Museum embraces batik makers

Museum embraces batik makers

Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

A new batik museum has opened here in Imogiri, Bantul, about 15
kilometers southeast of Yogyakarta, offering not just a
collection of batik works but also an environment where
traditional batik painters who have been in the business for
generations live and produce fine traditionally made batik works.

Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who is also the sultan
of Yogyakarta Palace, officially opened the museum last week.
Occupying a traditional Javanese building, which is over 200
years old and the famous joglo-roofed hall -- which is so named
as it is shaped like a boat -- the museum is located among the
workshops of many traditional batik makers.

"We plan that the museum will stand as a living monument to
batik. Therefore we will not just display batik works. We will
also show how handmade batik is created and how batik makers
continue to survive in the region," said Larasati Suliantoro,
initiator of the museum who is also chairwoman of the association
of Yogyakarta batik lovers, Paguyuban Sekar Jagad.

To realize this objective, a special place for selling local
batik products is also provided at the museum. That way, she
said, the museum would not just be a place for displaying
historical collections but also become part of the surrounding
environment -- which explains why the museum is called the
Imogiri Batik Environment Museum.

Located across from the Imogiri traditional market, the museum
displays some 200 pieces of traditional batik of different motifs
and patterns. They are neatly displayed in the main house which
is similar to those of noble families in the past, complete with
a traditional room for greeting visitors, pedaringan or senthong
tengah as it is more popularly called.

The joglo hall in front of the main house is used to display
local batik products that visitors can buy, while the
demonstration of the making of handmade traditional batik cloth
is provided on the left and right sides of the main entrance.

"In the long run we plan to display batik
from all batik regions of Bantul," Larasati Suliantoro said.

The sub-district of Imogiri has long been known as the center
of the traditional batik industry, where most batik shops and
galleries in the city (which sell traditional batik) obtain their
merchandise.

There are numerous groups of batik craftsmen in the region,
each utilizing different patterns and motifs.

The fact that Imogiri is also well known for the graveyards of
the noble families of the Yogyakarta Palace indicates that the
region may have existed well before the Mataram Kingdom. Also,
this further explains why the region has been the home of
traditional batik painters for generations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the museum, the sultan
said that the establishment of the museum would hopefully enable
people to further study the region's social and cultural life.
Through a particular batik motif, he said, one could recognize
the history of a region that would in turn enable them
to inherit, not just the batik tradition, but also cultural
values.

"A (traditional) batik painter expresses an idea, like storing
a document, while painting a batik work. That's why we can trace
the history of a particular region through the batik works
produced in the region," the sultan said.

The sultan also expressed hope that the batik tradition in
Imogiri would continue, and advised local batik producers to
really know the batik market -- outside and inside the country,
including how to produce batik without chemical or toxic
ingredients. That way, he said, Indonesian batik products would
survive on the global market.