Kasongan, Tourism Village of Pottery Craft
Pottery handicraft has been sources of income of Kasongan Tourism Village in Yogyakarta. This village is historical on how they began the pottery handicraft at first as its tradition and local product. Now, this place has become a tourist destination in Yogyakarta. With many traditional local products, Village has been a choice to visit as tourists destination in Yogyakarta.
One of the uniqueness of Yogyakarta is that there are so many cultural traditions and products based on each village. For example, Giriloyo Village is one of the villages that has “batik” as it own traditional product, Manding Village has it own leather handicraft as local product, Nglinggo has tea as it own local product and then there is Kasongan Village.
In the Village, Tourists or Visitors will be able to experience any traditional and culture of the locals. Sometimes, there is a tour service that includes short introduction class about the local tradition and culture on their holiday package service. If it is unavailable, asking the local, interviewing them and observation would be a good activity.
The History
The pottery history of Kasongan Tourism Village is not begin at old ancient age. It is around colonial period in Yogyakarta. In This area of southern part Yogyakarta, once found a dead horse in the middle of rice fields. The locals realized that no one would be the owner of the horse except the Dutch detective of the colonial army. Being afraid of punishment, the local gave up the land and moved to another village.
After awhile, no one claimed the land, then the land is possessed by another Village’s local. This locals then turn the large amount of land into the source of pottery handicraft material. At first, the products are childrens toys and kitchen furniture. Then this tradition is preserved through generations until now, being one of the pottery handicraft production villages and tourist village destination in Yogyakarta.
Since 1971-1972, this area began to develop. Sapto Hudoyo, a major Yogyakarta artist along with his community contribute on the development work. The local pottery handicraft products has been produce artistically without any commercial touch. The development has been helping them to produce artistic value and economic value into their product.
Now, there are some ceramic or pottery handicraft galleries to be visited. On holiday or in certain moment, the spot will crowd with visitors. The gallery usually is a family business that is worked collectively and inherited through generations. Even if the family can hire any worker from anywhere, the tradition is preserved by the family by responsibly selecting the material and monitoring the process by themselves.
This Village’s Product generally consist of jars, souvenirs, frames, wall hangings, furniture, traditional mask, and etc. The variation based on the material has been developed to be more varies such banana leaves and bamboo material. This products has been commercialized and exported to foreign countries such as Europe and America.
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