Get to know the Tangerang Bamboo Hat

 This Bamboo Hat craft has existed in Tangerang Regency since the era of 1800 until the early 1900s. In the Dutch East Indies era, this Bamboo Hat product was very popular in Europe and America (generally in Latin America), and it is said that its marketing once dominated France.

 In Indonesia itself, this Bamboo Hat is also widely used by the KNIL Army or Koninklijke Netherlands Indië Leger (Dutch Indies soldiers who served in Indonesia during the revolutionary era), even now which is generally used by Scout groups in the country.

 In the past, during the revolution, the centers for making Bamboo Hats in Tangerang Regency were located in: Cikupa Village, Tenjo Village, Balaraja Village, Tigaraksa Village, and several other villages.

 The bamboo hats produced from these villages are then collected by middlemen and then handed over to a hat factory in Tangerang, to be further refined before being exported. Unfortunately, this home industry in Tangerang has stopped due to anti-Chinese riots provoked by NICA (Netherlands Indies Civil Administration or the Dutch East Indies Civil Administration based in Indonesia).

 Finally, this Bamboo Hat craft disappeared for decades. Currently, to be able to find Bamboo Hat craftsmen in Tangerang Regency, we can only meet them in Ciakar Village which is in Ciakar Village, Panongan District.

 Several types of Bamboo Hats are produced by craftsmen in Ciakar Village, such as: Belenong Tudung Bamboo Hat (shaped like belenong), Bamboo Capio Hat (scout hat type), Peradah Bamboo Hat (wall hanging type hat).

 Until now, the production of bamboo hats in Tangerang is still very limited and has not been able to become a mainstay commodity that can raise the economic level of the people of Tangerang in general. A Bamboo Hat community that has been formed since 2011 by several people who really care about this local product and has an official website www.topibambu.com, has played a major role in reviving the existence of Bamboo Hats to be able to compete with other handicraft products.

 The Bamboo Hat Community has also tried to bridge the gap between craftsmen and the government so that Bamboo Hat craftsmen and even the Tangerang community in general are provided with training, as well as grants as business capital, as well as ease in marketing Bamboo Hat products, so that this Bamboo Hat craft is able to become one of the source of income that can raise the welfare of the people of Tangerang Regency. (Sayuti)