Experience pottery in Indonesia Benkel Keramik Puspa 5 | Jakarta Shimbun

　When you think of Indonesian pottery, you think of Janggala ceramics. Although I am an amateur, the Indonesian pottery that I imagined is heavy, and there are also things that imitate leaves and have natural motifs. “Benkel Keramik Puspa 5” in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta is a workshop where even beginners can enjoy authentic pottery. Actually, it was the first time since I was a child that I kneaded clay, and I experienced pottery for the first time in Indonesia. When I entered the workshop in a detached house that looked like a private house, I was greeted by Mr. Suryo Adiptra (47), who has been teaching pottery here for over 20 years. Several students were male and female college students and housewives, and each was silently immersed in his own work. In addition to the production space, the studio has a large, well-ventilated hall, and pottery is displayed everywhere. Most of the tableware on display was made by teachers and students, and if you like it, you can buy it. "It starts with kneading the clay." The soil is collected from Sukabumi and has a very fine texture. While wrapping it with both hands, shape it into a small plate. In addition to tebineri, which is formed only by hand, there are electric potter's wheel and manual potter's wheel. I tried a wooden manual potter's wheel, but this uses a lot of physical strength and brain. There is a wide round board at the foot, which is turned while kicking with the right foot. In conjunction with this, the table on which the clay is placed rotates. I had a hard time forming it because I had to move my feet as hard as I could, but the lump of clay had an even thickness and was shaped like a smooth teacup. Once formed, it is “unglazed” in a kiln at 900 degrees for 14 hours. The pottery, with all the water removed, was a little lighter than the clay. The next step is to apply iron powder dissolved in water to the rough surface of the work. The more adherence, the deeper the color when baked for the second time. Then, the surface is colored with a chemical called “glaze”. It contains a glassy quality and becomes smooth when baked. In this workshop, you can paint green, blue, brown, white, black, etc., but the glaze itself is different from the color after firing, so it is not possible to imagine the finished product. The second time is kiln firing at 1230 degrees for 14 hours. Looking forward to the finished product, I visited the workshop again, and found a small plate and teacup with a rich color and luster that was completely different from before baking. Even while receiving an explanation, it's a workmanship that you don't understand even if you buy it. The dining table at home will change quite a bit. According to Mr. Suryo, the workshop was temporarily closed in March last year due to the spread of the new coronavirus, but in June, the students who attended came to ask for some clay. From there, the activities continued in such a way that the students did the work that they could do at home and brought it to the workshop when firing in the kiln. “Recently, students and people in their 20s are interested in the old craft of pottery,” said Mr. Suryo, who reopened his workshop this year. From the back of the garden, Professor Suryo showed us many unglazed works. "It's a work made by a Japanese person. Everyone has gone home because of the new coronavirus," he said, and put it away again. Until last year's outbreak of the new coronavirus, 80% of the students were Japanese. If you remember that you were making a work here, why don't you visit and complete it? (Yuka Miyoshi, also photo)