Wood carving is one of the typical Indonesian crafts whose popularity is worldwide. In fact, some of them have penetrated the international market. But I Made Aritanaya has quite a unique way to bring Indonesian woodcarving to a higher level. Instead of in the form of ornaments or furniture, this wood craftsman from Gianyar chose to pour his work on a guitar. This creative idea began when a guitar lover from Canada visited the workshop owned by Made's father, I Wayan Tuges, in 2005. "There was a businessman from Canada. He came to Bali to make guitars, but he didn't know where guitar craftsmen were. My father and I were unfamiliar with guitars. I was a carpenter and carver," Made told detikcom, Tuesday (15/11/2022).
"He brought a cheap guitar, 'can you make a guitar or not? It can be disassembled'. I said yes, ready. Finally he came home, for three months I made a guitar with minimal skills. Using wooden blocks, I don't know what thickness, what scale, I I don't know about that problem. But I think this is for art. So you can say it's a guitar, it's shaped like a guitar but there's no sound at all," he said. Armed with this limited ability, Made and his father succeeded in making two carved guitars. But who would have thought, a carved guitar that couldn't even produce sound caught the customer's attention. Seeing this potential, the customer offered to work together with Made and his father to make a carved guitar that could be picked up and produced melodies. "Maybe the idea came in. He (the buyer) came home with the guitar, looking for a guitar maker in America. He came to Bali to teach us the basics of making guitars," added Made. In 2007, they also succeeded in launching their first carved guitar product, branded BlueBerry, at the Montreal Jazz Festival. The work they exhibited at the event received extraordinary acclaim and even sold out. "It was launched there, it turned out that the response was quite good from the musicians there. Finally, production, initially we sold it via e-bay, auction, yes. Per month, 20 guitars (sold)," said Made. From there, Made and Tuges received many custom orders from people who were interested in their carved guitar designs. Until 2012, Made and Tuges decided to be independent and founded their own BlueBerry Guitars brand.
Over time, Made and Tuges continued to hone their skills in making carved guitars. Then in 2017, one of his works caught the attention of rock legend from the Netherlands, George Kooymans. "George Kooymans's name, that's the legend of the Netherlands. The name of the group is Golden Earring. That's Mick Jagger's generation, that's the band," he said. Not only Kooymans, Made said that his work was also glimpsed by many top musicians from other worlds. Among them, Tony Emmanuel, Michael Franti and Walk of the Earth. "There's something called the Guitharpulele. It's used by the Canadian band Walk of the Earth. We make a guitar with a harp, guitar, ukulele, washboard and kalimba. That's all musical instruments in one," he said. Apart from foreign countries, Made revealed that the BluBerry carved guitar was also in demand by musician Iwan Fals and the 6th Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "For locals, Iwan Fals brought three (guitars) in 2016, then Pak SBY 2017 at the Congress in Nusa Dua. Then there was a recommendation from the Minister. There is a guitar maker, you know that Pak SBY likes to sing. Then my father was called to Nusa Two, we finally made it. When he (SBY) had a birthday, it was handed over to the Palace,". It was this uniqueness that finally brought BlueBerry Guitars together with PT Bank Raykat Indonesia (BRI). Under the guidance of BRI, Made was able to develop BlueBerry Guitars through capital assistance, training and business matching facilitated by BRI, so that now his products have the opportunity to appear in the MSME showcase at the G20 Summit in Bali". For businesses, there is a Paid Credit. Continued to be offered for trainings, I took part. There was also funding, for exhibitions. BRI also provided links, like before Brilianpreneur in Jakarta, there were buyers from outside. Even though they haven't bought anything yet, there has been a response, already known, there is additional product promotion," he explained. Made hopes that through the events held by BRI, his products will be increasingly recognized both locally and internationally. As well as, raising the name of Indonesia and showing that the country has a variety of products that are not inferior to other countries. "At least raise the name of Indonesia, meaning one of my products can be there. The diversity of products in Indonesia is no less. For BRI to be able to support and be able to introduce my product," he concluded.
