Batik course revives city's Textile Museum

Batik course revives city's Textile Museum

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Where is the best place in the capital to get first-hand
experience in dyeing batik, traditional Indonesian fabric, for
only Rp 250,000 (US$29.41)?

Such a program is offered by the city-run Textile Museum on
Jl. K.S. Tubun No. 4, Tanah Abang, West Jakarta.

The six-day course has been going on for the past three years
and has become one of the main attractions of the museum, apart
from its collection of numerous traditional costumes from all
over Indonesia.

For a relatively small amount of money, interested people,
both locals and foreigners, can take the course that teaches both
the theory and practice of making batik and other traditional
clothes.

Each participant will get a starting kit of a canting
(dipper), a tiny pan and a small kerosene stove to melt the wax
that is used in the process. The kit can also serve as a nice
souvenir.

The course also includes molani (drafting and designing motifs
with a pencil), nglowongi (drawing the pencil-draft motifs using
a dipper), nerusi (continuing the drawing process with a dipper),
mbironi (coloring the background) and nglorod (wax removal).

Part of the course will take students to the museum's nearby
garden to observe the dye-producing plants. This serves to
enlighten participants on the traditional way of dyeing, even
though most fabrics these days use mass-produced synthetic dyes.
Nevertheless, a small number of batik artists in rural Javanese
regions still use the natural dye to produce their traditional
clothes.

Bayu Niti Purnama, an official with the museum, said that the
course was a breakthrough and had injected new life into the
museum, which previously had little recognition from the public.

"Before we had the course, we only had a few visitors. They
were probably fed up with the boring regular displays," he told
The Jakarta Post recently, adding that it was a common problem
for other museums across the city.

"Since the batik program started three years ago, people have
started visiting the museum not only to enjoy the displays, but
also for the course,"

At present, there is a waiting list for people who want to
take the course.

"We have between five and 10 people every week who line up to
enjoy the experience," Bayu proudly said.

The Textile Museum hosts hundreds of rare centuries-old
traditional designs, woven products and accessories.

Situated next to a bustling street leading to the Tanah Abang
textile market, the largest in Southeast Asia, the museum
building is incongruous in the midst of street vendors' makeshift
tents surrounding it.

The art-deco building is an attraction in itself. Movie and
video directors have several times shot their films in the well-
maintained building and its surrounding garden.

The building was originally built as a private residence for a
French expatriate in the 19th century. It was later purchased by
Turkey, as the official residence of envoy Abdul Aziz al Musawi.

The building changed ownership from the envoy to a Dutch
family, then to a Chinese-Indonesian family and finally the
government, before it became the Textile Museum in June 1976.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3
p.m.