Teak wood is a natural hardwood that is indigenous throughout Southeast Asia. Historically it has been known for it's strength against the elements, and as a raw material is often used in boat making and the construction of decking on houses. Occasionally artists will use teak as a carving wood, however due to it's hardness and density softer faster growing woods such as suar wood, are often perfered.

Here at Yak Arts, a large part of the reason we travel is so that we know what we are getting, and who we are getting it from. We travel directly to sustainably managed forests in Indonesia to source all of our furniture. We do our best to buy directly from the artists who construct the furniture. To do this we go on journeys for over five hours on unpaved roads in jungle terrain. In this part of the world the temperatures can sky rocket, the humidity can only be described as "unreal". In the picture here you can see our owner Robert with his daughter, Heather. The benches pictured were purchased from a man's home workshop.