Boys and their Canoes

Numfor is an island in the southern region of Pacific Ocean. It is between Biak island and Manokwari regency (in the mainland of New Guinea). I went there several times with foreign visitors who wanted to go there to enjoy snorkeling, and birdwatching. These visitors came from the Netherlands and Czech Republic. While I was in Numfor, I saw that most of the villages were located along the coastal areas. The children liked to paddle their boats to the sea where they could catch fish or just swim in the warm tropical waters.
It was sunset and the boys were returning from the sea. They rowed two outrigger canoes. In Indonesian language these small boats are called perahu. They spend most of their times at sea.

Numfor is a beautiful island that is surrounded by coral reef. The tropical rainforest that covers the island is also the natural habitat of various kingfishers, Blyth's hornbill, sulphur crested cockatoos and birds that like to eat fish. Birdwatchers should consider this island as their birding destination. by Charles Roring

White objects sketching

To improve his or her sketching skills, an artist must perform life drawing exercises regularly. I also do the same. Last night I gathered some white things that I found in the kitchen and put them on the cover of Canon Pixma - my desktop printer. Then I took my A4 size sketchbook and Maries C7300-6 charcoal pencil to draw them. I feel that doing still life drawing is more challenging than drawing from photograph. An artist needs to create an imaginary boundaries for the subjects that he wants to "move" onto a paper. This can easily be done using a view finder but I don't use it. I prefer to set the boundaries using my own eyes and fingers. 

The first appliance that I drew was a Philips incandescent lamp.  Then I drew an emergency lamp behind it. The Philips water heater that I sketched on the top right was added as the third last object on the paper. There were some sentences around the heater symbol but I didn't draw them. The letters were too small for my charcoal pencil that had been blunt already.
In addition to drawing with charcoal and graphite pencils, I also like watercolor painting. However, the accuracy of pencils and the spontaneity of watercolor are the media that I most prefer. So, I use Derwent watercolor pencils to drawing and paint human figures, landscapes and animals for my artworks. I plan to showcase my works in etsy.com this year so that viewers who are interested in the artworks can order them from the website.

A Mother and Her Children in Arfak range

Arfak range is located in the south of Manokwari city. I often visit the mountains while guiding tourists. Most of them go there to watch birds of paradise, or do some trekking in the jungle. I still arrange trips for foreign visitors to the mountains every month.

The villagers who live in the mountains work as farmers. They work hard to make money. The agricultural produce that they harvest from their farmland is sold in the market of Manokwari. Mothers are the ones who work hard. They work in their vegetable patches, and also sell them  in the market. They also have to raise their children. Every family on the average has got 2 to 3 children.
Because the cost of transportation from Manokwari city to Arfak range is very expensive, the profit which the mothers get from selling their sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage and passion fruits is just enough to buy some clothes, rice, instant noodles, salt and a few school supplies.
The above picture is a charcoal drawing of a mother and her two children from Arfak range. I made the drawing based on a photograph. I can do life drawing to with a model sitting or lying on a couch or mattress in front of me in certain reclined position.

Hibiscus flower in watercolor

The following picture is my latest watercolor sketch of hibiscus flower (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis). I saw it in the north coast of Manokwari when I was guiding Georgie a student from the United Kingdom. She came to West Papua to see its plants and flowers and stayed here for two weeks. She went hiking and camping in the jungle with me as well as snorkeling over coral reef of Mansinam island. She was very interested in tropical rainforest, flowers and art. I used Derwent watercolour pencils to make this little painting.

For me, painting in watercolour pencils is much easier than oil color due to its simplicity. I usually begin with a sketch that I make using a 2B staedtler. Then I apply light stroke of colors over the sketch to see how it will look like before fully painting it with watercolour. When I feel that I can confidently "wash it" with wet brush, I will begin coloring the background area of the artwork. Sometimes I have to wait for a few hours until the paper dries again before applying another color over the previous ones. Watercolor is a great painting media. You should try it if you are thinking of taking up painting as your pastime activity.
I uploaded this hibiscus flower painting into zazzle.com website so that anybody can have it in the T-shirt or any products.

Charcoal drawing of a palm and a moth

One day I was guiding a Dutch girl named Aafke in Arfak mountains. She was a researcher who wanted to know whether an eco-tourism project in West Papua could improve the standards of living of the indigenous people and at the same time preserve the environment. She interviewed a lot of people from the villagers in Arfak range to the tourists who had visited the area. On the last day before leaving the mountains, she picked up an insect that had already been dead on the ground.It was a small moth. Its colors were orange brown with white dots on its wings. Aafke put it on her palm. I turned on my camera and aimed it at her palm and the moth. I took two beautiful photographs of this interesting subject.

