The future of the keris

[fearn]

I don't normally post here, but I like predictions, so here are mine, good and bad:

1. Someone (China?) will figure out how to fake pamor or make large amounts cheaply, and flood the market with cheap keris.

2. In some security conscious places, non-functional keris will become the predominant form. Alternatively, locking sheaths will develop for those who want to keep their blades.

3. An ex-pat Indonesian community (perhaps in Australia) will support an empu to make local keris, and a new keris tradition will develop, using local materials and new shapes.

4. Some materials (especially from CITES species such as elephants) will largely disappear from keris manufacture. So will wood from old-growth forests.

5. New materials will show up, as the materials revolution continues. Some will be adopted, especially to replace things that are no longer available (such as ivory).

6. Biotechnology and advances in isotopic chemistry will allow keris owners to cheaply authenticate their antique keris as antiques, and to store that information in a way that travels with the keris. Antique keris, particularly those made of materials like ivory, will re-enter the international trade.

7. Someone will work to keep the old ways alive.

My 0.00000000000000002 cents,

F