Sculpting Stones, Carving Lives

KOMPAS/MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Zainal Abidin, 71, a stonecutter of Tangkilan hamlet, Pabelan, Mungkid, Magelang, Central Java, puts the finishing touches on a gravestone, Thursday (18/10/2018). Stonecutters in the area inherited the skill to carve from their ancestors over generations.

For people living on the Pabelan riverbank, Mt. Merapi is their source of livelihood. Natural stones that erupted from the volcano serve as materials for their beautiful sculptures. Amid changing times, the old tradition has persisted.

“Knock! Knock! Knock...!” The sounds of a hammer hitting a chisel were heard amid the vrooms of motored vehicles on Jl. Raya Magelang-Yogyakarta in Muntilan and Prumpung, Magelang regency, Central Java. Muscular hands were carefully directing the chisels on hardened stones.

Under an iron sheet roof, gravestone maker Zainal Abidin, 71, of Tangkilan hamlet, Pabelan, Mungkid, Magelang, sat on a small chair before a slab of stone 160 centimeters long, 55 cm thick and 50 cm tall. His wrinkled yet muscular hands deftly held the chisel.

“Nowadays, when people die, their graves don’t use headstones anymore. Mostly it is just cement and ceramics, despite headstones being more durable. At worst, [headstones] can get mossy,” Zainal said.

At his advanced age, Zainal takes up to a month to complete one gravestone. This is far different from when he was younger, when he could finish an ornamental gravestone in just 10 days. With a production cost of Rp 1.6 million (US$108.53) and a selling price of Rp 2.5 million, he can earn Rp 900,000 a month these days. “Income is uncertain. I can go three months without getting any money,” said the grandfather of three.

In order to survive, Zainal often pays later for his daily needs at nearby shops. He also grows chicken.

Interest in gravestones is scant nowadays. Raw materials are also getting harder to get. For environmental protection, natural stones on Mt. Merapi can only be mined manually nowadays, instead of using heavy machineries. “Stones don’t grow on trees. The more you mine them, the fewer there will be,” he said.

Consequently, the price of natural stones has skyrocketed by more than Rp 1 million in the past three years. Nevertheless, Zainal persisted in his job, especially because he inherited the skills from his father and grandfather. “It’s like if you want to be a bus driver, you need to be the driver’s assistant first. I can sculpt because of my father and my grandfather,” he said.

He cheered himself up and said that he believed his health and arms and shoulders were his most valuable possessions. “I have my two bahu of paddy field,” he said. Bahu means shoulder in Indonesian. In Java, bahu is also a measurement for a paddy field area, where one bahu is 0.7 hectares.

Other than Zainal, there is also Budi Santoso, 48, in Pabelan, also known as Prumpung. Budi has been a sculptor for 10 years after going to Jakarta for work on several occasions. “I learn everything on my own. I was born and raised in Muntilan, so I often see people sculpting stones,” said Budi, while sculpting a 1-meter-tall Buddha statue.

Budi gets a lump sum of Rp 650,000 for his work. To make a sculpture, he needs a full sketch of the sculpture complete with measurements of all sides. Then, a slab of stone is chiseled according to the sculpture’s physical anatomy. Next is detailing and smoothening the facade. He needs around two weeks to complete a job.

Stone craftsman Anto Purnomo, 40, of Nglawisan village, Taman Angin, Muntilan, was sculpting two 2-meter Buddha statues from andesite rocks. Anto, the owner of the Anto Art Stone workshop, began sculpting when he was just 14 years old. He said that he had a budget of Rp 15 million to buy materials. His buyer from Jakarta purchases his sculptures at Rp 20 million per piece.

He said that his father taught him how to sculpt. Apart from techniques, mentality is also important for sculptors. His father once told him that the stones might be hardened, but his persistence must be harder. “I need to believe that I can overcome all troubles and that I cannot give up easily,” Anto said.

Nevertheless, Anto, a technical vocational high school (STM) graduate, said he could no longer fully depend on sculpting for a living. In one year, he receives only three orders – sometimes less. He has begun cultivating chili peppers and corn in his 3,000 square meters of land.

Philosophy of stones

Magelang has around 400 stone craftsmen who produce various types of stone art and household equipment, including mortars and pestles, ashtrays, garden decorations, statues, reliefs, headstones and foundation pillars for traditional homes. The prices start at Rp 25,000 and can go up to the millions. Some of the craftsmen work independently while others choose to work for other people. The region’s stone products can be found throughout the globe.

Kasrin Endroprayono, 77, one of the pioneers of Prumpung stone crafting, said that the art could serve as a source of livelihood and also foster universal values, such as belief, persistence and boldness. Craftspeople must have a strong belief in the face of hardened stones, persistence to create beautiful products and boldness to innovate and take risks.

Magelang Youth, Sports and Tourism Agency head Iwan Sutiarso said that stone crafting was a form of creative economy. Sculpted stones will bring economic benefits for the sculptors and local communities.

Nevertheless, Iwan said that the regency had yet to have an exhibition center for local stone arts. The street-side “display” of local craftsmen’s stone products can serve as a window into the craftsmen’s creative process.

For these local stone craftspeople, Mt. Merapi and the Borobudur temple serve as invaluable sources of living, with Merapi as the source of stones and Borobudur the source of inspiration.

Borobudur is the source of inspiration that promotes Muntilan’s stone arts as a prominent creative economy hub of the past, the present and hopefully also the future.

(ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA)