Toiling traditional batikmakers worry about the future

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): Inah has been a batikmaker in Kauman village, Yogyakarta for more than 50 years.

She spends most of her day sitting on a mat, drawing a large variety of batik patterns with her canting (wax applier), to produce hand-painted batik.

"I've mastered all traditional batik patterns of the Yogyakartan style and remember them by heart. All the lines, dots and motifs flow out easily from my memory," said the 65-year-old, who started drawing when she was eight years old.

Inah is deeply saddened that she has not able to pass on her skills, which she inherited from her mother and grandmother. She wants to share her expertise, but nobody wants to follow her profession, not even her own children.

"In the past, many young and old women worked as batikmakers. But now, this village is quite empty. Young women have rushed to Jakarta and other big cities to work as housemaids or laborers in factories. I cannot blame them, because life as a batikmaker is very discouraging now," Inah said.

To produce a piece of low-quality batik, Inah spends at most Rp 15,000 ($7) on the materials and spends up to seven days to finish it. She can double her expenditure, selling the cloth for up to Rp 30,000 a piece. For high-quality batik tulis (hand- painted batik), she can charge from Rp 300,000 to Rp 1 million a piece.

"I have to spend three to eight months to finish one piece of prime quality batik tulis," Inah said.

According to Teguh Djiwanto, a professor of rural economics at Jendral Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Central Java, most Javanese batikmakers earn between Rp 905 and Rp 2,000 a day. This is below the government-set minimum wages of Rp 3,200 to Rp 5,200 a day.

Djiwanto, also a batik expert, said development projects have attracted rural youngsters, including those living in batik centers, to move to the cities.

"They think that working in factories and other projects offer more sizable incomes and promising careers. This also happens in agriculture. More and more young men are leaving their rice fields to work as unskilled labors in urban areas," the professor said.

What bothers Inah most is that centuries-old batik-making skills are fading.

"For me, making a batik cloth is an expression of my heart and soul. But I am getting old now and many batikmakers here are all old women. If we die, nobody will produce fine batik tulis. This means that batik tulis will soon die with us," she said.

Inah is not alone in her concern. There are thousands of other women like Inah in batik-producing villages in the country. The batik centers of Pekalongan and Banyumas in Central Java, Madura, Tuban and Banyuwangi in East Java, and Cirebon, Tasikmalaya and Garut in West Java are dying from a lack craftspeople and materials.

H. Abdullah, a batik entrepreneur from Pekalongan, said it is difficult to find skilled batikmakers to support his business.

"In the l960s and early l970s, I employed more than 100 tulis and cap (press) batikmakers. Now, I can only find five people, all of them are in their 60s," he said.

In Banyumas, a top batik centers in Central Java, the number of batik sellers dropped from l05 in the l970s to only 15 in l993.

Steps

The government tried improve batikmakers and to boost batik selling because batik is a potential non-oil export. The value of batik exported from Central Java rose from only $5.4 million in l989 to $13.13 million in l993.

A non-profit organization, the Indonesian Batik Foundation, has taken steps to increase production. The foundation was established in l994.

Yultin Harlotina Ginandjar Kartasasmita, chairperson of the foundation, said batik making is now just a production process to meet market demands. It is no longer the artistic expression of the makers.

"Many batikmakers are working hard simply to meet the demand of the market and businesses. Their working conditions are still very bad. Moreover, they can never express the beauty of batik and the philosophy behind the art in their works," she said.

Due to market pressure, many batik designs and patterns have been developed but they lack feeling.

"Unlike old motifs, which are rich in symbols and images of the people who produced them, the new motifs comprise only lines and ornaments," Yultin said.

Yosephine W. Komara explained that batik producers and businesses are responsible for the lack of appreciation for batik.

"Batik is now popular and widely used for various purposes, but many people and the producers do not known the name of each batik motif, let alone the philosophy behind it," said Yosephine, one of Indonesia's top batik producers and designers.

Many batik manufacturers, especially those who produce printed textiles with batik motifs, are too money-oriented.

"They produce money from batik, but they don't care about the life of batikmakers. Many of them are even irresponsible, they steal many batik patterns from batikmakers in the villages as well as from batik designers and produce them in large quantity," said Yosephine.

Ideally, all batik producers would learn about each batik pattern and educate their buyers about the patterns.

"They can also set aside part of their profits for the welfare of batikmakers. It is just a matter of moral obligation," said Yosephine.

Many people, she said, think that batik is a handicraft, and therefore has a similar economic value.

"Batik is actually an avant garde art. The process of making a piece of batik is very complicated. It requires sophisticated techniques and skills in addition to patience and sincerity. It takes about eight months to produce this batik," she said, pointing at her kain panjang (batik cloth).

The development of batik designs and production should directly benefit batikmakers, she said.

Objectives

The batik foundation aims to improve the welfare of batikmakers and provide more information on batik to the public.

Dipo Alam, secretary-general of the foundation, explained that the foundation has set up a number of programs to reach its goals. Last year, for instance, it began cooperating with the Balai Batik design and development center in Yogyakarta and the Balai Tekstil design and development center in Bandung in a special project to maintain existing batik designs and develop new processes and designs. The project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, also involves a number of local batik designers grouped in the Indonesian Designer Association.

"Currently, we are developing batik designs on wool. Indonesia has already succeeded in creating silk batik," Dipo said.

The foundation, in cooperation with state agencies such as the ministry of trade and industry, also helps small-scale batik producers to expand their businesses.

"If their businesses expand, the lives of their batikmakers will improve," Dipo said.