We have two spaces where our art are permanently displayed and where people can go to for a look or purchase. One is in Jakarta and the main one in Timika, Papua where our base is.
Menteng, Jakarta
When we first met Lucy Heffern, she was innocent to Kamoro Art. Her parents were hosting an Exhibition and Sale at their home (her father was the Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in 2005), and she was enthusiastically helping out.
When her parents were posted to Armenia, Lucy stayed on and found a nice, old Dutch house. We sprang the idea of storing our Art pieces in one of her spare rooms and asked if she would be interested to sell a couple of pieces if people wanted to see them.
Well, her enthusiasm was greater than we expected – she asked if we minded displaying the art around the house. Of course we were happy to have our pieces out in fresh air all the time so Lucy happily filled all her walls in all the downstairs rooms with our pieces integrating them nicely with her own eclectic Indonesian collection.
Over the years, Lucy has had visitors, and parties in the house and people have been pleasantly surprised to find that they can buy Kamoro Art year round. She has also ventured further afield in her quest to promote Kamoro Art, joining specific events and bazaars where she can sell pieces.
Lucy’s house has been our safe haven for all the pieces that we do not sell when we bring a show Jakarta. While it’s been a pleasure for her to have her “own collection” of Kamoro Art to look at until somebody comes along and buys a piece, we have a “gallery” where our pieces are not stacked in some dark storeroom but nicely hung for anyone to enjoy.
We love that our “Curator” is so in-tune with what we do and takes on extra events voluntarily for the love of it all. Our Kamoro couldn’t be luckier.But come August Lucy will be away for a year and a half doing her Masters degree. We wish her all the best and already miss her. But we also welcome John Curran who will be moving into the house and taking over from Lucy. John says that it’s also his dream “to be a curator of Kamoro Art”. It will take a couple of months for John to realize his dream as the house is now bare.
Everything has been taken by the University of Indonesia and used as display for their ‘Papua’ event which was held at the Kompas office from August 1st-5th, and then at their Depok Campus in September.
Timika
Our Gallery in Timika holds stock which comes in when Kal goes on his buying trips or when the Kamoro bring pieces to him for sale. It is from here that some pieces are chosen for the Jakarta shows. Buyers are usually Freeport guests and visitors, staff, Freeport contractors, some independent 2 tourists and government officials.
The Power of Partnership
By Lucy Heffern,"Curator of Kamoro Gallery", Menteng, Jakarta
The Kamoro gallery in Menteng, Jakarta recently showcased Kamoro carvings at a local event called the Artisan's Table from 25-26 May 2012.
The Artisan's Table is the brainchild of Sharon Tobings, an American living in Indonesia, who noticed that many of Indonesia's unique handicrafts were not making it to market. The Artisan's Table works directly with local artisans and cooperatives all over Indonesia to commission and design new items, reviving and preserving traditional processes, techniques, patterns and forms. Many artisans are aging and young people are finding other ways of making a living, thus leading to a decline in the number of working artisans and a loss of knowledge and skills. By creating a viable economy for the handicrafts, Sharon hopes to attract a new generation of artisans to preserve the age-old craft traditions.
Replace Sharon Tobings, with Kal Muller, and you practically have the same driven personalities who are preserving dying cultural traditions with the aim to excite a new generation of artisans. This natural partnership led to a two-day exhibit at Sharon's Pondok Indah residence in South Jakarta visited by over 50 customers.
For many, Kamoro carvings were new and unfamiliar. Comments I received included, "Wow, this looks like it belongs in a museum." Or another favorite, "These bows and arrows [Kamoro] would be perfect for the Society of Creative Anachronism," of which she was a member!
I received plenty of questions about Papua and the Kamoro. Good thing I had just visited Timika Pantai over the Easter holiday, so I was able to draw from experience in my discussions! My most memorable sale of the day was of a woman who bought two Tongkat with a fork and spoon at one end. These items were to be a gift for her brother in Maine, USA for his new coffeeshop! Picture to come...stay tuned.
I look forward to future collaboration with Artisan's Table as we create a thirst in Jakarta for beautiful and unique Indonesian works of art and craftsmanship. Please visit the Artisan's Table website at
www.theartisanstableshop.com
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