Batik king Iwan Tirta sizes up his heirs apparent
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.