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Ester Kereway (62) with her trophies at the background. The one in her hand is the Second Winner Prize which she got from All Papua's Cultural Festival held in Merauke in 2002. Photo shot by T.R. Dewi |
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Ester Kereway with her grandchildren. Photo shot by T.R. Dewi |
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Ester Kereway,
the Profile of an Independent West Papuan Woman
by Charles Roring
It was night when I and my wife, Dewi, entered the living room. She and her grandchildren were busy making Papuan artworks. It was a small and simple house but warm with the laugh and smile of her grandchildren.
Ester Kereway (62) is one of the West Papuan artists who, in her old age, is still developing her creativity making accessories and souvenirs.
Every day her friends like to call her "Mama Kereway," or "Mama Rambut Putih" (meaning literally, "mama the gray hair").
She started making handicrafts in 1970. In the beginning, it was only a hobby but later due to her economic condition she had to seriously make a living from it. Marrying another woman, her husband left her and their ten children twenty years ago. All of these children have grown up now. Unfortunately, one of them died.
Actually, Mama Kereway was an elementary school teacher in SD YPK 1, Manokwari. She graduated from Opleiding Dorps Onderweis (ODO) in Fakfak. It was a teachers training school when the West Papua was still a colony of the Netherlands. Her parents were teachers too. She has retired since two years ago.
In 1992, the local government of Kabupaten Manokwari sent her to Jayapura to exhibit her works in Papua Expo. There she could sell many of her products to the visitors. Since that time she has given more attention to her hobby and has been sent to a number of national events. For example, in 2001 she was sent to Bali to participate in Cultural Festival of Nusa Dua. Two years later, in 2003, she displayed her artworks in The Appropriate Technology Exhibition which was held in Sidoarjo, East Java. According to Mama Kereway that event was the most important exhibition that she has ever attended. There, she could see various kinds of machines that the Papuan need in order to increase their productivity on processing their abundant raw materials. One of them was a thread spinning machine. She wanted to buy it but she didn't have enough money. "I wish I could buy that machine. If I had it, I would have been able to make thread faster. Here, we make the thread manually from plant fiber. It is very slow and time consuming," she said. The last exhibition that she participated was the Indonesian Handicraft Exhibition which was held in Jakarta in March 2006.
During those exhibitions, she always took time visiting other stands to learn more about their design and production process. "You know, I have never attended art school. I study by myself developing Papuan art. Therefore, I always have to ask many questions to participants from other provinces so that I can get as much knowledge and information as possible," she explained seriously.
Mama Kereway uses local raw material such as seashell, coconut shell, bark, wood and plant fiber to make artworks. Later, after attending many exhibitions, she combines such materials with manufactured ones.
Mama Kereway is not alone, she works side by side with other West Papuan women artists such as Mama Werbete, Mama Naibey and Mama Bonay.
Mama Kereway does not offer her artworks to shops or supermarket in town. "I don't want to sell these souvenirs through the shops in the downtown, they charge high profit margin from them. It means that I am the one who work hard but they are the ones who get the profit. No, I won't," added Mama Kereway with her broad smile. She only sells them at home. Sadly, the house is located not in a strategic place. It is at the back of kaca bulat (Christelijk Militair Tehhuis). In the colonial time it was used as a tea house for the Dutch mariners. To attract more buyers, she open a small kiosk next to the kaca bulat. She hopes that one day she can build her own art gallery.
In fact, the local government has offered a room in pasar tingkat, a traditional market in the downtown Manokwari. She refused the offer saying that it is not safe for an old woman like her. Many Papuans drink alcohol there. I am afraid dealing with those drunkards. They often force the vendors to give them money so that they can buy more drinks.
Mama Kereway and other artists in Manokwari used to ask the government to provide a special room in Rendani airport or Doreri harbour where they can run a gallery to promote and sell West Papuan artworks. So far, neither the government nor the port authorities have given any positive response to that request.
"What is your message to other Papuan women?" my wife asked.
"Well, Papua is very rich of natural resources. The problem is that we, the Papuans, are lazy to process them. We are lack of creativity. We only want easy things. As a matter of fact, if we want to work harder we can get income every day. Don't be narrow minded. We can work hand in hand processing all our natural resources. In addition, we also can learn one another or learn from migrant women. Outside Papua, women are dominant in the handicraft field. If we want to improve our life, we should not be ashamed asking questions from other people."