Quake batters heart of Java's handicraft centre

TEMBI, Indonesia, May 31 (Reuters) Australian-born Warwick Purser points sadly at a building once filled with ethnic Indonesian bric-a-brac and craft made by villagers living on the outskirts of the quake-hit royal city of Yogyakarta.

The roof of the showroom has collapsed, damaging craft such as pandanus leaf placemats, woven coconut shell ice buckets and black terracota plates that have made their way to department stores such as Macy's in New York and Harrods in London.

Tembi, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Yogyakarta, is among hundreds of villages hit by Saturday's quake which killed nearly 6,000 people and left more than 130,000 homeless.

The village is also the headquarters of Out of Asia, one of Southeast Asia's largest exporters of handcrafted products.

Around 1,200 people live in Tembi and most depend on the company for their livelihood.

''There's a reason for everything in this world. Tragedies in some ways can give us a different motivation. And, of course, my motivation now is to work harder to rebuild the economy of the village,'' said the company's founder, Purser.

''A major objective is to try and get the activity in this village going again, so people can at least close their minds to this terrible earthquake that's happened and get on with their life.

We have to rebuild our workshops as quickly as possible.'' Purser founded Out of Asia more than 10 years ago. The firm's annual sales are in excess of 6 million dollars, with the United States being the main market.

The company's emplo yees are safe, though many suffered from injuries from the quake that damaged most buildings in Tembi, including Purser's 150-year-old home which is a showcase of Javanese craftmanship and architecture.

MORE REUTERS SHB RN1503