Will Indonesian batik survive challenges?

By Dini S. Djalal

JAKARTA (JP): What is the future of batik? After centuries of persevering through cultural, economic and political upheavals, Indonesia's batik crafts now face the challenges of the new millennium. Will batik adorn the nation in the year 2020?

Only if it survives the competition from contemporary casual wear. The culture of shopping malls is dictating conformity, whether in the shape of Levi's and a GAP t-shirts, or trendier versions of the same uniform.

"Ethnic" shops occasionally appear among imported clothes. Plaza Indonesia has a Batik Keris shop, Mal Pondok Indah has a Ghea Sukarya (read: "ethnic" designer) boutique, and Pasaraya devotes one whole floor to "ethnic" clothes. Outside, in the traditional market places, the same scarcity prevails. If you're shopping for batik, don't blink or you might miss it.

The problem lies in batik design, designers explain. At a seminar on Wednesday on the development of craft design and industry at the National Museum, designer Ardiyanto Pranata stressed the need to revitalize the batik industry.

"Our capacity for creative batik design needs to be improved," said Pranata.

Pranata believes that if batik looked more modern, it would sell more on the international market.

Yet the international stage is much kinder to batik artists than the domestic market. Iwan Tirta's batiks have been worn by the world's kings and queens, and countless celebrities. On her first visit to Indonesia last June, CNN fashion reporter Elsa Klench remarked that Indonesia's textiles were among the most exquisite in the world. In co-operation with Takashimaya department store, Pranata exports his batiks to Japan.

Batik's success is not in question, but the domestic industry is. It was not until 1974, when governor of Jakarta Ali Sadikin declared batik to be official formal wear, that batik regained its fast-fading prestige. Since then, the affluence of Indonesia's elite has inflated batik prices. Yet a promotional and administrative body specifically for batik development has yet to be established.

Many other organizations have been established, such as the Indonesian Fashion Designers Council, the Indonesian Fashion Designers Association, the National Design Center and the Foundation for Indonesian Crafts and Design Development. How these organizations facilitate exports, production or marketing is unclear. While the ceremonial chores of these paper-shuffling umbrella organizations are assisted by the ministry of industry or the ministry of cooperatives and small businesses, the task of exporting is often the responsibility of individual designers.

That these organizations exist at least provides hope to the textile and fashion industry. But batik falls under this wide domain, when ideally it deserves its own network.

It is a marvel that batik retains its resilience despite all the obstacles. One of the many myths which burden batik's development is its supposed sacredness, deeming batik inflexible in the face of changing fashion trends.

What people fail to realize, Pranata says, is batik's dynamism. The traditional batiks of Central Java's royal palaces may claim the highest prestige and ritual value, but less ceremonial batiks also flourished in the past. The jelamprang and ceplokan batiks of Gresik and Kudus were heavily influenced by Islamic symbols and calligraphy. The batik of Cirebon and Pekalongan bear the esthetics of the Chinese and Indische (Eurasian) communities, favoring bright, colorful and flowery motifs.

During the Japanese occupation, batik artists turned to very detailed Japanese patterns called the hokukai. These tulus (fine) works only added to the myth that the best batiks are the most complicated.

"Good batik is not only fine batik. The reason why batik was so detailed then was because cloth was so scarce during wartime," explained Pranata.

Today, the problem is not fabric scarcity but abundance. Pranata points out that batik's reputation is threatened by the profusion of batik manufacturers. These manufacturers employ artists whose wages are determined by commission. The results, Pranata explains, are "works of quantity not quality."

Many of these manufacturers and artists inherited their work from their parents. Thus their motifs are often a generation old, and have limited appeal. In order to revive batik design "it is time for us to set up a batik academy", says Pranata.

Through this academy, batik producers may explore batik's history and diversity, and derive inspiration from it. Pranata illustrates the stagnation in batik design by choosing any batik producer and comparing their current designs with that of ten years ago.

"What are the motifs and colors of their designs, and how often have these designs been reproduced? Are they using new textiles? Are the designs fashionable?" asked Pranata, before concluding that many producers fail to remain fashionable.

Designer Iwan Tirta offers another explanation. For twenty years, Tirta has unsuccessfully lobbied for the creation of a batik trademark, much like the international wool or sterling silver trademark.

"With a batik trademark, we can ensure the quality of the batik by making all batik producers take the trademark test," Tirta explained.

"You should not be able to sell any print and call it batik. Batik is an art," Tirta said.

A batik trademark would also automatically increase batik's (and Indonesia's) prestige, as it would acknowledge credit where it is due. American, French, and Italian designers, including Giorgio Armani, have used batik fabrics in their designs without referring to the clothes as batik. A batik trademark would at last legitimize batik, not only as folk art but as an international art industry. If the batik industry wants to successfully compete with modern fashion and the modern textile industry, then it has to be treated in the same manner and follow the same rules.

Ardiyanto Pranata still offers hope.

"The problem lies in education," said Pranata. "With the increase in education, more people will appreciate domestic products. Our national pride will not decline, but increase with time," said Pranata.