Studio Dapur: Bamboo Craft, Reimagined in West Java
By Des Res Bali
There was a lot happening at Jia Curated, but some of our favorite discoveries came from simply stopping to talk. At the Between Two Forests booth, Studio Dapur and Jelajah Rattan had brought together two materials we tend to lump into the same broad tropical-design vocabulary: bamboo and rattan. Turns out, they’re very different things.
Studio Dapur works with bamboo artisans in Padakembang, on the slopes of Mount Galunggung in West Java, with a mission that’s as much about changing perceptions as making beautiful objects. Bamboo craft, the studio points out, has long been associated with cheap, quickly made goods. Its response is to go in the opposite direction: traditional techniques, contemporary design, high standards of craftsmanship and, importantly, greater economic value for the people making it.
That philosophy showed up quietly at Jia. The booth wasn’t overly polished or precious: there were raw pieces of bamboo and rattan to handle, finished objects scattered around, fruit on the table and plenty of conversation about where these materials actually begin. Between Two Forests explored what happens when Studio Dapur’s bamboo practice meets Jelajah Rattan’s work with the climbing forest vine — two different ecosystems and craft traditions finding some common ground.
Since launching in 2016, Studio Dapur says it has grown to work with 25 artisans, while putting part of its profits back into community support, research, development and productivity improvements. Its work ranges from baskets and tableware to lighting and custom pieces for hotels, restaurants and interiors, with wholesale, custom design and production available from its West Java workshop.
A small studio doing something quite big: making traditional bamboo craft feel less like something we’re preserving behind glass, and more like a living material culture with somewhere new to go.
