PEKALONGAN, Central Java (JP): Batik has been known

PEKALONGAN, Central Java (JP): Batik has been known for several centuries as a reflection of Indonesia culture. It was developed through interisland trade, nurturing the creation of various decorative designs and colors adapted to the culture of the respective areas.

As masterpieces of skilled hands, batik was only worn by members of royal families. However, batik had gradually been popularized in the society as the royal families wanted to spread the culture.

Javanese men and women use batik as part of their traditional attire. Previously batik's motifs and colors indicated the social status of the users. Certain batik designs, like the parangrusak motif, are still considered sacred as they were specially designed for sultans, their consorts and crown princes.

As time went by, handprinting batik became less popular. Handmade batik was mostly created by the women folk in villages, but today even they are abandoning the activity.

The emergence of batik printing companies absorbed hundreds of male and female batik workers. This disadvantaged handmade batik producers. Ironically, some of handmade batik experts had to leave their family business and start working at these companies as in seen in Cirebon, Pekalongan, Yogyakarta and Surakarta, which have been known as centers for handmade batik.

Batik printing companies prefer to fulfill market demands instead of maintaining the classical and traditional handmade batik motifs, which usually takes longer to complete and is more expensive. Machine printed batik can be produced faster and at lower prices, and thus have been in greater demand both locally and internationally.

Combination

The current demand for machine-printed batik prompted 40-year-old Ahmad Ilyas, owner of Seni Motif Batik company at Pringlangu village in Pekalongan, Central Java, to change his business strategy.

He has managed his company, previously run by his parents, for 12 years. The company previously only produced handmade batik with the support of 20 workers. Like other companies, it used to only produce batik with traditional motifs such as flowers, parang (knife design) and jlamprang (eight-rayed rosette motif set in squares, circles or lozenges).

Due to its decreasing demand since 1990, Ilyas began to combine machine-printed and handmade batik patterns with modern motifs, including abstract, polosan (plain background) and cuwiri (wings) designs. The mixture of bright and dull colors attracted many customers.

""I was hardly able to fulfill the overwhelming orders from local and foreign customers,"" said Ilyas.

So Ilyas recruited more workers, mass produced batik and exported them to Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Japan. Modern batik motifs are produced in lengths of three meters to four meters per piece. A three-in-one piece (for a skirt, blouse and shawl) is sold at Rp 800,000 (US$84) per score in the international market. The commodity is distributed abroad through PT Cahaya Gumilang in Bandung and PT Jaya Makmur in Jakarta.

To meet demands in Jakarta, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and Bali, the products are sent directly to the market in the cities.

Batik pieces for the domestic market are smaller in size, measuring two meters to three meters in length but it can cost up to Rp 1 million per score due to the better quality material.

""Local customers generally look for better quality material rather than the motif,"" Ilyas said.

Ilyas's company produces at least 1,000 scores per month to meet the demands of the international market and between 500 scores and 600 scores per month for the domestic supply. To produce 1,600 scores of batik, the company needs about 500,000 yards of plain cloth, worth Rp 5,000 to Rp 8,000 per yard, per month.

Plain cloth and batik wax are available in the local market, but batik dyes must be imported from India, China and Germany, thus pushes up the prices.

The combined machine and handprinted process comprises three stages. The first stage sees the plain cloth cut in the required size and stamped with the printing color stamps.

Colors in the printed material are protected with batik wax scooped out with a canting (small, thin-walled, spouted, copper cup). The material is then dipped in boiling dye for a moment and then dried in the sun.

Batik makers

All workers involved in the batik production in Ilyas' company work under contract with wages between Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 per score, depending on their job and skill.

Ilyas admitted his company once faced sluggish sales, especially at the beginning of the economic turmoil, which hit the country in 1997. There was hardly any batik printing activity in Pringlangu village at the time. However, a year later, the batik home industry began to recover.

""Almost all villages in Pekalongan produce batik today. Though the sales volume is small, it is sufficient to meet the daily expenses of the villagers,"" said Ilyas.

Teguh Susetyo, 26, one of Ilyas' workers, said he earned between Rp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 per day, depending on his productivity.

""We'll automatically speed up our work when we need more money,"" Teguh laughed and was quickly joined by his colleagues.

Globalization and new trends have caused people to forget their culture and the protracted economic crisis in Indonesia has inspired small-scale businesses in villages to modernize.

But will the changes cause the younger generation to forget their culture?

By Ahmad Solikhan