Aafke's palm and a moth

The above image is the drawing that I based on one of the photographs. I made this sketch using woodless charcoal stick that I bought in Ubud town last year. I drew this sketch on the half part of the A4 size sketchbook. The other upper half area of the paper has been filled with the sketch of striped surgeon fish.

Charcoal drawing of Striped Surgeonfish

While snorkeling in the waters of Abasi beach near Manokwari city, I saw various species of reef fish. One of them was Striped Surgeonfish (Acanthurus lineatus). My friend, Henoch, took some underwater pictures using Canon Powershot G1X. It is a powerful digital camera that can capture subjects in low light condition. Using one of his photographs, I created a sketch of the fish. I drew it with a Woodless Charcoal Xpression 8803 Medium. I have been sketching several artworks using this drawing material.

Charcoal gives strong black lines for the sketch of the fish that I made on my drawing book. Sometimes we don't need to present the whole color of a fish. Lines drawing is good for designs that can be used for T-shirt or calendar prints. I hope that I can make more drawings with this robust tool. by Charles Roring

Should I launch an online store for helping Papuan Artists Sell their Handicrafts?

Today, I was discussing with Grietje, a Dutch volunteer from SDSP about ways to improve the living condition of Papuan artists living around my house. I offer a suggestion of launching an online store to sell the artists' products which are handicrafts or souvenirs for foreign tourists.  I don't know whether this idea will fully be accepted by the artists. I don't want to forcefully introduce this idea as my intention is only to help them, not to make profit from this business. Why do I come to this idea? Because there are obstacles that I and many travel operators in Manokwari face when developing ecotourism in this area.  Foreign tourists often face difficulties in obtaining visa in many Indonesian embassies around the world for traveling to Papua. In addition, all the movement of the tourists in Papua have been monitored by the police who demand them to have "Surat Jalan" or "Walking Permit." A piece of letter that tourists must get from the Police Station when they are going around West Papua. If tourists don't come, we have to find ways to help the Papuan artists sell their products. I guess, online store or e-commerce is a solution to this problem. by Charles Roring

My other Manokwari Travel blog

I have been writing travel stories about Manokwari city for several years now and they are scattered in blogs, websites throughout the virtual world which is also known as the internet. I want to promote ecotourism for this town hoping that this will help the indigenous people become actively involved in promoting their art, culture and the beauty of their natural environment. For travel stories in bahasa Indonesia language, please see my other blog Lembar-lembar Ekspresi. On the right side of your computer screen, you will see a travel brochure which I have translated into Bahasa entitled Jalan-jalan ke Gunung Meja Manokwari.

 I am now translating another travel brochure into Bahasa entitled Mengunjungi Seniman-seniman Papua which are my stories about my visits to painters, cloth weaver, and wood carvers. Well, these brochures have already been published last week in English. I will try to make them available in Bahasa in order to attract domestic tourists to visit Manokwari Papua. Inside the brochures, you will see beautiful photographs which I shot using my digital photo still camera. The photographs can reveal the beauty of Papua's nature especially the scenery of Manokwari and the artworks which are created by Papuan artists.

Well, to enable people to download the brochures faster, I have reduced the pixel number of the photos making it smaller in size. Tourism is the largest industry in the world whereas ecotourism is the fastest sector of travel and tourism industry that is growing at 15% every year. That's the rate which I got from an ecotourism website. If this is true, then we need to give special attention to this sector and put our efforts to bring as much benefits to the local people and minimize its negative impact to the environment.

Visiting Papuan Artists My New Travel Guide Brochure

I have just finished writing a Manokwari travel brochure which I call Visiting the Artists in Manokwari of West Papua. Inside the brochure, you can read some of my stories about the brilliant Papuan artists who make artworks at their homes. They just don't care whether people know about them or not. They love art and their lifestyle is fully integrated with art expression.

You might not agree with me but I suggest that you click the link that I provide above and see for yourself how beautiful their artworks are. So, next time when you plan a holiday or vacation trip, please, include us in your travel plans. I will be very happy to guide or escort you (I prefer to choose the latter term) to meet this highly talented artists.

Well, don't forget to bring your digital photo or video camera with you with memory cards that can store thousands of photographs or hours of video recordings. Because it often rains in the tropical region, also bring plastic cover to protect your electronic devices during the rainy season which starts in late November and ends in May or June. I will write more travel guide brochures about Manokwari Papua and provide them for free both in this blog and my manokwaripapua blog. Well, before I close this post, I want to leave you  with my watercolor painting entitled: Bird Knitting Nest. This is how a bird makes its nest by knitting pieces of grass at  a twig of a tree. Because I optimize the pixel of this image, I set my digital photo camera to web setting.I hope that you are not disappointed with the quality of the photograph, just enjoy this rare scene. Manokwari has a lot to offer if you love bird watching , read my previous travel brochure, Go Hiking in the Table Mountain of Manokwari Papua to know more about it. by Charles Roring

