A Step on the Sun
The art exhibition of Kawah Ijen in “A Step on the Sun” is running at Conner Contemporary Art from March 17 – May 5, 2012 by an artist Janet Biggs – the New York-based artist, known primarily for her work in video, photography and performance art, is currently exhibiting her multi-channel installation and single-channel video. https://www.jbiggs.com/ On the Spot: Janet Biggs. Artist, ‘A Step on the Sun’ * This project made successful with the help of Imam, Abi and Aan on the site.
Workers Mine Sulfur From Mt Kawah Ijen
photo: Athit Perawongmetha Embed from Getty Images Trip to Kawah Ijen for several days discovering the work and life of sulfur porter on the site and at their village. December , 2011 https://www.athitphoto.com/kawaijen
Sulfur Souvenir
As Kawah Ijen has many visitors to come nowadays, offering a unique form of sulfur as a souvenir would benefit to the miners. A natural artistic form of sulfur comes from the sulfur melting drop and miners pull it carefully to get the stalactite like sulfur form. Often they also prepare the other forms by putting it in the plastic pudding mold. Some of them can be found in the form of turtle, butterfly, crap, and apple. A miner puts the melting sulfur into a mold Mr. Budi prepares for sulfur trophy stand
Nights at the Base Camp
The Ijen sulfur miners are usually staying in the camp for several days. They work on the mountain for 15 days on average in a month and stay at home for the other 15 days. Among of them have to work longer. They have to stay for 1-2 months in all-limited conditions. They eat and sleep in the huts that are far from worthy of being called as a camp. The room mingled with ticked smell of sulfur which is closely coupled a fireplace for cooking. The distance from the mine site makes them have to bring food supply and cook it in the workers’ camp .. Sleep sharing, bare ragged cardboard and dingy blankets inside a dark booth space, complete their togetherness that emanated meeting in that room cabin. As evening approached, it’s very valuable time to spend outside the hut just because chunks of ‘golden yellow’ has been…
Hosting Guests
Imam Ijen hosted a photo-reporter who made a documentary project of sulfur mining in Kawah Ijen in November 2009. It is our privilege to host any travelers who visit kawah ijen and walking around the villages. We learnt much how to serve them well and try to understand their origin cultures.
How to Get to Kawah Ijen for Backpackers
🚐 From Bali to Ijen For backpackers coming from Bali, the journey begins with a 3-hour drive to Ketapang Harbor, Banyuwangi. From Banyuwangi, Kawah Ijen is about 40 km away.The most practical way to reach the base camp (±1,800 m a.s.l.) is by joining a shared car transport service, which is affordable and convenient. Please call Imam, our local guide live in Pakel village to get for the transportation and he is ready to give you the option for type of transportation whether you are traveling in group or solo. For those who prefer public transportation, follow these steps: 🌤 Best Time to Visit While Kawah Ijen is visited year-round, the best season is from May to September, during the dry season, when the skies are usually clear.This period gives you the highest chance of enjoying a stunning sunrise over the crater. At night, temperatures can drop to 5°C, so…
Landscape of Ijen
Ijen Crater is not only a popular natural tourist destination, but also home to around 400 sulfur miners. This active volcano contains a massive sulfur deposit and offers a magnificent view of a turquoise-colored crater lake. Visitors can often meet the miners who carry heavy loads of sulfur on their shoulders. On average, they walk up and down the mountain twice a day, carrying between 50 to 100 kilograms per trip. Most of them come from villages located at the foot of Mount Ijen and make a living by carrying sulfur every day. I am one of them — I have been doing this work since 1990. When I first started as a miner, I had to walk about 18 kilometers a day. Back then, in the early 1990s, I carried sulfur from the crater all the way down to Tamansari Village. Between 1990 and 1994, there was no road…
Meet a Photographer
That day, I went back to climb Mount Ijen after staying at home for a few days. As usual, after weighing my sulfur load, I took a short break and wiped off my sweat by taking off my shirt. At that moment, I didn’t realize that someone was watching me. He approached and asked while looking at my shoulder, “Sir, do you feel pain on your shoulder?”“Yes, it hurts,” I replied. That’s how I met Ulet Ifansasti, a photojournalist from Yogyakarta who came to cover a reportage about sulfur mining at Ijen Crater. He asked if I would mind being photographed. I said, “Sure, it’s okay.” He seemed happy and asked me to accompany him for three days. During that time, I guided him around, helping him find good locations for his work. I was very happy those three days—not only because I didn’t have to carry heavy sulfur loads,…
Imam Took Us on Top of Kawah Ijen
I took a break and sit down on a yellow soil mixed with sulfur. It was a sunny day and the the weather was hot. Immediately, I unworn my shirt. While I was sitting there, I didnt realize that someone taking picture, I hear shutter clicks being released. I faced to the back and there were visitors right behind me. They tend to say something to me but I couldn’t reply, however I can figure out what they mean to me. They asked me to take them up. I was happy with the lighted heard going to the edge of the crater. We started at 8 till 11am. In the middle of our walks, I just spontaneously sung and they recorded my performance with their camcorders. When the trip had been finished, I told them that I have email address, so I request them to send some pictures of the trip and the video also. Thank you Vincent.
The Ups and Downs of Being a Sulfur Miner
My name is Imam Busairi, started to work as a sulfur miner in 1989. At that time my parents were very poor, we life in a simple way. We don’t have home and should gather with my uncle. I have 4 siblings and my father had a very minimal income. I remember at that time, one day I eat rice and sweet potatoes only, because there is not enough rice to cook. I have younger brothers who at that time wanted to eat rice, but we had only cassava. Living with such conditions of deprivation, then my uncle, pak Taslim, asked me to join him working in the sulfur mines. That was the first time I saw people carrying sulfur and how they weighted them and get money right away. Immediately I was excited to get the money directly every day like that, there’s nothing could happier than fulfill our food to life. In 1989, the road condition to transport the sulfur was nothing easier like now. We should carry the sulfur with further distance of 21km along, from the crater toward the weighing station in Tamansari village. This is the beginning of my journey as a miner in the crater which I started at age 18. I still remember for the first time to carry sulfur by only 20kg, however it made my feet swell and couldn’t…