Natural dyes and colors enrich Pekalongan Batik

Natural dyes and colors enrich Pekalongan Batik

By Rita A.Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): Dudung Ali Syahbana, a batik maker from
Pekalongan in Central Java's coastal area, smiled happily when a
large number of guests admired and bought dozens of his exquisite
hand-drawn silk and cotton batiks.

Dudung's new and innovative batik pieces, displayed at the
Indonesian Culture Development Foundation's office in Kebayoran
Baru, South Jakarta last week, attracted attention from both
local and foreign batik and traditional textile lovers.

His batik pieces, priced between Rp 500,000 and Rp 2 million
per piece, included experimental and contemporary Pekalongan
batik styles.

Unlike traditional Pekalongan batik, known for its bold,
colorful and non-geometric designs, Dudung's creations are the
combination of natural, pastel colors and a scintillating
modification of batik motifs from Central Java's batik centers.

"I experimented with natural dyes and colors using roots,
plants, fruits, stems and other materials from our backyards,"
explained Dudung after his lecture.

Natural dyeing and coloring was practiced for centuries in the
production of batik and other traditional textiles in Indonesia
before synthetic and chemical dyes were introduced in the early
19th century.

Natural dyes, also called vegetable dyes, are coloring agents
from plants which are extracted by fermentation. There are more
than 150 kinds of dye producing plants in Indonesia that provide
multifarious colors for cotton, silk and wool.

Certain colors can be obtained from plants such as blue from
indigofera, red from morinda citrifolia, yellow from maclura
cochinchinensis, brown from ceriops tagel, and black from casia
fistula.

Dudung's most recent creations include long cloths that were
dyed using mango leaves.

"The dyeing and coloring technique is time consuming. We have
to process it over at least three-days," Dudung said.

The result was marvelous. The long silk batik cloth and shawls
have shades of green and brown colors with tunjung flower motif
drawn vertically, a rare Pekalongan batik style.

"I prefer to use natural colors like green, brown, black, and
maroon instead of the usual bright colors used in Pekalongan
batik," Dudung said.

He also modified some of the traditional patterns such as
truntum motif, usually worn by parents of Javanese brides and
grooms, in silk fabrics.

Dudung said the current trend in batik is natural colors and
natural dyeing. "The global textile market demands 'a back-to-
nature' technique," he said. Even in some European countries,
chemical dyes in textiles are prohibited, he added.

"If we want to survive and to penetrate overseas markets, we
have to follow the present trend in technique and design," said
Dudung, one of the renowned batik artists in Pekalongan.

After Surakarta and Yogyakarta, Pekalongan is known as one of
the country's most prolific batik producers.

Located on the north coast of Java, Pekalongan currently has
26 batik centers employing almost 12,000 artisans out of 500,000
residents.

The city's batik productions reach almost 1 million pieces of
batik a year with sales of long cloths, shirts, tablecloths,
bedspreads and other interior items generating annual revenues
approaching Rp 165 billion.

Pekalongan batik is popularly called batik pesisir,
batik produced in coastal areas of Java.

The designs and colors of Pekalongan batik, developed since
the middle of 19th century, are innovative and intriguing when
compared to the classical styles of Surakarta and Yogyakarta
batiks.

"During the Dutch colonial period, Pekalongan was a commercial
center in Java where traders from European countries, China,
India and Arabia mingled in robust business activities," said
Suwati Kartiwa, chairperson of the foundation.

Foreign influences are vividly seen in various art forms
including architecture and batik designs.

Pekalongan batik is been a blend of Indonesian, Chinese,
Arabic and European influences.

At that time, batik was widely produced in the Kauman (Islamic
village), home to many devout Moslems who were also successful
traders.

Batik was also manufactured by a number of Dutch ladies and
Chinese businessmen who lived in Pekalongan.

One of the ladies, Mrs. Eliza Van Zuylen, also developed
dyeing techniques, producing and printing batik fabrics using
motifs taken from European fruits, flowers and plants. The style
of these Dutch batiks were called batik buketan.

In a number of kain panjang, long cloth, there are European
flowers like Chrysanthemum, birds and butterflies.

The palette of Pekalongan batik varied in designs and colors
ranging from yellow, pink, red to traditional blues and European-
Chinese inspired soft pastels.

These Dutch batik makers were responsible not only for the
introduction of new color combinations but also for the changes
in the basic layout of batik long cloths and sarongs. They were
also the first persons to sign their names on their batik
designs.

Chinese influence on Pekalongan batik are also evident. The
Chinese were the first to use chemical dyes in the batik process.
They produced batik cap (printing). The colors of Chinese style
batiks were light blues, pinks and bright reds and blues which
were very different from the traditional batik colors of
Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

Encouraging

Suwati said it is encouraging to see local batik artists and
producers using natural dyeing processes in creating their works.

Suwati, however, warned the artists and manufacturers to be
more protective of their rights.

"Currently, many Indonesian textile designs are fully or
partly taken up by foreign designers and so far, we do not have
any legal basis to protect our textile designs," said Suwati.

The foundation and a number of related agencies including the
directorate general for copyrights have plans to discuss this
matter and possible threats concerning Indonesian traditional and
contemporary textile designs.

Dudung, however, said he would not mind if local artists
copied his works. "It can encourage me to experiment with other
styles and techniques and to explore new materials," said Dudung.

But, he said, it would be proper for foreign designers to have
his permission before fully or partly adopting his designs.