Developing Komplex Missi in Manokwari as Art Palace

The title of this post sounds ambitious but it is reasonable given the cultural assets and the natural and human resources that Manokwari city has. For instance, every year between 4 and 6 February, tens of thousands of people gather along the main streets of this city to participate and to see art and cultural performance at Cultural Carnival. During this occasion, everybody becomes artist. Art creativity of Papuan artists is expressed in various ways along the streets of Manokwari for free during this Gospel Landing Day. I was talking with Lucky Kaikatui, a prominent painter in Manokwari. He has been painting since he was a little boy. We discussed the possibilites of developing the komplex Missi of Manokwari as a hub for art lovers and artists. Here in komplex Missi, Papuan artists live and produce their artworks. Some are painters, carvers, cloth weaver, and singers. Behind our komplex Missi is the protected rainforest of Gunung Meja (Table Mountain) which is now a favorite tourist destination among nature lovers.

To realize this ambitious plan, we are going to hold a meeting for Papuan artists in Manokwari and discuss about what it takes to be an art center. Komplex Missi will be a place where people come to learn art, to express their art inspirations and to appreciate the art that is displayed in the form of painting, carvings, dancing, singing, and various other forms of art

I don't know how much time do we need to realize our dream. For me, Lucky, Paul and other Papuan artists in Komplex Missi, as well as other artists in this town, the making of Manokwari is the hub for art activities is an interesting challenge. We will do our best. Our works will include creating more artworks, conducting art education to young artists and promoting our art through newspaper, magazines, and the internet. I can only say that this dream will take its long journey starting from today. by Charles Roring

Norwegian Student Bought Some Traditional Woven Cloth in Manokwari Papua

Mrs. Marice Fonataba, a master of cloth weaving, was very happy this morning. When most of the town dwellers went to Mansinam island to attend the Gospel Landing Day celebration, she was busy showing her hand-made woven cloth to a tourist. A guest from Norway visited her home. Her name is Tan. She is an Indian-Norwegian who is doing a field research on the possibilities of the implementation of UN-REDD program among forest communities in developing countries. UNREDD is launched by the United Nations to empower villagers and to fight deforestation and global warming.

However, Tan came to Ms. Fonataba's house not for interviewing her on things related to UNREDD but to buy some woven clothes which she has made. Ms. Fonataba was one of the few Papuan women who learned the traditional cloth weaving from Sister Aloysia, a Catholic nun who was originally from South East Maluku islands. There, women weave clothes from natural fibers for their families' clothing.
Tan bought a large sheet of woven cloth which costed her Rp. 500,000. As you can see in the photos of this post, she tried some cloth on her body before deciding to buy one.

The development of tourism industry brings positive impact to the local people if they can get various benefits from it. Handicraft makers, artists who create beautiful carvings and paintings should get government's attention. In other words, creative economy should be the backbone of the tourism industry in Manokwari of West Papua.

If you plan to come to Manokwari, I recommend that you buy souvenirs that are created by Papuan artists as the products of their artistic creativity such as hand made woven cloth, wood carvings, postcards or paintings.. Please, DON'T buy souvenirs that are made of corals, or skins or feather of endangered animals such as birds of paradise, white and goliath cockatoo, kuskus and etc. If you buy them, you have encouraged the destruction of marine environment and the huntings of Papuan animals that are facing extinction .

Linda a Norwegian student visited Manokwari artists

This afternoon I accompanied a Norwegian student visiting some Papuan artists in Kota region of Manokwari town. Her name is Linda. It was around 3:20 p.m. when she arrived at my bookstore. She was walking from Hotel Billy when my sister saw her and picked her up. So, they arrived here by a minibus. After talking for a few minutes and looking at some of my and Paul's paintings, I and Linda walked to the home of Mr. Lucky Kaikatui. He is an oil painting artist. Unfortunately he was in Sorong. So, we could only talk to his wife. Linda took some pictures of his paintings. She said that she was interested in the painting of paradise birds but the size of the artwork was too big for her bag. Linda asked if the artist could make similar painting whose size is smaller. But Mr. Kaikatui's wife could not decide whether her husband would paint it nor mention its price. She said that she would call her husband to discuss Linda's request.

Then we continued our trip to the house of Mrs. Fonataba. She is a master of clothes weaving. She learned this skill from Catholic nuns when she was still young. Many of the women who could make hand made woven clothes have died. Perhaps, she is the only woman in Papua island who is able to manually weave clothes from cotton thread as shown in the photo above. She has taught her daughters and other women in Biak and Serui islands on how to weave clothes in order to pass down her skills to young generations. Mrs. Fonataba looked very happy. She was with her daughter and grand-daughters when we met her. I and Linda took some pictures there. Linda bought some bracelet made of orchid's roots and a piece of shawl, all of these items cost Rp. 210,000 (around 21 US dollars). Mrs. Fonataba said that she needs around one week to make a shawl if it was done as her past-time activity. But if she spends her whole day weaving the cloth, she will be able to finish it in three days.

