Meet our artisans
We work with many artisans around Indonesia. Every one of them has different skills and passions, but they all share one important value – family. In their free time they have activities with their wife, husband and children. We are happy to cooperate with them, support their craftsmanship and life in exchange for high quality product.
We interviewed some of our artisans to give you better understanding of who makes your bags and accessories. You can find them divided in categories of what they make and are good at.
Leather and rattan
Mr. Hakim
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.
Bamboo
Mr. Mustofa
Mr. Mustofa works directly with our partner bamboo factory, where they have a lot of space and machines. He has been working with them for a few years, after he moved to Bali from Jember East Java, where he was working with bamboo and wood for 18 years. He moved to Bali with his family for more work options as the bamboo bags since bamboo bags because popular.
Mr. Mustofa said, that in a good day he can make 8 bags, but he means the form and structure. We were asking him, when he was working on putting bamboo square bags together. In the linked article you can see described process of how to make the bamboo bag. As it needs some wood and bamboo preparation and polishing.
He use Bambu Mpring or Bamboo Apus from Bangli, Bali for our bamboo bags. This bamboo is 1 year old and is the best quality bamboo you can find in Bali.
While he works he loves to listen to his favorite Dangdut music. His main hobby is his work and work with any kind of wood. He admits that he is a workaholic.
When he doesn’t work he spends most of his time with his wife and big family of 4 children. He also like to watch football and cheer for his team.