Batik king Iwan Tirta sizes up his heirs apparent

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): Batik master Iwan Tirta's great obsession is to transfer his profound knowledge of his art to others to continue the ancient tradition.

He had reason to be satisfied last Monday as he watched the exhilarating ideas and creativity of four young, talented designers -- Chossy Latu, Samuel "Sammy" Wattimena, Andre Rais and Edward "Edo" Hutabarat -- in using batik.

The show, held at Iwan's residence-cum-boutique in Menteng, Central Jakarta, was a taste of glorious things in store at his Millennium Batik show, to be held at the Yogyakarta kraton (palace) this Tuesday.

"I am very glad to see how they created various kinds of apparel using my batik," said Iwan.

Sammy showed a series of men's outfits; his was a bold experimentation, however, pairing stylish leather pants with the batik shirts.

Iwan was impressed but sounded a warning about Sammy's first foray into batikwear.

"It is refreshing and encouraging to look at these creative modifications. But, Sammy must be careful when adapting his designs for daily wear."

Chossy's evening dresses were exceptional. He blended Iwan's Hokokai prada batik with a sleeveless silk blouse embedded with a large silk stola.

He also presented beautifully cut blue cocktail outfits adorned with Iwan's large blue shawls in parang, the slanted motif with silver prada.

"The silver prada is a new technique adopted from American textiles. This is my most recent experiment. Silver is the millennium color," said Iwan proudly.

As always, Edo captivated local fashion buffs with his elegant traditional modified kebaya (blouse) over Iwan's kain panjang of diverse designs and motifs.

"All in all, they still have to learn more about creating traditional batik as modern fashion," said Iwan.

Batik is one of the oldest textile arts in Indonesia. It reached its heyday between the 17th and 18th centuries during the Islamic Mataram kingdom, which was divided into two principalities of Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

Batik was previously associated with courtiers, but Surakarta and Yogyakarta became the country's foremost batik centers in which hundreds of intricate classic batik designs were developed especially for the royal families and the aristocracy.

Iwan said the textile underwent a mainstream revival when the late president Sukarno ordered local artists and designers to tailor batik in western-style garments in the 1950s. Sukarno's initiative was continued by Ali Sadikin, governor of Jakarta from 1967 to 1977, who promoted batik shirts and dress as official attire.

Iwan, who is a lawyer by training and has his master's from Yale, also emerged at the forefront of batik design and preservation in the 1960s and 1970s.

"Each batik has a distinctive pattern and therefore it was difficult for us (local designers) to create modern fashions," said Iwan, who along with Go Tik Swan (KRHT Hardjonagoro) and Saridjah Bintang Soedibyo first developed traditional batik into western-style garments.

Iwan said one of the major obstacles for pioneering designers was the fact that batik always came in pieces of not more than 2.5 meters in length, with the designs arranged along the weft, instead of the warp.

He said any dressmaker knows that Western-style fashions are always cut along the warp, and the designs should consist of a regular repeat to avoid excessive waste.

The limited length meant that to make a long skirted dress suitable for evening wear, designers had to have two identical pieces of material, which was not an easy task, since each hand- worked batik was unique. Moreover, each piece was dyed individually, which made it impossible to obtain a precise color match.

Iwan, 65, meticulously set about experimenting with various techniques and materials to develop classic patterns with modern touches.

He transformed cheap batik cotton into sophisticated silk or organza fabric, embellished with lavish gold prada and other forms of adornment.

Despite his more than 30 years' experience, Iwan said the art of batik-making continued to hold mysteries for him. He added there was still much to learn, develop and discover. Batik is more than a textile but a journey to explore the history, culture and the rich philosophy of Indonesian (in this case, the Javanese) people, Iwan maintained.

"It is important for younger designers to first acquire the knowledge of batik and its philosophy before being involved in the batik fashion."

Iwan said there were currently several young designers experimenting with batik. He singled out Carmanita, who is cooperating with Dupont in manufacturing batik and lycra, as talented and creative.

"Carmanita is smart in attracting a young and international audience to wear batik. But, there is nothing new in the batik- making process."

The design king is also optimistic that younger counterparts like Chossy and Edo will flourish in batik fashion.

All the collection will be presented at the Yogykarta Palace in honor of the birthday of Ratu Hemas, the wife of Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

Iwan will also present nine dodot kampuh, a long and large batik cloth especially made for royal brides. The cloth, with the semen gunung motif, will be worn by royal dancers who will perform the sacred Bedhaya Amurwabhumi choreographed by Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

"Ratu Hemas is now involved in an important project to document and record the existing Yogyakarta batik patterns in an effort to preserve one of the most significant cultural heritages," Iwan said.

For three years, Iwan will work together with Ratu Hemas, the palace's batik artists and staff in putting all the batik patterns on paper and recording them on microfilm and computer.

"This is a crucial step in the preservation of Yogyakarta batik because most talented batikkers are now getting old and no one can replace them," said Iwan.