King of reinvention Iwan Tirta strikes again

Sherry Samtani, Contributor, Jakarta

The many faces of Iwan Tirta include professor, international lawyer, author, the country's leading batik designer and now a designer of silverware.

But regardless of his line of business, one title reigns supreme -- his perpetual enthroning as the "master of the art of batik".

Now the master has his very own emporium, a massive yellow and red five-story building of several thousand square feet, tucked away in Kedoya, West Jakarta.

With the ground floor exclusively devoted to his products, the opening of Iwan Tirta's spanking new gallery will provide a much needed batik haven on that side of Jakarta.

Seceding from his previous joint venture with PT Rama Craft, Iwan launched PT Iwan Tirta last year, an affiliation with Agus Sugiono, with an exclusive line of creations titled the "IT Private Collection."

The move followed the lead of international high fashion designers teaming up with conglomerates to broaden their financial horizons with increased backing and their own focus centered more on the creative side.

"The days of independent fashion houses are long gone. We require technology and finance to maximize our potential and I am bringing this trend to Indonesia," Iwan said.

Iwan has designed batik clothing for presidents and kings, his works covered in numerous international publications such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, National Geographic and many others.

The gallery will continue his legacy of rich textiles in unique batik designs but aims to take the Indonesian cloth to a new level by branching out with silverware and porcelain, all adorned in batik motifs.

His last collection of porcelain, themed The Phoenix and Peony Flowers, was revered for its traditional lookcan motif and a revival of the blue and white combination in porcelain.

This time around his kedaton (court) collection of 2005 with Royal Doulton bears the classical Modang design, a bold pattern of red, black and gold. Iwan recreated the fiery design, once reserved for the ceremonial batik of the royal courts of Java, depicting a symbolic love that ignites passion not only in oneself but the entire world.

The Modang pattern also makes an appearance in silverware as well in a coffee and tea set masterpiece. Mostly border work, Iwan said most of the work was intricately embellished by hand and the silver was of premier quality, befitting the beauty of his designs.

The silverware was six years in the making, and Iwan said it was "purely Indonesian with Javanese and Balinese influences... There is no point in imitating foreign silverware."

With Turkish silver flooding the market, Iwan wanted to offer something different while enlarging the span of batik.

His silverware carries two lines -- one less exclusive but more affordable, and one for exclusive masterpieces. A favorite from the latter includes brilliantly ornamented conch shells with sterling silver borders that were handmade in Klungkung, Bali.

The visible disparity between his batik clothing and batik silverware is the traditionalism in the patterns of the latter.

However, the idea of sterling silver handcrafted pillboxes in the Chinese patterned lookcan motif of north Java is innovative in itself.

Prices are still not fixed but they will be by the grand launching on Oct. 29.

The gallery, in its half-done state, shows promise of variety and extravagance.

And Iwan promises only more with plans for a cosmetic line that is in keeping with his creative genius and love of glamour and sophistication.

Will the gallery live up to the claims? The grand launch will tell all.