform of Sasak pottery will create a positively exquisite accent to any home.
The Indonesian craft organization Apikri was established in 1990 to improve the socio-economic conditions of poor families in the rural and urban areas of central Java through the development of handicraft skills and associations. They provide valuable development services, including product design, local and export marketing, advance payment on orders, and encouraging cooperation among various crafts groups. Their foundation, Hasta Kirti, enables craftspeople to save money collectively and receive microcredit loans to assist in production, skills development or emergency need situations.
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One exciting art form perfected in central Java is Batik, the art of wax-resist dyeing, traditionally applied to cotton fabric. The Picuk family has been working with Apikri for years and has developed the art of applying the Batik waxing technique to wood to create exquisitely carved Batiked wooden masks (Topeng). Tiny dots of wax are hand-applied to the wood masks, which are then dyed, leaving a unique design under the waxy coating. The wax is removed and the process repeated until the mask is transformed into an elaborate yet subtle design of color and pattern.
Foundation for the Development of Indonesian People's Handicrafts
Jl Menukan 10
Yogyakarta 55153
0274/71932 phone/fax
apikri@yogya.wasantara.net.id
yogya.wasantara.net.id/~apikri/index.htm
Pekerti, the Indonesian People's Folk-Art and Handicraft Foundation, was formed as a social development agency in 1975 with the following aims:
- to preserve and develop handicrafts and folk-art
- to use the sale of these crafts as a means to improve rural communities
- to improve rural incomes, and thereby slow down the flow of urbanization
- to assist local craftspeople by offering design, business, and marketing training
- to stimulate cooperation and solidarity among Pekerti members and thus upgrade quality and efficiency so that crafts can compete in the marketplace.
Pekerti is the coordinating national body that works with 10 NGO counterparts on seven different islands. Their approach is to foster self-reliant groups and motivate them to form cooperatives that work together in all aspects of production. Guidance is offered in: self-reliant group development, product development, marketing, and capital formation. While they train groups to market domestically, Pekerti offers additional exporting services which enable producers to market to countries including Australia, New Zealand, England, Austria, Switzerland, the USA and Canada.
Pekerti
Jl. Kedondong Raya # 16A
Rawamangun, Jakarta 13220 Indonesia
62.021/489.5837 phone/fax
Jewels of Bali
Since 1981, Paradiso has worked directly with a small group of silversmith families in the villages of Celuk and Singapadu, in the Sukawati area of Gianyar, on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Providing materials, education, design and product development, Paradiso aims to help producers maintain the rich quality of their village life in the face of rapid change and economic development.
In the traditional silversmithing village of Celuk, on the island of Bali, jewelry is exquisitely handcrafted, using unique and painstakingly detailed techniques, which are passed down through generations. Families generally have tiny home workshops with dirt floors, crude wooden workbenches, simple tools, and a hand-held gas torch to work with. It is often said that every Balinese is an artist. In the village of Celuk, the process of metalsmithing is a vital part of everyday life, delicately interwoven with spiritual practice, involving a highly complex system of honoring and placating the many gods of Bali-Hindu-animism. Traditionally, Balinese silversmiths created ceremonial objects for the old Klungkung courts - elaborate betel nut bowls, kris handles, offering platters and vessels for holy water. Paradiso has worked with these talented artisans to create a new collection of jewelry that whimsically depicts some of the delightful images of life within the family compound today - geckos, frogs, butterflies, dragonflies, and turtles. The silversmiths also make Ganesha, the elephant deity, which is a prime Hindu deity popular in the minds of the Balinese.
Each piece of jewelry begins with tiny silver pellets, which are melted and carefully formed into silver sheets. This process requires hours of steady hammering against the top of a tree stump. Wire is formed by pulling the warm metal through progressively smaller and smaller holes in a simple drawplate. Small balls are soldered onto the surface of the piece with perfect control of the torch - a technique held in awe by metal smiths worldwide. As each piece is entirely hand-fabricated, no two are exactly identical; each is an individual work of art.
Paradiso's unique jewelry designs combine traditional techniques with contemporary elements, unusual materials, and a large collection of gemstones gathered worldwide. Products include a full line of sterling silver jewelry with semi-precious stones, granulated sterling beads and components, sterling silver brooches, one-of-a-kind pieces, and a line of high karat gold.
In the United States, Paradiso has focused for twenty years on consumer education, collaborating with a select group of non-profit organizations, retail businesses, museum shops, galleries and boutiques, and has a particular interest in supporting new socially responsible companies. Paradiso is a long time trade member of the Fair Trade Federation, a worldwide association of fair trade producers, wholesalers, and retailers who are committed to providing fair wages and safe, dignified and healthy working conditions for artisans and farmers in developing areas. Through forming and maintaining long-term trade relationships, FTF's members hope to keep alive traditional art forms and to share the richness of diverse cultures through unique, high-quality handcrafted products.
Paradiso's founder, Vivien Feyer, is a psychologist and professional educator. She began teaching at Harvard University in the 1970's, and continues to practice internationally, consulting with businesses and designing interactive learning environments. She facilitates trainings on communication, diversity, disability awareness, and alternative dispute resolution. Vivien is on the board of directors of the Fair Trade Federation, where she has worked on bringing together wholesalers with producers, consumers and retailers to tackle issues of ethics and social responsibility.