A Mansion with a Mission

For the ceramicist F. Widayanto, a house should bring benefits to its surroundings.

A house surrounded with black fence stands in Jl. Setiabudi no.11, Central Jakarta. To look at it in a glace, there is nothing special about the building. What makes it different from the rest of the other beautiful house surrounding it, the gate was open wide, and so was the entrance.

Stepping in, instead of a living room, was a room filled with shelves on almost its every side. And on the shelves was hundreds of ceramics in various size and shapes. On the floor lies ceramic tiles, and in the corner of the room was the reception desk.

That house was certainly not a house in an ordinary sense. This is the house where on certain days, the ceramicist F. Widayanto spends his time. The house was unusual because
beside being the residence of Widayanto, the house is also a showroom that offers ceramic making class.

According to Baidar, the manager of the estate, the house is open for everyone. “We welcome
people to come here. They can just look around without actually having to buy anything. And
for those who are interested to simply talk about ceramics? Please do come here,” he said.

“Just the other day, four students of ITB dan STSI Solo came here to conduct research on
ceramic.” It is usually Baidar who is responsible to answer inquiries about ceramics asked by the students. “Usually, after coming here, they would go to the factory and spends a lot of time there.”

For the staff of Widayanto’s house, such visits are part of their daily lives. For a very long time Widayanto has opened the chance so that people could enter or conduct studies on ceramic in his house.

As an artist Widayanto is a man on a mission to make people realize that almost every aspect
of live could not be separated from ceramic. His house is the embodiment of the thought. Almost every corner of the building was covered or decorated with ceramics of his creation. From the small pool near the reception area, to the rooster shaped figures that decorated the top of the roof. So for anyone interested in finding out more about ceramic, don’t hesitated to come to the house/showroom located in Central Jakarta.

The house in Setia Budi is the main house for Widayanto. He inherited it from his parents. After becoming a successful ceramicist, he bought two adjacent buildings and then expanded his house. “ Twenty years of Widayanto’s career was spent in this house,” said Baidar.

Aside from the house in Setia Budi, he has two other houses. The one in Ciganjur is open for
public as a tourist attraction. The other one is in Tapos, it is the one where he spends his time making and producing his latest ceramics creation. Every week he would come and stay in each of the houses.

Like the house in Setia Budi, his other houses also have missions of their own. The Ciganjur
house, aside from being an exclusive resort also held ceramic making classes for elementary and junior high students. According to Baidar, in September alone, there were about 500 students came and learn about the making of ceramics there.

“It is a long shot, but who knows maybe in the future a world class ceramicist would emerger from one of the little ceramic classes that we have,” said Baidar.