Pekalongan Batik conforms to demand

Pekalongan Batik conforms to demand

By Ahmad Solikhan

PEKALONGAN, Central Java (JP): Batik has been known for
several centuries as a reflection of Indonesia culture. It was
developed through interisland trade, nurturing the creation of
various decorative designs and colors adapted to the culture of
the respective areas.

As masterpieces of skilled hands, batik was only worn by
members of royal families. However, batik had gradually been
popularized in the society as the royal families wanted to spread
the culture.

Javanese men and women use batik as part of their traditional
attire. Previously batik's motifs and colors indicated the social
status of the users. Certain batik designs, like the parangrusak
motif, are still considered sacred as they were specially
designed for sultans, their consorts and crown princes.

As time went by, handprinting batik became less popular.
Handmade batik was mostly created by the women folk in villages,
but today even they are abandoning the activity.

The emergence of batik printing companies absorbed hundreds of
male and female batik workers. This disadvantaged handmade batik
producers. Ironically, some of handmade batik experts had to
leave their family business and start working at these companies
as in seen in Cirebon, Pekalongan, Yogyakarta and Surakarta,
which have been known as centers for handmade batik.

Batik printing companies prefer to fulfill market demands
instead of maintaining the classical and traditional handmade
batik motifs, which usually takes longer to complete and is more
expensive. Machine printed batik can be produced faster and at
lower prices, and thus have been in greater demand both locally
and internationally.

Combination

The current demand for machine-printed batik prompted 40-year-
old Ahmad Ilyas, owner of Seni Motif Batik company at Pringlangu
village in Pekalongan, Central Java, to change his business
strategy.

He has managed his company, previously run by his parents, for
12 years. The company previously only produced handmade batik
with the support of 20 workers. Like other companies, it used to
only produce batik with traditional motifs such as flowers,
parang (knife design) and jlamprang (eight-rayed rosette motif
set in squares, circles or lozenges).

Due to its decreasing demand since 1990, Ilyas began to
combine machine-printed and handmade batik patterns with modern
motifs, including abstract, polosan (plain background) and cuwiri
(wings) designs. The mixture of bright and dull colors attracted
many customers.

"I was hardly able to fulfill the overwhelming orders from
local and foreign customers," said Ilyas.

So Ilyas recruited more workers, mass produced batik and
exported them to Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and Japan. Modern
batik motifs are produced in lengths of three meters to four
meters per piece. A three-in-one piece (for a skirt, blouse and
shawl) is sold at Rp 800,000 (US$84) per score in the
international market. The commodity is distributed abroad through
PT Cahaya Gumilang in Bandung and PT Jaya Makmur in Jakarta.

To meet demands in Jakarta, Surabaya, Ujungpandang and Bali,
the products are sent directly to the market in the cities.

Batik pieces for the domestic market are smaller in size,
measuring two meters to three meters in length but it can cost up
to Rp 1 million per score due to the better quality material.

"Local customers generally look for better quality material
rather than the motif," Ilyas said.

Ilyas's company produces at least 1,000 scores per month to
meet the demands of the international market and between 500
scores and 600 scores per month for the domestic supply. To
produce 1,600 scores of batik, the company needs about 500,000
yards of plain cloth, worth Rp 5,000 to Rp 8,000 per yard, per
month.

Plain cloth and batik wax are available in the local market,
but batik dyes must be imported from India, China and Germany,
thus pushes up the prices.

The combined machine and handprinted process comprises three
stages. The first stage sees the plain cloth cut in the required
size and stamped with the printing color stamps.

Colors in the printed material are protected with batik wax
scooped out with a canting (small, thin-walled, spouted, copper
cup). The material is then dipped in boiling dye for a moment and
then dried in the sun.

Batik makers

All workers involved in the batik production in Ilyas' company
work under contract with wages between Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000
per score, depending on their job and skill.

Ilyas admitted his company once faced sluggish sales,
especially at the beginning of the economic turmoil, which hit
the country in 1997. There was hardly any batik printing
activity in Pringlangu village at the time. However, a year
later, the batik home industry began to recover.

"Almost all villages in Pekalongan produce batik today. Though
the sales volume is small, it is sufficient to meet the daily
expenses of the villagers," said Ilyas.

Teguh Susetyo, 26, one of Ilyas' workers, said he earned
between Rp 10,000 and Rp 20,000 per day, depending on his
productivity.

"We'll automatically speed up our work when we need more
money," Teguh laughed and was quickly joined by his colleagues.

Globalization and new trends have caused people to forget
their culture and the protracted economic crisis in Indonesia has
inspired small-scale businesses in villages to modernize.

But will the changes cause the younger generation to forget
their culture?