It was going to rain when we walked to Mr. Awom's house which is located next to Suri bakery. He is a wood carving artist. He was about to go somewhere when we met him. Linda bought a photo frame there and also took some pictures of his nice artworks. The price of the frame was Rp. 100,000 (about 10 US dollars). She said that she could not buy bigger carvings because they are too big to be inserted into her backpack.
Across from Mr. Awom's house was Mrs. Kerewai's studio. Unfortunately, we could not meet her because she was still in Jayapura. She had just participated in an exhibition in Papua New Guinea. Her daughter said that she would be in Manokwari again the next day. There were some handicrafts made of sea shells displayed in Ms. Ruth's (the daughter of Ms. Kerewai) kiosk, but she did not buy them because they were too fragile to be brought in her backpack. Linda said that they will be broken when she arrives in Norway. It was raining when we (I and Paul) said good bye to Linda at the Pertokoan cross-road. She walked back to Billy hotel and we walked back up to our homes at Kompleks Missi area.
This beautiful girl is doing research on the possibility of the implementation of UN-REDD program to support communities living around the forest. UN-REDD stands for the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries. She will be in Manokwari for around three weeks visiting villages, talking to people, seeing the forest and collecting data.

Russian Travelers Visited the Artists in Manokwari

Manokwari has a number of artists that make good quality artworks or handicrafts which tourists should visit. Today, I accompanied Mike, Inga and Dima (three Russian eco-travelers) who like to explore the tropical rainforest of Papua) to meet some of these artists. The first one that we met in the morning was the house of Mr. Lucky Kaikatui. He is a painter specializing in oil painting. He has just moved to his new home in Kompleks Missi. When we arrived at his house, we could only see some of his paintings hanging on the walls, one of them was the Paradise bird while others were the about the natural scenery and the traditional Papuan villages. The Russian tourists could not buy them due to the sizes which are too big to be loaded into the passenger cabin of an airplane .

Then we continued our trip to see Kuskus, an endemic animal of Papua island. We took some photos of it. After that we ate lunch in the canteen of Orchid. Having finished eating the fried rice and the bakso noodle, these Russian tourists continued their trip to Raimuti island . They swam there until the sunset accompanied by Paul Warere - a drawing artist whom I have trained to be the local guide.

At night, I accompanied them again to visit Mrs. Fonataba's house. She is a master of traditional hand-made woven cloth. This cloth has beautiful ornaments which Papuan like to use as dowry. Mrs. Fonataba was very happy by our coming. She asked her grand-daughter to wear the traditional cloth to be shown to us.
Inga said that she was interested in buying the woven cloth which the little girl was wearing around her chest. Hearing the Inga's request, the mother of this little girl took off the cloth and gave it to Inga. After asking the prices of the woven clothes which Mrs. Fonatabe put on the table, Mike, Dima and Inga bought the necklace, bracelet, and the clothes worth Rp. 500,000 (or around 50 US dollars).

It was quite late when we continued walking to Mr.Asaribab's house. Here, I took some photos of them examining the wood carvings. Inga, Mike and Dima bought two wooden plates with reliefs in them and one small wooden statue. Mr. Asaribab's looked very happy to see that. They spent another 50 US dollars for these wooden carving souvenirs. When we have returned to Penginapan Kagum that belongs to my family, I suggest to Mike not to buy the skin of animals or live animals. Tourists have to be smart buyers. They should not buy such souvenirs as birds or animals, reptile skins or dead corals. They can buy souvenirs such as woven cloth, carvings and paintings that are made out of the artists creativity.

I strongly support the development of tourism in Manokwari but this kind of tourism has to be friendly with the surrounding environment. The industry that encourages the development of Papuan artist's creativity in Manokwari. If you are interested in visiting Manokwari of West Papua to enjoy the natural beauty of this region and you need a guide to accompany you, then I can be your guide. You can contact me - Charles Roring through my email: peace4wp@gmail.com or my cell phone number: +62 81 332245180.

Watercolor Sketch of Teapot

I've just finished sketching and coloring the Teapot. Asian like to drink tea. For the Chinese, their famous tea is Oolong tea. The tea leaves are the same as the Black Tea (which experiences full fermentation) which most of the Indonesian and Western People drink whereas for Oolong tea the fermentation is only half. In a package of Teh cap Botol sold in Indonesian markets, the tea leaves have been mixtured with jasmine flower. The aroma created when it is poured with hot water can relax our mind. The sedative properties of tea is very good to relieve the stress of its drinker after returning home from long day hard work in the garden or at office.

