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.