The Sultan’s Secret Army
A surprise maker village in the Kraton Palace
The Kraton is the home of the sultan of Indonesia. For all that, it is physically a rather modest place: gravel courtyards, interspersed by single-story columns supporting tile roofs, the most lavish decorations being gold leaf painted onto the ceilings. But the beauty of the Kraton is not the architecture; it’s the artisans.
If you penetrate further into the complex, it becomes apparent that this isn’t a palace. It’s a village. And the village is inhabited entirely by the 25,000 Indonesians employed by the sultan. Their job? To continue the art of Indonesia.
Puppet-makers; Batik painters; sculptors; masons; actors; musicians; an army of creators, employed by royalty to keep a culture alive. They live in the Kraton for free, and receive a salary from the sultan. Their days are spent making art, teaching their craft to their students, and explaining the method and the meaning to visitors. They also sell their creations, but not for personal gain; all the money goes to funding the sultan’s charitable causes.
The result is a creative community of richness, density, and warmth I have seen nowhere else.
It also gives me hope for what can be created and the lives that are changed when the fine arts are publicly valued and supported by the top.
