Waves of Confidence in Indonesian Batik

Batik makers remain confident in Indonesian batik and undaunted by other countries’ claims to batik. As a matter of fact, these claims have only strengthened the Indonesian public’s sense of ownership for batik.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Ngatmi (51) completed the making of batik at the Batik Mahkota business place at the Laweyan Batik center, Solo, Central Java, Wednesday (15/7/2020). Various new batik motifs were developed as part of efforts to preserve batik as a cultural heritage.

Batik makers in Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Pekalongan remain confident in Indonesian batik and undaunted by other countries’ claims to batik. As a matter of fact, these claims have only strengthened the Indonesian public’s sense of ownership for batik.

Indonesia Batik Foundation executive expert Romi Okta Birawa said on Tuesday (14/7/2020) in Pekalongan, Central Java, that the word “batik” was an acronym of “amba” (to write) and “titik” (dots). “Others say that ‘batik’ means ‘ngemban titik’, which means ‘one cloth carried by one person’,” said Romi, a batik artist based in Pekalongan.

According to Romi, wax resist dye techniques have been used in different parts of the world since the seventh century. However, batik refers to handmade textiles made using the trademark Javanese technique of wax resist dyeing.

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Romi made the explanation in response to a question about China’s claim on batik as tweeted on Sunday (12/7) by the country’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The tweet led to controversies on the internet, with Xinhua uploadin another video on Monday (13/7) claiming that China’s ancient wax resist dyeing was also known as “batik”. However, Xinhua later backtracked and acknowledged that “batik” was an Indonesian word that referred to wax resist dye, a technique that also existed in many parts of the world.

“A batik-making technique may also exist in China. The important thing is that we continue to produce,” said Giriloyo Handmade Batik Association chair Isnaini Muharom on Tuesday in Wukirsari village of Imogiri district in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta Special Region.

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KOMPAS/NINO CITRA ANUGRAHANTO

Handmade batik on display at the Batik Sungsang gallery, Wukirsari Village, Imogiri District, Bantul Regency, DIY, Tuesday (14/7/2020).

Muhtarom said that batik makers’ diligence and consistency in creating batik products would increase the global fame of handmade Indonesian batik. Furthermore, special skills were required to produce handmade batik, which were unique to individual makers who had different styles of drawing motifs in wax.

As a consequence, it was extremely difficult to duplicate a piece of handmade batik. This exclusivity added to the value of handmade batik.

According to Muhtarom, the biggest hurdle in developing handmade batik lay in the prevalence of commercially printed batik that were sold cheap. Handmade batik sells for between Rp 500,000 (US$34.28) and Rp 2 million each, while printed batik sold for only around Rp 30,000 per meter.

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“The public must be educated on the value of handmade batik. The hope is that they can appreciate handmade batik and not see it in the same light as printed batik. If there are no buyers for handmade batik, we may not have any batik artists someday,” Muhtarom said.

Alpha Febela Priyatmono, who heads the Laweyan Batik Village Development Forum of Surakarta, said that Indonesian batik must be preserved and developed since UNESCO’s recognition of batik as a world cultural heritage in 2009.

“We need at least three things so batik will be continued to be recognized by the UNESCO, namely production, trade and education. Education is important for the survival and preservation of batik,” Alpha said.

Also read : Preserving Lasem’s Heritage

KOMPAS/DENTY PIAWAI NASTITIE

A female batik maker while working on Lasem batik (12/06/2017).

Surviving amid Covid-19

Batik makers in the three batik production centers of Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Pekalongan have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. In Surakarta’s Kauman Batik Village, for instance, around 90 percent of around 40 batik shops were closed in the early months of the outbreak.

“In late May, the shops reopened and there were out-of-town visitors. However, they closed again in recent weeks after news spread on the rise in Covid-19 cases in Surakarta,” said Kauman Batik Village manager Gunawan Setiawan.

In Pekalongan, 37-year-old batik maker Tamakun is receiving monthly orders for five lengths of batik during the outbreak. Before Covid-19, however, he used to receive monthly orders for 30 lengths. He is surviving by selling face masks made of batik.

Around 90 percent of around 40 batik shops were closed in the early months of the outbreak.

In order to ease the burden of affected batik makers, MSMEs and cooperatives head Tjandrawati of the Pekalongan Trade, Cooperatives and MSME Agency said that the agency was collaborating with 30 batik groups to produce face masks. The initiative had distributed 133,900 free masks to local residents. Some batik makers like Tamakun were also selling their products to other regions.

Batik makers and sellers, as well as the government, must innovate to survive the pandemic. Romi said that it was also necessary to ensure that people would continue to love batik. The end goal was to ensure that batik continued to exist as a cultural heritage and that the local economy continued to grow.