Joglo ; Java Traditional House

Joglo lost to Bali

hopping: Many Javanese joglo have been re-erected in Bali as museums, private houses and hotel accommodation.

The joglo and limasan ancient houses of Java, post-and-beam buildings dating back more than 1,300 years, are springing up like mushrooms across Bali’s rice terraced landscapes.

According to Laretna Adishakti, a lecturer in the department of architecture of Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University, who also happens to sit on the Indonesian Heritage Trust board of directors, joglo and limasan are also depicted on the relief walls of the 8th century Buddhist temple of Borobudur.

However, a millennia on, these teak buildings housing Javanese culture are increasingly being knocked down and sold off, either overseas or to Bali. Some are re-erected as houses, but many are chopped up and used for furniture, as so-called recycled timber.

“This is a problem, because we must think of ways to protect the joglo [and limasan] in Java.

Currently there buildings are not protected,” says Adishakti over the phone.

She points out that not only is the cost of maintaining joglo high, but the lack of government incentives and funding are forcing owners to sell their ancient family homes.

“I texted the Mayor [of Yogyakarta] yesterday — he is sympathetic [to our cause] and understands the loss, but how do we protect these buildings that are Javanese heritage?

Disappearing heritage: Former farmer, Badri, now sells the carved doors and windows of Madura in Bali. Perched with his one-year-old daughter on an ancient teak bed, Badri says the bed is 1,000 years old and was once the resting place of a Madurese sultan.

The big problem is people don’t care about joglo. They are only interested in selling the land underneath the joglo, therefore they knock the joglo down to erect a concrete building instead,” says Adishakti, adding that most of Java’s joglo risk ending up in Bali.

In an effort to raise awareness about the heritage value of joglo, Adishakti and the Indonesian Heritage Trust, with Unesco’s support, have set out to record the remaining joglo and limasan buildings of Yogyakarta’s ancient city, Kota Gede, and also created a user-friendly booklet on the history and culture behind those buildings.

And while the process of re-erecting those antique houses in Bali is, in a round about way, protecting this Javanese cultural heritage — rather than pulling them apart to use the resulting panels for furniture, Java is still loosing out, explains Adishakti.

“When these buildings are removed from their environment, it is not just a single building that is lost, but the entire streetscape — that is what we must protect. Only a few people have the experience and the knowledge to build joglo. There is a complete set of Javanese terminology for building joglo, and once the people who still hold that knowledge pass away, it will be lost, so the houses can never be recreated. I can see that within a couple of generations, this Javanese language of building and the skills that go with it will be lost. When the joglo [and limasan] are turned into furniture, it is even worse as they are lost forever,” says Adishakti.

It is hard to estimate the number of limasan and joglo that have already been removed from Central Java’s landscape, as according to Adshakti, the buildings do not have to be registered and there is no regulation protecting them.

The most famous joglo are from Kudus. Often the teak walls, posts and beams of these former houses belonging to the elite were carved entirely with flowers, Islamic and geometric symbols. “I don’t think there is a single Kudus joglo left in Kudus,” says Adishakti.

Economic migration: Akhlis, master carver from Kudus, Java’s center for joglo houses, has shifted operations to Bali where he can carve and build joglo, as well as access a ready and appreciative market.

Designed to be earthquake resistant, joglo have a high central cap built over huge teak beams called a tumbang sari. Although the structure is designed to cope with earthquakes, Adishakti says many joglo collapsed during the 2004 earthquake that destroyed much of Yogyakarta.

“People had taken out the gebyok [traditional room partitions or doorways made out of timber] and replaced them with bricks. The buildings consequently lost their flexibility and collapsed,” said
Adishakti.

Meanwhile, in Bali, the picture is slightly different. On every second street corner, massive antique doors, carved walls, windows and full tubung saris are lined up for sale. The remnants of Java’s joglo, as well as Madurese carved walls, windows and doors, sell well on the island, with tourists lapping them up for their artistic and cultural value.

For Madurese farmer Badri, starting a gebyok business has allowed him to leave behind subsistence farming and eke out a living on the edges of Sanur’s bypass.

“I got into this when I was 20 years old. Before I started selling antique building materials, I was a farmer. That was really hard. I took a risk and moved to Bali to sell antiques from Madura. The Madurese are happy to sell their doors and windows because they need the money,” says Badri.

He adds Bali’s appreciation for antiques from his homeland has ensured the Madurese carving tradition lives on.

“There is still a lot of this material in Madura, and people are still carving doors and windows. They can still make gebyok. Craftsmen mostly carve doors for cupboards and things like that, but the carving tradition continues,” says Badri.

The Madurese wood carving is “less elegant” than the Javanese, he says.

“In the past, the Madurese did not carve. Then a few hundred years ago, a man from Jepara, a great carver, came to Madura and married a Madurese woman there. He started to carve and soon all the men from his village learned his trade. But Madurese carving is much heavier and less elegant,” says Badri, perched with his one-year-old daughter on an ancient teak bed, which he suggests is 1,000 years old and was once the resting place of a Madurese sultan.

In Bali, joglo and limasan are now used as museums, private homes and hotel accommodation or sold as recycled furniture. Javanese antique doors have replaced many Balinese carved doors fronting villas, and Madurese carved windows are cheaper than glass and second-grade timber modern windows. But without protection or heritage laws, this rich cultural expression risks disappearing fast.