Makers Archive - Wildindo

Ibu Putu – Hand waving

Ibu Putu comes from Tengangan village from East Bali. There is a huge community of handwoven ata bags and crafts as the jungle around them provides enough ata grass weed. She makes bags for seven years after her neighbor taught her. It is more of a community tradition rather than individual person working on it.

Few years ago she made our first design for us and also Bali common bags and baskets from ata and rattan.

Her passion is cooking and she makes amazing rice cakes with brown sugar. She would like to open warung (local restaurant) later if she gets lucky and will have enough money.

Sunardi – Rattan Weaver

Rattan Maker Mr. Sunardi making rattan cactus lamp shade

Mr. Sunardi is 44 years old and he started working with rattan in 1999. His family has a long tradition with rattan weaving passed from his grandfather. He was also following his father with the tradition. They originally come from Mayang village from Jember, East Jawa. It is known area for rattan makers and there is plenty of rattan in the jungle.

His passion is making the crafts from rattan. One day he wishes he would have his own rattan factory with his son Muhlis, when the right time comes. At the moment there are not enough orders to supply more than he can manage by himself and his son’s help.

Mr. Sunardi works on few different crafts with us. Making unique cactus lampshades, rattan helmets and home decors and furniture.

Did you know that rattan becomes flexible when heated?

Ziono – Tailor

Ziono is also known as Yono, comes from East Jawa, near volcano Ijen, where you can see blue fire at night.

Yono has been working with leather for more than 13 years. He has worked in factories and from home before he joined us in the workshops in Canggu, Bali. Mr. Ziono is always energetic and makes lot of jokes around and has always helpful hand to offer.

Lives in Denpasar with his wife and baby girl. In his spare time he plays football on Saturdays or watch his favorite team Juventus if he is not helping his wife to sell clothes via Instagram and Whatsapp.

Hakim – Lead Tailor

Mr. Hakim was born 34 years ago in small village in West Java. He grew up there and also started to learn tailoring after high school. He didn’t learn from his father, but from his friends who were bit older than him and already were working in a leather factory. He liked the kind of work and thought it could be his skill and passion. It has been 15 years since those first moments from the first factory in Java and now he is skilled tailor and artisan with an open mind and experience.

When we asked mr. Hakim about the situation and why he likes to work with us in Wildindo, we were quite shocked and sad about some of the factories and his experience. As working for a factory in Indonesia can be quite unstable job and where the skill matters just as much as you like your boss. We understand it can be in any job difficult with your boss, so lets concentrate on the stability of working in a factory.

If there is a lot of work, they work long shifts, as fast as possible to finish all the work. Then when work is done and there is no more orders, there are unpaid holiday. This can be good if the factory has enough orders. If not, that can be difficult for him and his family. He can just move around the factories and ask if there is an open spot and sometimes it can be very unlucky. Mr. Hakim told us that several years back some months were really difficult to eat and basically survive.

That’s one of the main reasons why he likes to work in Wildindo. Small team, friendly environment and stable pay. You could also see some pictures of our artisans sitting on the floor. For people outside of Indonesia it can be a bit surprising that artisans in Indonesia usually sit on the floor, but he is very comfortable with a lot of space on the floor.

Outside of work he likes to ride a motorbike and racing, but not as much as before, because he has a 4 year old son. He spends most of the time with him and his wife in Denpasar, Bali.