Title of the Sketch: Poci Teh (Teapot)
Size: 15 cm x 15 cm
Sketcher: Charles Roring
Year: 4 January 2010
Media: Pentel Watercolor on Paper

My Watercolor Painting of To Girls Fishing At A Wooden Jetty

I made this painting to create awareness among us all about the importance of keeping our beach clean. In the painting you can see how dissappointed the girls were when they found out that it was not a fish that they caught but a worn shoe. They were sitting on a wooden jetty accompanied by a small teddy bear doll in a bright day. The background of the scenery shows a container ship sailing out of the bay to the open sea. There were three other boats in the bay. At a far distance, we could see the green hills and a light house standing at the end of the cape.

When we go to a beach we may not find such beautiful and clean water. The sea areas around coastal big cities and towns are now covered with industrial and domestic wastes. Many of them contain chemicals that are harmful to the marine environment. While we may now work hard to fight global warming, it seems that we are not aware of the continuous destruction of coral reefs caused by the dumping of wastes to the sea. I hope that this watercolor painting can be seen as my way of presenting how beautiful the sea is and how important for us to not throwing plastics and other domestic garbages to the sea.
Title: Painting of Sisters Fishing at a Wooden Jetty; Artist: Charles Roring; Year: 2004; Media: Watercolor on cold press acid free Canson paper

Two Dolphins Swimming in the Blue Sea

Have you ever seen dolphins swimming along side a sailing boat or ship? I have experienced such scenes many times. When I was still a university student studying naval architecture in the University of Pattimura Ambon, I frequently traveled with KM Dobonsolo or KM Sirimahu to my hometown in Manokwari. They were passangers ships operated by PT. PELNI. When the ships were in the middle of the sea with no bad weather at all, usually passengers could see big fish such as dolphins swimming in a close distance. It was a wonderful experience for me and I decided that one day I had to make a drawing or painting of such scene.

Charcoal sketch of Dolphins

Dolphins are smart mammals that live in the sea. They are often considered as guardian angels for sailors who experience accident at sea. I used to hear a story which said that dolphins helped crews of capsized or sunken ship by taking them to a nearest island. I don't know if such case do exist in real life. I only know that there are circus shows about instructors who ask dolphins to give them a ride around the big pond to entertain the spectators. The fish can also do simple mathematical calculation.

For me, the best thing that we can do to the dolphins is by letting them live where they are right now. The less we disturb them the better. This is also true for the whole marine environment. By the way, I made the painting of these swimming dolphins in 2004. The media was Fabercastell watercolor pencils on French made Canson paper.

So, next time when you plan to have a vacation in the Caribbean islands or the Pacific region, don't forget to bring a telelens camera. You might encounter such rare scene.  Take some nice pictures as souvenirs for your family and friends. by Charles Roring

Passsion of a ship toy in child's imagination

Many times when we go to the beach, we can see parents accompany their children swimming. But among the crowded swimmers, there are some who are more interested in playing with boat toys. The passion of the sea and the ship in little boy's mind bring his imagination tens of years in the future where he dreams of building a ship or being the captain of a ship sailing across the ocean.


I made a painting about such scene using watercolour pencil depicting how a father accompanies his son playing a toy of a sailing boat. Right behind them a few miles away, there is a cruise ship moving.


The message from this painting is that we must not ignore the passion of a little boy playing with his boat. We have to encourage him, if necessary, by taking him to a sea voyage aboard a real cruise ship or passenger ship where he can see the real ship.


Perhaps, the boy has another dream. Being somebody who can build a ship or boat. He might not know the name of such profession as being a naval architect is not a common job anybody sees in every day life. There are not many schools that provide such study program. So, what we must do is to guide the boy in pursuing his passion on the sea and the ship through a positive way. by Charles Roring also read: Is traveling with cruise ship still an attractive adventure? and The Speed of Ship and Propeller Pitch

FRANKY YENNO AND HIS PEACE DANCING ARTWORK

The sun was about to set in the West when I and Lucky Kaikatui, a Papuan artist, arrived in Franky Yenno’s house. It is located in Sanggeng area, Manokwari, the capital city of the Province of West Irian Jaya. The appearance of his house haven’t changed. It has a small room at the front. He displays all his artwork here. This time he could not recognize me anymore. Two years ago I came to his house as a tourist. But this time I visited him as Lucky’s friend. Lucky introduced me to him and I began to take pictures and chat with him. The batteries of my digital camera were nearly exhausted.

"Peace Dancing" carved by West Papuan artist, Franky Yenno

Yes, I used to visit him two years ago. At that time I bought a wooden plate with Paradise Bird relief carved on it and a sheet of batik cloth which he made. I was surprised to know that he could make batik. I knew it was a special skill owned a small number of Javanese women in Jogja or Pekalongan city of Java island. I found the answer two years later.
For me Franky is a prolific carver. Most of his works tell us about the daily life of the Papuan people, their houses, god (Karwar –symbolized by paradise bird relief), and their rituals (please see oil painting of birds of paradise). He put carvings on the floor and paintings on the wall. Similar to Aborigin artists, West Papuan artists do not use canvas but bark. The rough surface of tree bark is an ideal media to put paintings on it.

