Kiai Carita is right, a new, high quality keris is not cheap to make and collectors must be willing to pay the price for them to keep the art alive. However, they do cost a whole lot less then their antique counterparts. If, for instance, the keris Sepang posted were old it would probably cost a small fortune. If i were seeking this finely crafted rare dapor this new keris would be the way i would have to go. However, i am for the most part interested in antique keris, but this has not stopped me from collecting a number of new keris based purely on their beauty and execution. Still, i will continue to collect old keris as my interest goes beyond the physical aspect of the material keris itself to a place of cultural, sociological and spiritual study. These qualities remain absent in new keris regardless of the level of craftsmanship. And if, as you say, it may not be exactly legal to remove old keris from Indonesia, it's not as if they are being stolen from the culture like certain antiqities of the ancient world (of Egypt, Greece, etc.) were by Europeans in the 18th and 19th century. Indonesians are willingly selling them for profit and since the alternative is that they would rust away in some forgotten draw somewhere, i have no pangs of guilt about collecting and preserving them.
As to whether or not we have the power to create new mpus, i think that might involve a new definition for the word mpu. From my understanding an mpu is more than just someone who is capable of making fine, high quality keris. He/she is also a priest of sorts, highly knowledgable of prayers and the magick necessary to bring "life" to a keris. It is also my understanding that an mpu must be designated as such by the kraton, not the people. So what power do we as collectors of keris (new or old) have in creating new mpus? This is not to take away from the great talents of some of these new master keris makers, but IMO the term mpu needs to remain in reserve for a very special and specific individual. Most of the keris we collect, whether new or old, were NOT made by mpus. Just because a keris is old, even very old, this is not to say it was mpu made. I don't see why it would be necessary to put the name on new keris makers (how ever good they might be) to convince us that their keris are worthy of collection. That, as in the case of the keris Sepang has posted, we can see with our own eyes. To believe that we have the power to appoint any of these new keris makers mpus seems both unreasonable and unnecessary to me.
BTW, i won't name sellers here as i think the swap forum is a far more appropriate place for advertisement, but there are in fact a number of honest, reputable sellers that have been offerring high quality new keris for quite some time. Hopefully the collecting world will be more accepting of them in the future.
