Bicara Kraf Rotan Sempena HKK 2008 and Illo Mini Bookmarks 2

Yesterday, while i was in IKN, making sure things would be running smoothly for today's Rattan "Bicara Kraf"event, i had Mr. Ariff of HEP informing me "Rizal, besok orang luar yang confirm datang cuma 6 orang jerr.." "Haaaaa!!....camtu ker?" But then, i kept calm and said to myself "hmmm..macam biasa, diorang malas nak confirm ni. Jenis suka datang mengejut je." So, I asked Mr. Ariff.. " So, ape plan?" and he told me his plan of this and that. Listening but not listening, i just said.. "hmmm..hmmm..hmmm. Tak kisah la, aper2 pun, i am sure ko kan up to this. Musti ko boleh handle mender2 camni kan. Takkan ko nak kecewakan aku? Aku tau besok ada orang. hehe (evil grin)". Ohh, I wasnt being mean to him, but i just couldnt resist myself "kenakan dia". And I walked out the room laughfing hysterically inside knowing that Mr. Ariff was now having an extra weight on him. Poor Mr. Ariff (such a nice, sweet bubbly chap). The truth is, it is hard to find an audience when it comes to rattan crafts. Unlike the ever popular Batik, Tenun, Fine Metal, Wood Carving and Ceramics, Rattan seems always out of place in IKN. Tapi syukurlah, these past one and half years, things seems to have picked up as planned. But, a whole lot of ways to go...


And today, yippie tra cha cha cha (from that monday heppi mood), we had a full house, better than last year. 2/3 were a mixed of practical students, Frim, rattan craft entrepreneurs and those from the HKK people. Another 1/3 were from IKN ( a mixed of rattan and three other departments). Panels were from Sirim, Frim and and an entrepreneur, moderated by Dr.Wan - used to be my Ide (Industrial Design) lecture. p/s : Kak Wan - ohh you look so chic today-Kaching! kaching!. It was really good with lots of responses from mixed crowd, which i was long desired. And the best thing too, we had the most outsiders compared to other "Bicara Kraf" departments (5 done so far). (heard that, more and more people after rattan - edited 4th april 2007) Another Kaching!! Kaching!! Next, my plan is to have Kak Wan and Mr. Tarmizi of Frim to do short courses with my department. There are areas that i find interesting. I even said to Mr.Zehan (Head of Wood Craft Department) - "Jan, Kak Wan aku book until Diploma show yer..hehehe.. Kau boleh ambil Encik Salleh.." I am looking forward to do some short courses with Kak Wan to see how we can stir up the Rattan Craft industry in terms of Design Creativity. And i think it is time too, my students look at Rattan Craft as product design than just merely as craft. I am not trying to teach them to be product designer, that would be so wrong and out of context, but i would be more than happy, if they are aware and able to grasp ideas when it comes to designing a product.

I would like to say thanks too to the whole lot of people who have made this such a great success. My apprentices (4 of them), my supportive kawan2 kerja, the academic sections and my 2nd boss - who else if not Kak Farid. Thanks too to Encik Zainal ya. Aishah and Linda came up to me and say "Haaa rizal, tgk ni susah payah kitaorang kerja khas untuk ko.." And i said "Thank You laaa.. haaa tuuu laa tak sia-sia kan aku jual furniture rotan kat korang murah-murah. Give and take.. hehe.." - Speaking of cheap rattan furniture, rattan department does its clearance sale from time to time to give room to new furnitures. Bayangkan lah, tiap2 sem students buat furniture satu sorang, store besar tuu jugak. Tuu tak kira kalo satu student buat satu set perabot. Mana nak simpan?. Kena jual laa nak bagi ruang. And we do sell cheap since we are not into making profits. Unfortunately, staff kebas beli dulu daa. On a different subject, Molly and the gang were complaining to me telling how their design were being copied by their senior (which is now a rattan craft entrepreneur participated in HKK- she wasnt my sudent) On one hand, i feel good, new things are being picked up, on the other hand I am worried too that our hardworks are being "ciplak.." I do understand how my apprentices feel. And i do feel sorry for them. They didnt wish to be paid, but just a simple"Thank You" would be nice. Yer la, pening kepala pecah buat design, and suddenly you see other people copy not one but few design and said.. "Secara kebetulanlah dapat idea ni.." My foot!! To whoever you are, i am happy that you come out and try new things, but please, do not look down on my girls or staffs or pandang remeh what we are trying to do if you yourself have not contributed a single thing in the industry. And that goes to the rest of you people (yeah you know who!!) - that of other designers or those yang perasan tetiba jadik community designers atau art kritiklah pulak. These people have the "holier than thou" attitude. I am willing to listen to good critics but i wont take craps from you people. Latsly, i just said to my aperantices comforting them, "it is okay.. she is just a follower. Yang penting kita boleh innovate atau invent.. Kita tgk la nanti lagi setahun. Sama ada dia follower atau pun innovator : ) ." And this is the main problem with rattan crafts. Too many follower, not enuff of innovators/ inventors. Once you put your work out there, you ll see the whole rattan crowd doing the same thing. Everybody is copying everybody else hoping to get a piece of that pie. And that is why we have the same exact copy of shapes, forms and colours from Perlis to Johor when it comes to rattan crafts. : ( And that s why people say rattan craft is boring. : and ohh please.. enuff la with that lampu panjang tuu.. i can sense that thing akan jadi lambakan macam typical bakul )

Well, lucky those 180 people who showed up today. They got themselves freebies. A good notebook, a pen (as usual la), a ceramics key chain (made by the ceramics department), paper bag with food - yummy, my rattan special made booklet (gonna launch a 2nd edition), and a rattan butterfly which glued to my artwork (thanks to those heavy duty laser photocopy machine - Thanks Sheila for buying this machine). hehe. I do really love the notebook. It does come with this beautiful batik hardcover and a spiral ring (edited 4 april 07- dgr chiter ramai orang hq nak datang semata-mata nak buku tapi tak nak stay untuk bicara kraf - hampeh betoi). Still,I have no intention of using it. This year alone, i have received many notebooks and planners. So, I am just happy to stick to my sketch book aka planner until i get my moleskin (drooling..)



In spite of HKK, i still manage to find time doing my mini art werks. Bookmarks and postcards. I am hoping to do more of these. Above is my doodling artwork which i make them into four bookmarks. I just embedded the word "restnrileks" lightly. Right now, i am just hooked into making my own postcards, with my own design. Printing sendirilah. hehe. A good way to keep up with friends thru the snail mail. Anyway, time to stop,Yeah i know, this is a bit longer than my usual rantings. Sekali-sekala jer kan apa salahnya. Hope you like my mini works. Ohh, thanks for reading, hepi blogging ya you people out there. :)

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