Through an initiative of Patrick de Vries and the help of the Indonesian embassy in The Hague, the opportunity was offered to welcome two prominent specialists to forge a Keris in the atelier of Seerp Visser in Belgium. For Seerp a big opportunity to enlarge his knowledge about kerises. Click here to watch the video 

"If you look up the word kanshitsu what you will find is dry lacquer technique. I’ve always quite disliked that translation. It makes it sound so uninteresting and, well, rather dry. It hardly, if at all, gives you any sort of indication of what makes the technique so special. A more appropriate translation would be forming technique or infinite possibilities technique. I suppose neither of those rolls off the tongue either, but they at least paint a better picture of what kanshitsu really is. Kanshitsu is a technique that has actually been around for a very long time. If we [...]

"Feelings are something that we all have, something that we can all relate to. They are inseparable from the human condition. But where do they come from? Why do some of us feel stronger feelings towards certain things more than others? Feelings are powerful. They’ve guided us and inspired us since the beginning. The expression of feeling can be as abstract as the feelings themselves. From poetry to dance to music to art, all in a way to decipher our inner selves in hopes that some, even if only a few, can relate to us. Sometimes I wonder if [...]

More than a sensei. More than a studio. "Artists and craftspeople alike often feel some sort of deep connection with the materials with which they create. There are certain materials that can inspire us to think about more than just ourselves. The way grain in a piece of wood flows in and out creating the most magnificent and unexpected patterns. The way ceramics can have those rich, beautiful colors from the intensity of fire dancing through a kiln. They provide both makers and their users with a lifetime of fascination and discovery. I can’t remember when I first came [...]

''Hi! My name is Hugh and I am a Taiwanese-American currently studying urushi in Japan with artist Nagatoshi Onishi. My background is in fine furniture and prior to coming to Japan I studied at The Krenov School in California. My good friend and mentor Joe Amaral opened up the world of urushi to me and I fell in love ever since. Joe specializes in stunning decorative surfaces, but my personal interest has always been more in form. Choosing to study with Onishi sensei was about more than just learning urushi techniques. I was seeking his guidance to help [...]

Seerp Visser was born in 1943 and educated in mechanical engineering (Ing, MsC). From 1964 - 1990 he worked for major petrochemical oil companies as Aramco Saudi Arabia and Shell and also for his own company, which later extended to the "Piscator" group of companies, as an engineer. From 1990 he educated as a blacksmith and was employed by the Belgian blacksmith Idir Mecibah for a couple years. Then he became a teacher for blacksmithing at the Royal Academy of Art in Antwerp. He is now a blacksmith specialized for the restoration of metal objects and studies the forging methods [...]

The Institute ISI is the only school in Indonesia where the production of Keris is taught. Dietrich Drescher has also forged blades in their own forge once before. During a guided tour, we had an insight into the different areas of the institute where different arts and design can be studied. The university exists since 53 years and teaches in addition to graphic design, photography and theater the World Culture Heritage listed art forms such as the batik art, the art of the shadow theater and the gamelan playing. In the university, we met empu "Rumpun Ilmu" who has also [...]