Batik designer Iwan Tirta taking stock<\/p>\n
Bruce Emond
\nContributor
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Iwan Tirta has reached a point in his life where feeding the ego
\nno longer takes center stage, but that should not be taken to
\nmean that Indonesia's ambassador of batik design is resigning
\nhimself to a complacent dotage.<\/p>\n
Far from it: at 68, the famed raconteur is still not one to
\nsuffer fools gladly, volunteering sage albeit blunt personal
\nadvice or, in more intimate settings, wickedly cutting down to
\nsize some of the country's leading figures.<\/p>\n
But while he has enjoyed the trappings of success, he is not
\ninterested in the ultimately self-defeating trap of trying to
\nkeep ahead of the pack. Glitzy fashion shows and the yearning to
\nsee his name splashed across newspaper headlines are a thing of
\nthe past.<\/p>\n
"The big question now is, `Now what?' One should always ask
\nthat kind of question after reaching a certain age or stage in
\none's life. For me now, the gathering of feathers in my cap has
\nslowed down a little bit, and now is the time to consolidate and
\ntransfer my knowledge to other people and younger generations."<\/p>\n
He compares his position to the "good guys" of Javanese
\nRamayana and Mahabharata shadow puppet plays, who start divesting
\nthemselves of their material possessions once the battle is won
\nto adopt a humbler, more altruistic approach to life.<\/p>\n
"My biggest worry is looking at the situation in Indonesia
\nabout preservation and documentation for future generations,"
\nIwan said. "We have a very oral tradition in our culture, so you
\nalways say so-and-so is still alive so we can still do it, but
\nthen you realize that they're not and there is no documentation
\nproper.<\/p>\n
"Scattered, yes, archives, no."<\/p>\n
Although freed from colonial rule almost 60 years ago,
\nIndonesians still have yet to realize who they are as a people,
\nhe said, as precious cultural points of reference are lost
\nforever.<\/p>\n
"The erosion in our culture is happening so fast that people
\ndon't actually know who and what they are, and what we have. We
\nnever actually know what we had because there is no proof except
\nfor a little bit here and there."<\/p>\n
Iwan uses drawings, interviews and computers to document the
\nbatik tradition, and is preparing to head a project with the
\nMinistry of Trade and Industry concentrating on batik patterns of
\nthe country. He is also working with a hotel chef, training him
\nin the "home-style" Indonesian cuisine prepared by the women of
\nthe house instead of the blander hotel school version.<\/p>\n
These are not as glamorous or exciting as some of his past
\nendeavors, but that does not matter to him.<\/p>\n
"I sound like a needle stuck in the groove of a record, but
\nit's so important to do this. People won't realize until it's too
\nlate, when they ask, 'Oh did we have those things?' We cannot
\nmove forward without preserving our past."<\/p>\n
His own batik designs (he is branching out to batik motifs on
\nceramics and silverware) are also meticulously documented and
\nstored at a center for design patterns, with outside parties able
\nto use them for a fee.<\/p>\n
In a marriage of the commercial and art, his sophisticated
\ncomputer technology is supplied by a Japanese company, which is
\ngetting its money's worth by using a tag line with the message of
\n"Helping to save Indonesian heritage".<\/p>\n
In his new role of champion of cultural preservation, Iwan is
\nholding true to his life motto of reinventing himself. Raised as
\nthe only son among four children in a well-to-do family (he
\ncontinues to live in his childhood home in Menteng, Central
\nJakarta), he graduated law from Yale and spent several years
\nworking at the United Nations in New York.<\/p>\n
His reinvention as a batik designer in the 1970s has led to
\nworldwide recognition of his talent and knowledge. Apart from
\nbecoming a household name in his homeland, Iwan has dressed some
\nof the world's most powerful people in their visits to these
\nshores, from then president Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy in the
\nmid-1980s, to Bill Clinton and other world leaders during the
\n1994 APEC conference.<\/p>\n
Even 007 himself Roger Moore, in his capacity as UNICEF
\nGoodwill Ambassador, donned an Iwan Tirta shirt.<\/p>\n
There are other sides to him that contrast with the polished,
\nhigh-profile image. He still loves a meal at Trio, a simple,
\ncubbyhole of a Chinese restaurant beside the railway tracks in
\nMenteng, a favorite spot for him since he tasted his first
\nNanking chicken there a quarter century ago.<\/p>\n
He also took up bodybuilding in the 1970s as he spent more
\ntime in his second home of New York, saying he wanted to buck the
\nimage of fashion designers as limp-wristed, fey types.<\/p>\n
Along with success, Iwan has also experienced difficult times.
\nHe suffered horrific burns to his legs 30 years ago when someone
\ncarelessly tossed a lit cigarette into a sluice at his batik
\nworkshop. In more recent years, Iwan has had to deal with a
\nfinancial wrangle, and nearly lost his home before the matter was
\nresolved.<\/p>\n
Iwan attributes his ability to reinvent himself, as well as
\neasily move between different and contrasting worlds, to his love
\nof knowledge.<\/p>\n
"It doesn't matter what you read -- just read. At least you
\nknow. If you're an economist, don't just read about economy. Read
\nnovels, read magazines. They will give you the necessary support
\nto have a vision."<\/p>\n
Never married (he famously sidestepped the inevitable inquiry
\nof TVRI interviewer Anita Rachman by quipping that his
\nbachelorhood was his contribution to the government's population
\ncontrol efforts), he spends most of the year in Menteng with his
\nbeloved pugs, occasionally visiting his New York apartment.<\/p>\n
His memoirs may be in his future -- "That's the next step but
\nI worry that if I'm too revealing, then I might end up in jail!"
\n-- but he said his only regret was that he was not born so
\nfabulously, drop-dead wealthy to make a difference in the lives
\nof others.<\/p>\n
"Money for me is a means to do good things ... Philanthropy is
\nsuch an important thing. So after the hoarding comes the time to
\nreinvent yourself, which is the pattern in America," Iwan said.<\/p>\n
"Here people are still in the process of acquiring things.
\nLater, their grandchildren will do it (philanthropy). You have to
\nremember that most Indonesians have this agrarian mentality, that
\nyou have to hoard to avoid disaster."<\/p>\n
In taking stock of his life, Iwan borrows a bit from the famed
\nMy Way. Naturally, he first notes the woeful misappropriation of
\nthe song, with its reflections on life's regrets and preparing a
\ngracious exit, as an I Will Survive by beleaguered but defiant
\npolitical leaders.<\/p>\n
"You know, I do go my own way, but there is no final curtain
\nyet," he said impishly.<\/p>",
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