Wooden Statues and tablets carved by Franky Yenno, a prolific artist from West Papua

One piece of artwork that attracts me much was the wooden relief carved in a large wooden panel. After admiring it for a moment, I began to ask him some questions.
“What do you call this artwork?” I asked.
“It is peace dancing.” He answered while folding his hands on his bare and hairy chest.
“Could you tell me the background story of that dancing?”
“Sure, as you know, West Papuan are coming from hundreds of tribes. Sometimes they live peacefully but often they fight against one another. These clashes have to be settled through Hukum Adat (customary law). When they had reached peace agreement, they would celebrate it in a number of rituals. One of them is Barapen (meaning Bakar Batu – burning stone) ceremony and Peace Dancing. Here hand in hand they danced around and around like a snake. So the tribes who were at war could dance together hand in hand as brothers and sisters.
“Conflicts among Papuan tribes still occur until today besides conflicts with the central government-Indonesia,” I interrupted.
“We really need peace. Therefore I created this artwork to remind our people that we need peace to develop our land and to live side by side with other Indonesians equally.”
“Wow, it’s fantastic,” I said. “How long does it take to finish this carving?”
“It takes around one and a half month.”
“What is it made of?”
“It is made of Lingua” Franky added.
“Do you have any other activity besides carving?”
“I like to grow orchid. It helps me to earn a living when I cannot sell my artwork. You know, I need money to support my family.”
“I bought a Papuan batik painting from you two years ago. How did you learn to make Batik?” I asked again.
“Well, similar to Lucky, I went to Jakarta, Jogja and Bali. There I learned art. Trying to get as much knowledge as possible from experienced artists there, including how to make batik.”
I have visited many of West Papuan artists. Many of them face a common problem. They cannot sell their artwork easily. They are isolated from the outer world. The local government have not been able to create special website to promote these briliant artists to the world.
I remember Alfred Russel Wallace’s comments, a famous British naturalist – a close friend of Charles Darwin. Together they built the theory of evolution. In his book entitled The Malay Archipelago, he said that West Papuan were briliant artists. It was unfortunate for them to remain isolated from the outer world in today's intenet era. by Charles Roring

MASTER OF WEAVING AND PLAITING

Introducing a West Papuan Artist, Ms. Marice Fonataba

by Charles Roring

West Papua is not only famous of its Sarang Semut and Buah Merah medicines which many people now believe can cure various kinds of diseases. In 1858, Alfred Russel Wallace visited Manokwari (formerly known as Dorey bay) and admired that Papuans were very brilliant artists. In his report, The Malay Archipelago, he was astonished to see that their love of art had existed side by side with their "savage" civilization; tribal wars and cannibalism. Today Papuans are fighting to survive in this 21st century. They pursue what the whole world pursue, modernism, yet the modernity doesn't change their life habit into individualism and capitalism. They still rely on communal relations, they still love art and struggling to preserve their cultural identity.

Just nine hours ago (29 June, 2007 at 17.30), I visited a Papuan artist whose talents are extraordinary. An expert in weaving, plaiting; and handicraft making. She started making and selling handicraft in order to raise her children, shortly after his husband died. He accidently fell off a ship into the sea around Sarmi regency in 1987. His body has never been found. Alone, she had to raise her three children, Daniel Fatie, Maria Fatie, and Annike Fatie. All of them have got married now giving her 11 grandchildren. Her name is Ms. Marice Fonataba. She began learning clothes weaving in 1985 from a Roman Catholic nun. It took six months to master it.

From her skillfull hands, traditional clothes with unique Papuan motifs have been created. Besides weaving, she also creates many artworks made of natural fibers, seashell, beads, barks, and animal skin.

Most of the materials can be obtain from the jungle several hundred meters behind her home. To make a skirt she needs thousands of small sized beads called manik-manik. Bigger beads are available in the nature. Interested in her talents and creativity, local government officials from such regencies as Jayapura, Biak and Serui invited her to exhibit her products, and to give weaving lessons to Papuan girls. For her hard work they gave her reward letters.

Unfortunately, she cannot easily sell her products. She does not have a gallery. Actually she and other artists in Manokwari city have asked the local government to provide an art gallery in strategic location in the city harbour or airport. It costs a lot of money to build a gallery in that location. All of the traditional artists cannot affort to finance the project. Recently, a small art gallery has been opened by a migrant investor in Rendani airport but it is very far from her home. So, she only displays her products at home which is located some one hundred meters at the back of the Roman Catholic Church, Gereja Katedral St. Agustinus, Manokwari, West Papua.

