The Engleson Files

Well, for me the trip really started to get going when I got the idea to get a good old fashioned project on the go. During my research on Indonesia I read about what their national sports and interests were and stumbled upon the game of congklak (pronounced - Jone Clak). I read about how congklak is the traditional game of Indonesia and also discovered that the games origins could be the oldest in history. Many know the game as Mancala and those in the know figure the game originated in Africa some 7000 years ago - and then must have come to Indonesia soon thereafter; if you would like any more detail on the game click here.

Anyways, I thought it would be kinda cool to get one of these boards made; and since we established a fairly non-hectic travel schedule I figured there would be enough time in each location to get it done. One thing I absolutely love about projecting is how it forces you to dig deep within a location and find people who are skilled in whatever it is you are doing - and I often find that it is these people I like hanging out with the most. Every location we traveled I had a guy to chum around with to share in the process of creating - it was a huge highlight of my vacation!

So, on our first day in Senggigi I immediately asked the guy at our front desk where I could find someone to help me. He then put the buzz out to one of the workers on staff who then asked his friend who sells souvenir trinkets on the beach, and then about a half an hour later - viola: I had a congklak guy! Soon after, I walked over to the beach, shook the man’s hand, asked if he had lots of teak wood hanging around and then began to draw out what I wanted done. There was only three days to get the base forged out and then I figured I would take the board to our next stop and find some other guy to put his magic touch on to it as well - Arpah (my congklak guy in Senggigi) said, “no problem, it will get done in time. You have my promise.” I also asked if I could come out and watch it being made and take a few pictures- again, “no problem.” Two days later Magnus and I had our motorbike chauffeurs waiting and then went on a wild ride into the countryside and watched our guy make our new congklak board; every single ounce of this board was hand made.

It was from this moment of starting the project and talking to everyone involved where I learned about the deep, and highly skilled, tradition of wood carving in Indonesia and just how important it is to many. For the next three weeks I would meet a handful of people who all helped greatly and added their own beautiful touch to my Indonesian project. I hope you will enjoy watching the stages with me and I know you will all be amazed at the final product(s). Here are pictures of the opening process…

P.S. - sorry for the poor quality of these pictures, I had these scanned from my film camera.