Island 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.

— (Source: The Jakarta Post)