Ms. Fonataba is originally from Serui, West Papua. The motifs of her artworks are mostly influenced by her tribe's motifs.

She also creates artworks with motifs from other tribes in the bird's head region. "Every tribe has her own motifs, we cannot mix them in one costume, for instance the wedding costume of Serui. As shown in the picture below, the bride wears an ornamented skirt called Sireo. When her family wants to escort her for the first time to her bridegrooms's home, the bride will wear it. "It takes six months to make the Sireo," Ms. Fonataba said. In the past, people made it of beads produced by certain plants but now they use thousands of smaller beads. These manufactured beads are sold by shops in the downtown. The bride will wrap her upper body with a piece of Kain Timor (traditional cloth weaved from natural fiber). She also wears manik-manik necklace and decorates her head with a dried paradise bird.

For the bridegroom, he wears an ornamented headband also made of beads called Wehus. The Timor cloth consists grades i.e., Toba, Bokek and Sarim.They are used as dowry. The most valued one is Toba. The most valued Toba is the ones whom the Papuan got from Portuguese traders hundreds of years ago long before Indonesian and the Dutch came to West Papua. It is also used by people when they want to settle many Adat cases. When somebody killed someone. He or she will have to pay the fine with Toba cloth. It is not clear how many pieces he/ she has to pay. The fine is not only the Toba but also some other things such as money, pigs and etc. The value of the cloth depends on the number of mata (rows of ornaments in the cloth). Usually, there are at least three matas. For the current price, one mata equals to one million rupiahs. If there are 15 matas, the price of the Toba cloth will be 15 million rupiahs. On the girl's arms, there are two sea shell bracelets.

If you are interested to order her products, you can contact her :

Description:

Picture 1: Ms. Marice Fonataba was showing rewards for her achievements in promoting Papuan handicrafts from local governments. Unfortunately, they only gave this widow papers instead of an art gallery.

Picture 2: Sireo (meaning: wear it), is a traditional skirt of Papuan girl of Ambai tribe in Serui island. It is made of thousands of small beads and needs six months to make.

Picture 3: Ms. Marice Fonataba, sitting on the floor together with her grandchildren, was weaving the traditional Papuan cloth.

Picture 4: The Wedding Costume of Ambai tribe, Serui West Papua. It can also be considered as a grandeur costume which is used in traditional official occasions.

Contact:

Ms. Marice Fonataba Mobile Phone: 0852 328 402 95

If you visit or know someone who wants to visit Manokwari,

please, don't forget to drop by at her address located behind the Catholic church:

Jl. Brawijaya,

Belakang Gereja Katolik Katedral St. Agustinus Manokwari,

Provinsi Papua Barat,

Republik Indonesia

West Papuan Oil Painter, Lucky Kaikatui

Lucky Kaikatui and his family

From the porch to the living room and the kitchen, a lot of paintings depicting the beauty of Papua's nature and culture decorate the walls. Nearly no more rooms left for him to put new paintings that he creates every week.

Lucky Kaikatui is a prolific painter. Ironically, art lovers in Indonesia do not know him. He lives in Manokwari, a small town in the northern coast of West Papua far from Jakarta (the capital of the state) and unnoticed by Indonesian mass media.

The character of this painter is very strong. This can be seen from the lines that he brushes on canvas. They are strong and full of meanings. His schoolmates have called him a brilliant illustrator since he was in the first grade of elementary school of SD Negeri I Manokwari. When the Dutch were still in Manokwari, this school was called Klim en Daal. His first drawing, entitled "Pendekar Si Kapak Hilang" (The warrior of the missing axe), was snatched away by his friends.

In junior high, Lucky's paintings decorated the library room of his school. After completing his study in junior high, Lucky moved to Jayapura to carry on to high school. Again, in that city, he attracted people's attention with his paintings. In 1985, he participated in a painting competition of West Papua province for high school and general levels. For high school level he was the best whereas for the general one he won the second winner. His natural talent draw the attention of the officials from Irian Jaya's Department of Education and Culture. As the result in 1986, although he was still in High School, he could organize three painting exhibitions in Jayapura. In every exhibition, he displayed at least 30 paintings. The young Lucky Kaikatui finished his high school study in 1987. He tried to enroll in ISI (Indonesian Institute of Art) in Yogyakarta, a city in Central Java Indonesia. Unfortunately he could not realize his ambition because his parents did not have enough money to support his study in Java island.

Realizing his family economic condition, Lucky then returned to Manokwari and joined an entrance test for becoming a civil servant. He passed the test and was received as a civil servant in Manokwari regency. At the time he was sent to a remote post in Anggi, a small village in the highlands of Arfak mountains. The climate of Anggi is very cold. The village is surrounded by "virgin" forest and two lakes. It is isolated from outside world. There is no asphalt road connecting Anggi to the capital town, Manokwari. He had to work in that post and was not allowed to go to the town. The limitation did not discourage him from working for the villagers with his whole heart. According to Lucky, besides working for these villagers, he got the chance to experience in full the natural beauty of Papuan's culture and nature in their purest condition. They would become abundant inspirational resources for his later works.

