Once famous Madurese batik comes apart at the seams

Once famous Madurese batik comes apart at the seams

By Abdur Rozaki and Singgir Karta

BANGKALAN, East Java (JP): The island of Madura is famous for
its traditional bull races, but few are aware that the Madurese
are also fine exponents of the craft of batik. Much of the batik
is marked by bright colors of red, green, blue and yellow, and
the use of varied motifs.

It's difficult to find historical records on Madurese batik
making. Acectdotal evidence says the craft was first practiced on
the arid island about 300 years ago in Paseseh village,
Tanjungbumi subdistrict, Bangkalan regency.

It is believed the emergence of Madurese batik was linked to
the tradition of Javanese batik. In roughly the 1700s, when the
Mataram Kingdom opened contact with the Kingdom of Madura, a
process of cultural exchanges took place. The Javanese batik-
making tradition, particularly from rural areas, was brought to
Madura. This influence can still be seen today in batik made by
housewives in Pamekasan and Sampang. In these two places, the
motifs resemble those of rural areas in Java: dark colors
dominated by deep red, black and dark blue.

Over time, Madurese batikmakers found their own format with
patterns and motifs suited to their own cultural background.
There are two main characteristics of Madurese batiks: the rural
batiks characterized by dark colors and coastal batiks dominated
by marine-inspired bright colors.

Coastal batiks usually bear images of objects related to the
sea -- seashells, seaweed, starfish, algae, shrimps, crabs, ships
and so forth. The images are still maintained today by most
batikmakers in coastal areas.

Locals say the motifs are connected to the maritime culture
which is deep-rooted in the Madurese community. In the past, when
Madurese fishermen went to sea, their wives spent their time
making batiks as they waited for the ships to return. The strokes
they made on their batiks showed their deep longing for their
beloved husbands far at sea.

Another unique aspect of Madurese batiks is the preparation of
coloring materials. Although coloring chemicals are now
available, most Madurese batikmakers prefer traditional coloring
agents prepared from plants.

To obtain red, for example, they will soak the root of
mengkudu (morinda citrifelia) in water. Blue is obtained from the
leaves of tarum (indigofera) while the color of dark green is
from the bark of a mundu (garnicia dulcis) tree. Black is derived
from mixing the basic colors.

In the 1970s, there was a boom in Madurese batik in the
domestic market when the regional administration, through the
office of the Ministry of Industry in Bangkalan regency, tried to
boost production by means of introducing coloring chemicals to
the batikmakers. The idea was not well-accepted. However, the
batikmakers have accepted the recommendation from the local
administration to use silk cloth instead of the usual mori, or
unbleached plain cloth.

The most important job in batikmaking is coloring or soaking
the cloth in the coloring agent. The process of natural coloring
takes about five weeks, while the chemical coloring process is
only two weeks, but natural coloring provides better results. The
older a batik cloth is, the more luster it will have if natural
coloring agents are used. On the other hand, with a chemical
coloring agent, the older the batik, the more faded the color
will be.

The price of a 2m x 1m batik cloth ranges between Rp 300,000
and Rp 400,000 if a chemical coloring agent is used. A batik
cloth of the same size will cost over Rp 600,000 when natural
coloring agents are utilized.

There are taboos which must be observed if natural coloring
agents are used, said batikmaker Hadi, 60.

"First, a batikmaker having her period must not prepare a
coloring agent. Second, during the coloring process, the
batikmaker is not allowed to make a visit of condolence even
though the deceased is one of the closest neighbors. If these two
taboos are not observed, the coloring agent will have a pungent
odor and could not be used," she said.

Despite its long history and heyday, Madurese batik seems to
have lost its popularity and is becoming increasingly forgotten
on the national batik scene. There are several factors involved.
First, batikmakers lack knowledge of modern management skills and
are unable to run their batik enterprises as modern businesses.
It is clear from the absence of promotional media and appropriate
marketing techniques.

Second, the regional administration has yet to embark on
maximum efforts to place Madurese batiks as a prime commodity of
the island. Government support is usually limited to production
techniques and has never touched on marketing aspect. Third,
there no investors who have been able to organize Madurese
batikmakers. Other factors include design development and
production capacity in relation to the market demand.

"There was a time when Madurese batik was sold to many regions
and even exported to Malaysia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, among
other countries," said Mafudz, a batik vendor in Tanjung Bumi
Market. "Madurese batik was taken abroad in the sea trade and by
haj pilgrims. Today, however, it seems difficult to market
Madurese batiks in other regions."