Batik museum preserves Yogyakarta tradition

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

A new museum and study center inside the Yogyakarta palace complex is helping to preserve the region's batik tradition by educating a new generation of people about this important cultural heritage.

The batik on exhibit in the museum, which was recently opened by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, was donated by the palace and members of the public.

Sri Sultan said during the museum opening that it was important to preserve the art of batik, which he described as conveying important ethical and aesthetic lessons. He also said batik was closely associated with life; people are wrapped in batik when they are born and when they die.

Batik is also an expression of life and man's place in the universe, as depicted on the gawangan (wooden frame on which fabric is hung).

The bandul (fabric weight used in the batik-making process) represents the heart, and the lancing wax is the gem of one's soul. Each item used in the batik-making process batik equipment has its own significance.

The 150-square-meter museum contains batik cloth dating back as far as hundreds of years, as well as new pieces donated by the palace and the public. The museum also houses batik paraphernalia, such as canting (small dipper used to apply wax in the batik process) and different types of wax.

There is a large selection of canting and wax, in all different sizes and shapes, according to their function.

Kote wax, for instance, functions as a cloth whitener and protector, tembok wax blocks parts of the design that will be white later, biron covers the first color applied during the dying process and gondorukem is used as a mixture in wax to produce fine etchings.

A piece of batik with a parang barong motif and tassels at its ends, worn by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII during his coronation in 1921, is also exhibited at the museum.

Upon entering the building, visitors will be amazed by the sheer variety of the motifs on display. There are about 60 modern pieces of batik in various patterns, including parang, cuiri, truntum, ceplok, sido mukti and sido luhur.

The art of batik has developed over the course of centuries, since the era of the Hindu and Buddhist empires, as can be seen in batik motifs in a number of ancient temples, such as the Sewu and Prambanan temples.

Batik has gone through extraordinary changes over the centuries, and today batik designs have been incorporated into hotels, shopping malls and government buildings, and batik has become part of the national dress.