Although he had been working as a civil servant, he never gave up his ambition to study in higher institution. Patiently he saved his salary for that purpose.

After working for three years and never returning to Manokwari, suddenly he fell ill with Malaria and had to go to Manokwari. While suffering, Lucky decided to leave for the town. He had to walk through the Arfak mountains with its tropical rainforest for three days. Lucky was accompanied by some Arfakkers who were also going to Manokwari. Later he poured these three days walking experiences on canvas. One of them is "Penetrating isolation for a drop of life." This painting describes the natural challenge which the Papuan have to face when they want to go to town only for buying their daily basic needs such as salt, sugar, and cooking oil. Besides there is no asphalt road, there are a lot of small and big rivers between Anggi in Arfak mountains and Manokwari. The villagers must walk on the falling trees to cross big rivers.

Back in town he went to the regent of Manokwari, Mr. Drs. Esau Sesa, to report about the villagers' problems in the form of a painting. The regent accept it and was impressed by his work saying, "a very talented painter like you should be given a chance to further your study and develop your works as an appreciation for Papuan art and culture." Within a short time after the meeting, he got the regent's permission to continue his study in Java island. This time his leaving for Java was a tour of duty financed by the local government.

Based on the directions from local government officials, he was told to take cinematography as his study program in Institute Kesenian Jakarta – IKJ (Jakarta's Institute of Fine Art). It was against his will actually. So, although he was registered as student of cinematography, he could always be seen in the painting department. It was not surprising that finally the painting department of IKJ received him on semester IV as its student.

During his study in IKJ, Lucky and his schoolmates got opportunities to carry out comparative study in ISI Jogja, his dreamed school when he was still in high school. From Jogja, he continued to Ubud, Bali. There, he studied for one month under the supervision of Prof. Srihadi. In Bali, Lucky studied the works of Anthony Blanco, Arie Smith, Eisnel, and I Nyoman Made Lempar.

He had been going around in Java and Bali for eight years when suddenly he was called to return to West Papua. His mother was ill waiting for him to accompany her in her last moments.

Upon returning to Manokwari, Lucky and his friends set up PUMA – Perupa Manokwari (Artists of Manokwari). It is an association of Manokwari's artists. The organization is established to promote Papuan culture to outer world.

He also passes on his painting skills to other young Papuans who are interested in painting and want to become artists. Now he is teaching them at his home. Some of them are Yabal Marbuan, Alberth Marbuan, Alberth Warijo, Carlos, Septinus, and Mesakh. Some are still studying at junior and high schools whereas the others are drop-outs. He hopes that these young Papuans, with other senior artists, can fight together to preserve Papuan cultural identity which is now facing degradation due to modernization, and globalization.

For Lucky Kaikatui, painting is a struggle. He has always reminded Papuan youth not to forget and leave their cultural identity. It is one of the most important West Papuan assets which has to be passed on to the next West Papuan generations. Every painting Lucky makes has a unique background story. For instance, "ALive or Death," this painting depicts a tense moment between Cassowary and the hunter. Lucky's grandfather was an experienced and famous Cassowary hunter in their village. According to his grandfather's story, if the spear missed its target, the hunter may die stabbed by its three sharp claws.

There is also another painting entitled Doreri Bay Manokwari. The background of the painting is Arfak mountains. The traditional sail of the boat is made of woven pandanus leafs, the same material for making Papuan mat. Now, there are not any sail that use the leaves. Most of the boats now are driven by plastic sheet sail or outboard engines. For most Papuans, Mansinam island of Manokwari is a familiar name in their ears. The preaching of gospel in Papua was started in this island. Every year, on fifth February, tens of thousands of West Papuans gather in Mansinam island to commemorate the landing of Otto and Geisler, two Europeans who were the first evangelists to spread the Christianity in Papua.

In the world of Indonesian fine art, he is not recognized. Lucky Kaikatui lives in a small town Manokwari far from the coverage of Indonesian mass media which are mostly located in Java. His painting exhibitions both in Manokwari and Jayapura do not get enough publicity. That's why art communities never heard of him.

This condition does not discourage him. He keeps on painting. New paintings are created every week. To minimize the cost, he makes the canvas by himself. He had mastered the techniques when he was still an IKJ's student. His wife, Rahab, always supports him. The Kaikatuis live in a house in Kompleks Missi  of Brawijaya street, Manokwari, West Papua. 

If you are interested in Lucky's paintings, you can visit him in Manokwari town. Please, contact me by email to peace4wp@gmail.com before you come.