
Our Artisans

Our Partner

Lissa plays the role of the CEO and finance manager, while her husband and her husband's brother are responsible for the production, design and product development. This business was passed down by their father, who is well known as a maestro of Javanese Lurik (weaved traditional fabric with lines pattern). They are the third generation of one of the legendary lurik artisans in Java. They have developed a new technique in weaving, namely the "geretan" technique, which has been patented. This technique has a higher level of difficulty, requires patience and precision. The method is like ordinary weaving, but it is given a motif of threads that are pulled one by one, or in Javanese it is called ‘digeret’.
ARIF & LISSA
Our Artisans' stories
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.

WAGIYEM
She is a widower and has no child. She has worked as a weaver for 10 years. Her motivation at the beginning is to get money. She learned to weave since she was a child. Her skill to weave gives her an opportunity to get more income.
Working on Hinggi’s rug is challenging because of the new design and the big size. The good thing is that she has extra payment from Hinggi so that she can have the standard minimum wage. With the extra money she can buy things she wants or to attend social gatherings (in Indonesia there are some social gatherings and people also need money to attend these social events in the villages. By attending these social events, she gets appreciation from the community).
She wants to work in weaving till around 70 years old, which is 8 years more. She expects that people will buy the rugs which she makes so that she can have a regular job.

PADEMI
She is 57 years old, and she has worked as a weaver for 5 years. She started to work with our partner in Indonesia because the workshop is close by, and the boss is nice. She has 4 adult children. She lives with 2 of her children (twin sons) and daughter in laws and grandchildren.
Working on Hinggi’s rug is challenging because of the new design and the big size. For bigger size she often must stand to arrange the threads and to look at the design picture. The good thing is that she has extra payment from Hinggi so that she can have the standard minimum wage. She wants to save the extra money from Hinggi for her old time later when she cannot work anymore. She wants to work as long as she still can weave and is healthy. She likes her boss and her colleagues. She also thinks that her daughter in law may be interested in weaving if they get the training and good payment. She also expects that people will buy the rugs which she makes so that she and her friends can have regular jobs. She does not have any other job or skill that can make her able to find another job. Her dream is that she can produce more products to get a more stable income.

MULYANI
She is 65 years old. She is a widower with one child. She lives with her child, daughter in law and her 2 grandchildren. They all work for their household and help/support each other financially. Her child works in a motorbike repair shop and her daughter in law works as a freelance sewer at home (sewing from a convection company). She lives nearby the workshop. She has worked in weaving for 15 years. She wanted to work to meet people and to get money and she liked it because the working place is just nearby her house. She worked in the field before she worked as a weaver. She worked as a farmer when her husband was still alive. Her piece of land now is rented by another farmer.
She likes to weave but it is challenging to work on Hinggi’s design and big size. She needs to redo it sometimes. She also likes to get extra payment from Hinggi. She wants to work as long as she is healthy and still can weave. She expects to go to holy land when she has money and still lives long. Her dream is that she can produce more products to get a more stable income. Without weaving, she cannot get money.

JUMINTEN
She is 65 years old and a widower. She lives nearby, only 5 minutes walking. She has worked for 8 years. She already weaved from 15 years old, and she cannot speak “Bahasa Indonesia” well and cannot write well because she could not get a good education. Before working at Lurik Rachmad she worked as a farm worker. She finds it challenging to weave big rugs with new designs from Hinggi and easier to weave normal fabric. She likes working as a weaver in the workshop because she can meet good friends and get money. She does not have any land/field to work on. She always works for other people. She prefers to weave than to work in the field.
She also expects that people will buy the rugs which she makes so that she and her friends can get extra income. She does not have any other job or skill that can make her able to find another job. Her dream is that she can renovate her small house which has damaged walls.

SUPARMI
She has 2 children and they have worked. She has worked for 20 years at Lurik Rachmad, and her house is only 1 km away. She likes the job because she has many good friends there. She knew about Lurik Rachmad through friends. She learned to weave at Lurik Rachmad. She was 42 when she started to weave because she needed to get money. She was divorced and that was why she had to work to get income. She has 4 grandchildren. She cannot write well and cannot speak “Bahasa Indonesia” well because she did not get a chance for a good education.
Her dream is that she can save money to go to holy land. She wants to work until 70 years old. She is now 62 years old.
She finds it challenging to weave big rugs with new designs from Hinggi because she must stand a lot. She expects that people will like her rug and the more people buy her rugs, she can get a more stable job and income. This will help her a lot because the more order they get, the more chance she gets stable income.

DALIYEM
She is 60 years old. She has worked for 15 years at Lurik Rachmad. She works because she needs money for her living. She did not go to school; she only went to school for 2 years. She cannot read or write; she cannot speak Bahasa Indonesia. Sometimes she works in other people’s farms or weaves because she does not have any land or field. She lives with her 3rd child; her daughter works at home as a freelance sewer from a convection company. She does not remember her daughter, but around 25 years old. All her 3 children are female.
Her extra wage from Hinggi will be used for daily food because she cannot have an option to get money as income.
She finds it challenging to weave big rugs with new designs from Hinggi because she must stand a lot. She expects that people will like her rug and the more people buy her rugs, she can get a more stable job and more income. This will help her a lot because the more order they get, the more chance she gets stable income and as long as possible.