Dream of Karawang Batik

KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI

Istiqomah Gardjito

Karawang\'s reputation as a national rice barn has inspired Istiqomah Gardjito in her creations of various rice plant motifs on batik cloth. The motifs are not only beautiful but also contain messages and are full of philosophical meaning.

Although she was born and raised in Jakarta, Istiqomah still remembers Karawang, West Java, as her parents\' hometown. She remembers when she visited Karawang, which has vast rice fields. The vast rice plants that turned yellow was a sign of prosperity.

When interviewed at her home, behind the Great Mosque of Karawang, West Java, Thursday (10/10/2019) afternoon, Istiqomah, 68, appeared to be blushing in orange batik with a creative pattern called leuit. In Sundanese society, leuit is a place to store rice harvest. She got the inspiration from her childhood.

Istiqomah also recalled when she visited her grandma\'s house in Jatisari district, Karawang. At that time, on her way to the location, she saw vast rice fields that stretched along the sides of the road. She remembered very well, the road was not as smooth as it was now, so people had to drive slowly on the road. That made her able to pay attention to the details of agriculture in Karawang.

The most memorable was the harvest season. That scene was rarely found in a metropolitan city, where she had been raised. "I saw the farmers working together very intimately. They were busy harvesting rice and collecting them one by one to be tied together. After that, the harvest was stored in a leuit," she said.

KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI

Istiqomah Gardjito

Pension

Her seriousness in the world of batik was only made after her husband, Col. (ret.) Gardjito, 76, retired as a member of the Indonesian Army. Previously, she often relocated to different regions accompanying her husband on his assignment. According to her, each region has a special batik that can be used as souvenirs when there are guests visiting.

Because of the frequent visits to batik artisans, I think, if later [my husband] retire, I will stay in Karawang to work through batik.

At that time, hunting for batik had become Istiqomah\'s daily activity. She understands even though the batiks are from the same city, every batik made by the batik maker has its own characteristics. "Because of the frequent visits to batik artisans, I think, if later [my husband] retire, I will stay in Karawang to work through batik," said the recipient of the 2018 Karawang Inspiring Women award.

In 2008, she created a number of batik motifs with rice plants, including pare sagedeng (a bundle of rice), various rice, harvest crops, leuit (rice barn) and cere bulu (a type of rice in Karawang). The pattern is a reflection of Karawang as a national rice barn.

She invited retired mothers in Karawang to work intensively on this field. However, it was not easy to make them enthusiastic and it required patience. Her efforts to develop batik stopped temporarily for two years.

Her determination to reawaken the soul of the Karawang batik flared in 2011 when she met two children who had dropped out of school. They were sent for batik courses in Yogyakarta for a month and a half. Upon their return from the course, Karawang batik was re-produced.

Being a partner of Perum Peruri in 2016, it gave her more opportunities to participate in various exhibitions. Her business was growing, in a month at least the turnover can be around Rp 25 million to Rp 30 million. She received batik orders from schools, companies and offices in Karawang.

Regeneration

Istiqomah was aware that the knowledge she possesses will be in vain if it is not transferred to others. Since then, she has routinely provided batik training to mothers and school children.

She also opened the Bale Batik Taza at her home as a place to introduce Karawang batik and provide special training to anyone who was interested. According to her, to preserve the tradition of making batik it requires a long and continuous process.

"Trying to introduce batik making in a city that is not native to batik is difficult. Having a high spirit is not enough. It is also necessary to make sure the flame [for batik making] does not go out," he said.

To whom should we pass this batik tradition on? The participation of the Karawang youth in developing and preserving it is very important.

To maintain the existence of Karawang batik, she pioneered a talent search event called Putera-Puteri Batik Karawang in 2013. According to Istiqomah, Karawang batik cannot exist worldwide without being introduced through the younger generation as the agent of change. She prepared all, from the initial concept to the selection process, with her team. In fact, to start the event she collected the capital independently.

"To whom should we pass this batik tradition on? The participation of the Karawang youth in developing and preserving it is very important," Istiqomah said, frowning. In her journey, there were not a few who looked down on Istiqomah\'s efforts to work on batik. Some of them think that Karawang batik will not be as exotic as other batik cities in West Java.

Responding to that, as her name implies, Istiqomah (means persistent) will continue to be steadfast in her stance to develop the potential of Karawang batik. There were 27 batik motifs she created, six of which had been registered with intellectual property rights. One time, there was an individual who copied the batik motifs for sale. The case was about to be brought to legal process. But in the end it did not continue because the person requested the case not to be brought to legal process.

She believes fortune will not go to others. That experience actually made her think that in fact her batik motifs inspired others. Istiqomah dreamed of building a batik village in Karawang. She said a number of batik villages in several regions in Indonesia had been highly developed in reviving their batik traditions. This can raise the potential of tourism and the economy of its citizens. She is optimistic that her efforts so far will bear sweet fruit in the future.

For Istiqomah, batik is not only a piece of cloth, but also the symbol and identity of an area. There is still a long way to go to introduce this potential to the world. Slowly but surely, hopefully her efforts will bring results.

KOMPAS/MELATI MEWANGI

Istiqomah Gardjito

Istiqomah Gardjito

Born: Jakarta, 26 December 1950

Education:

- SD Negeri Cengkareng (Lulus 1962)

- SMP Negeri 45 Jakarta (1965)

- SMAN 1 Boedi Oetomo Jakarta (1968)

– Academy of Foreign Language Jakarta (1973