Pottery Craft Center in Banyumulek Village of Lombok

Lombok’s natural wealth is well known throughout the world. The beauty of its beaches, mountains and sea can invite many tourists to visit here. Apart from its natural beauty, it turns out that Lombok has other interesting resource. Just look at the Banyumulek Village, which is the largest pottery production center in Lombok. Pottery made from clay can be processed into items that are very useful and beautiful.

 

Banyumulek is one of tourist villages that is currently being developed by the Lombok regional government. It is slowly becoming popular among domestic and foreign tourists as a producer of pottery on the island of Lombok.

 

Banyumulek Village is the largest pottery production center in Lombok

Credit: Forever in Hunger

 

Banyumulek Village is located 14 kilometers from Mataram City, precisely in Kediri District, West Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province. The majority of the eleven thousand people who live in this 4-hectare village are pottery craftsmen. Banyumulek Village is also chosen by the local government as a location for the development of a regional innovation system. Pottery from this village is able to penetrate international markets, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, America, and several countries in Europe.

 

Entering Banyumulek Village, visitors will be greeted by a gate that is the entrance to the village. The words “Banyumulek Pottery Craft Center” decorate the green gate. Starting from this gate, visitors can see the pottery on display in the yard of the house. Interestingly, when you step into the village area, you will find schools and government offices decorated with large pottery on the wall fence.

 

Visiting Banyumulek Village, visitors are not only treated with beautiful array of pottery. Coming to a pottery-producing village, visitors can also see firsthand how the clay is processed into pottery with unique designs with beautiful colors. The hands of craftsmen who are so skilled at wrestling with clay to produce artistic art objects are an interesting sight when visiting this village. In fact, visitors can also try making pottery.

 

villagers create pottery in Banyumelek Village

Credit: Psttours

 

At first, the people of Banyumelek Village made pottery to fulfill their daily needs. Jugs, barrels and cooking utensils are types of pottery that are made. Over time, the pottery that was made became more and more diverse. Various ornaments and room decorators are preferred to design by them. The making of this type of pottery has a positive impact on the village economy. Many accommodations in Lombok use pottery produced by Banyumelek Village as decoration.

 

Pottery craft is ingrained in the people of Banyumulek Village of Lombok. The skill of making pottery was taught from an early age. Girls were taught how to turn clay into pottery, while boys were taught to find clay and do the finishing stages.

 

The advantages of pottery produced by the Banyumulek traditional village are not only in its various forms. The resulting color is very beautiful and has its own characteristics. These two things are tempting visitors to buy Banyumelek Village pottery as souvenirs. The price of a pottery is determined by the complexity of the design and the length of the producing process. Usually, pottery is sold from tens of thousands to millions of rupiah.