Multifaceted Guruh showcases his batik talent

Multifaceted Guruh showcases his batik talent

By Agni Amorita

JAKARTA (JP): Like the double C monograms of Chanel or the
capital F on every Fendi creation, Guruh Soekarnoputra puts a
calligraphic ancient Javanese character for his name on all of
his art works. Sometimes Guruh changes it to a modified letter G
from the Latin alphabet, formed from the ancient Balinese symbol
of the banji or swastika.

"A line of letter Gs are placed as a sempadan (border) on the
cloth," said Guruh before showing 200 pieces from his handmade
batik collection in a gala fashion show held at the Gran Melia
Hotel Jakarta on Nov. 12.

The show, which was opened by Guruh's sister Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, was considered his first public
recognition as a batik fashion designer. In bright colors such as
red and green, Guruh showed off his mixture of ancient and
modern-patterned batik skirts in the harmonious company of
Indonesian traditional kebaya blouses.

His creations focus on the batik cloth which he used as a long
traditional skirt. Although creating various shapes of kebaya
dresses -- from the Chinese inspired kebaya, a janggan, an Arabic
influenced taqwa blouse to the mekak bludru (camisole), which is
believed to be the Indonesian version of the Dutch bustier --
Guruh acknowledged that his fashion silhouettes are very simple.

"I am still a new kid on the block," he smiled. "Frankly, I
was pushed to be a fashion designer." Guruh took on the job after
realizing the batik cloth was made to be worn and not just hung
up or folded as he had done for years.

As a batik designer, Guruh shows an emotional touch in
remaking a more complicated decoration by mixing traditional
motifs with his brand of new batik patterns. Sometimes Guruh just
adds a new color gradation to an old decoration, which is
possible to be done because Guruh has invented new methods in
designing batik by incorporating various fabrics.

A traditional batik designer may only use cotton, but Guruh
has experienced himself with using rayon, silk, polyester and
even denim and leather. "My favorite is silk, especially the
material from China and India," Guruh explained. He has also
introduced a shortened size of batik cloth called the cinde,
which was considered sacred when worn in the Majapahit and
Sriwijaya eras. All of Guruh's cinde are framed with his
autograph in a banji letter.

Besides batik, Guruh also exhibited his porcelain, ceramics,
furniture, jewelry and painting collections. The event became
lively due to the performances of dances and famous songs
composed by Guruh.

"People know me more as a choreographer, songwriter or music
composer than as a batik artist," acknowledged the youngest son
of Indonesia's first president Sukarno and former first lady
Fatmawati. "Whereas, in fact, batik was one of my first skills
in art."

Muhammad Guruh Irianto Soekarnoputra, who was born in
Jakarta's Merdeka Palace on Jan. 13, 1953, learned batik from his
president and architect father.

"My father loved paintings and in his spare time he also
painted, including batik cloth painting," recalled Guruh, who
used to watch his father with his artist friends, such as
children songwriter Ibu Soed and a member of the Javanese royal
family KRT Hardjonagoro, create new batik patterns for
traditional dress.

"I am autodidactic and created my own batik since 1968," Guruh
said. "First, I bought a traditional anglo stove, malam candle
and canting pen for batik processing just for fun," he said.

Guruh, who was still in the eighth grade, then followed his
father in modifying an ancient batik pattern with his own
creation. This skill was sharpened when Guruh met his batik guru,
Eyang Laksminto Rukmi, the wife of former King Pakubuwono X of
Surakarta, Central Java. "I kept practicing batik mostly as a
release from my daily activities."

Until today, Guruh has created hundreds of batik of various
types. He was inspired by some styles of traditional Indonesian
batik centers, such as those in Yogyakarta, Solo, Cirebon, and
even Jambi, Palembang and Bengkulu.

"Then my old friend Atilah came to me and complained how I
waste my batik's beauty by hiding it from the public," Guruh said
as he pointed to Atilah Soerjadjaja, the niece of former palace
painter Dullah and the wife of tycoon Edward Soerjadjaja.

It was Atilah who urged Guruh to pack all of his art work into
one gala performance. "I then agreed to her plan because we will
use the proceeds from this event for helping needy children in
our country," said Guruh, who picked the title Indonesia My Soul
for his art performance.