Laweyan handmade batik makers struggle on<\/p>\n
By Sulistyo Budi N<\/p>\n
LAWEYAN, Central Java (JP): The rows of imposing houses on
\nsome of its streets tell of Laweyan's onetime prominence as a
\ncenter for handmade batik.<\/p>\n
And its decline is sadly evident in their rundown condition
\nand that most stand empty.<\/p>\n
Its heyday was from 1960 to the late 1970s, when factories
\nbustled with the activity of workers producing some of the finest
\nbatik in the country and the houses were home to wealthy
\nmerchants.<\/p>\n
The Islamic Trade League, which later merged with the Islamic
\nLeague, was pioneered by H.O.S. Cokroaminoto along with large-
\nscale batik merchants in the town. Takashi Siraishi's Jaman
\nBergerak (Changing Times) explains that batik was the foundation
\nof the economic and social movement at the time, when Surakarta
\nwas known for its batik cottage industries.<\/p>\n
The glory began to fade in the 1980s, when mass production of
\nprinted batik became commonplace. There also was the problem of
\nregeneration because successful craftspeople rarely thought about
\nthe need to pass on their skills and knowledge to others.<\/p>\n
Rohyani, 45, who has long been part of the handmade-batik
\nindustry and is one of the few survivors, said, \"Formerly, nearly
\nall the people who were successful started from the business of
\nbatik. Economic success through the batik industry then gave
\nbirth to noted entrepreneurial figures who rose to national
\nlevel, like Cokroaminoto, for example.\"<\/p>\n
Rohyani did not seem destined for a career in batik because he
\nwas never good at art. But in junior high school in Surakarta he
\nwas impressed by his fellow students' drawings, and he decided to
\ntry his hand at that. After school, he decided to make his own
\nsketches, a process which took six months to learn.<\/p>\n
The simple pencil sketches were then transferred to a cloth
\nand painted by means of a canting (a small dipper used to apply
\nwax in the batik process) and dyed.<\/p>\n
The cloth was dyed and given a motif of natural scenery before
\nbeing sold by his aunt in Yogyakarta. His first successful sales
\nled to his lifelong immersion in the industry.<\/p>\n
Death blow<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that the real deathblow for many handmade-
\nbatik industries was mass-produced batik made by printing
\nmachines.<\/p>\n
Although lovers of fine batik will always choose handmade
\nbatik, the mass-produced variety is better in terms of design,
\nmotifs and the smoothness of the production process.<\/p>\n
\"Some of my friends' business have gone bankrupt. Other batik
\ncraftspeople said I was lucky as I could survive while others had
\nceased production,\" Rohyani said.<\/p>\n
The great equalizer for both the print and handmade-batik
\nbusinesses was an economic crisis which struck the country
\nbeginning in mid-1997. As the rupiah plunged to shocking lows,
\nbusinesses counted themselves lucky if they could survive to see
\nanother production day.<\/p>\n
Rohyani said he realized that survival meant changing with the
\ntimes and meeting market needs.<\/p>\n
He started producing batik which was suitable for casual
\nactivities, such as beach sarongs for the foreign-tourist market
\nand casual shirts.<\/p>\n
The biggest demand came from Bali, where an expatriate
\nAmerican working on the island contacted him.<\/p>\n
An order was placed for 500 casual shirts and 800 sarongs.
\n\"Sometimes I was bewildered in making them because they
\ncontinually asked me when they would be completed. Impact from
\nthe monetary crisis caused the orders to decrease,\" Rohyani said.<\/p>\n
Most orders continue to be for casual shirts, beach clothes,
\nhouse dresses and batik-motif silk clothes. Orders tend to come
\nin spurts, but Rohyani said their value varied from Rp 6 million
\nto Rp 15 million.<\/p>\n
He insists on payment in advance, and is fond of recounting
\nthe story of a foreign buyer who sent his driver to pay for a
\nlarge order amounting to many millions of rupiah -- which was
\nhanded to him in wads of cash!<\/p>\n
His success has not gone unnoticed by other entrepreneurs,
\nsome of whom know a good thing when they see it and are copying
\nhis ideas.<\/p>\n
Rohyani said his hundreds of motifs are taken from wayang
\n(leather puppets) and natural scenery, but he said he had
\nforgotten all of them.<\/p>\n
Some of his motifs -- he estimated dozens -- have been copied
\nby batik print makers trying to take a piece of the lucrative
\nmarket.<\/p>",
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