‘A name, a function and a philosophy’: The art of Indonesian batik

Solo, Indonesia – Gunawan Setiawan is the 4th procreation of batik makers and sellers successful his family, and hails from the historical royal metropolis of Surakarta, oregon Solo, successful Central Java which is besides known arsenic the batik superior of Indonesia.

“Batik is simply a peculiar creation from Indonesia, and particularly Java, which is made with wax and dye,” Setiawan said. “Originally, sticky atom was utilized arsenic a mode of carving retired the designs and making them resistant to the coloured dye, earlier wax was chosen arsenic a much effectual replacement.”

While the nonstop origins of the method are hard to determine, batik is thought to day backmost to past times erstwhile radical wrapped cloth astir themselves arsenic covering and started to dye it antithetic colours and decorate it with motifs, Setiawan said.

Batik is thought to person originated successful Indonesia but akin techniques are besides recovered successful Egypt, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India and parts of China.

“The colours of Solo’s batik bespeak the situation and successful Java, we are surrounded by trees and leaves. Each portion of Indonesia has its ain colours and successful Solo, they are brown, beige and gold,” Setiawan said.

“The colours of Solo’s batik are precise calm.”

A craftswoman makes accepted batik utilizing a instrumentality with melted wax to gully patterns connected cloth astatine a section batik store successful Surakarta, Central Java, connected July 30, 2024 [Yasuuoshi Chiba/AFP]

Solo is not the lone spot wherever the batik reflects the environment. Communities adjacent to the oversea thin to usage blues and greens, Setiawan said, portion those adjacent to progressive volcanoes usage reds and oranges.

“Batik has a name, a function, a meaning and a doctrine and determination is ever a circumstantial crushed oregon juncture to deterioration it. You can’t deterioration batik randomly,” Setiawan said.

With that successful mind, determination is simply a peculiar batik plan for large women, women who person conscionable fixed birth, babies learning to walk, weddings, funerals and adjacent erstwhile idiosyncratic has been promoted.

Changing times

But portion batik has been produced successful Indonesia for centuries, it is present facing a conflict to support up with the times.

Alpha Febela Priyatmono is simply a batik adept successful Solo. She says the creation of batik needs to beryllium understood successful a wider discourse than conscionable textiles.

“People request to cognize what batik is, which is the process of dyeing thing utilizing wax to marque the design,” helium told Al Jazeera. “Batik is not conscionable for cloth designs but tin besides beryllium utilized connected ceramics, wood and leather but it needs to beryllium a wax plan made from melting wax until it is liquid.”

He added that immoderate modern designs utilized a chemic compound to interruption down the wax earlier printing the cloth and could not beryllium classified arsenic batik due to the fact that they deviated from the accepted process.

“Young radical and the wider nationalist indispensable enactment batik but not conscionable from an economical constituent of view, but besides from an artistic, taste and philosophical perspective, due to the fact that that is the spot of batik,” helium said.

“The challenges to the marketplace present are rather terrible but we person to find a mode astir them. We thin to suffer retired connected terms to imported textiles truthful we request to thatch the nationalist what is and isn’t existent batik and thatch them to emotion existent batik products.”

To amended the public, Priyatmono has a scope of programmes including teaching young radical astir batik done simpler and little analyzable motifs. There is besides an enactment that uses environmentally affable wax and fabric, arsenic good arsenic earthy dyes to marque the batik.

Young women get a hands-on acquisition successful batik successful Solo [Aisyah Llewellyn/Al Jazeera]

In cognition since 1546, Solo’s Kampung Batik Laweyan is 1 of the city’s main hubs for batik.

The country has seen its fortunes emergence and fall.

From being location to hundreds of batik makers and sellers astatine its peak, a slump successful request successful the 1970s and the COVID-19 pandemic some deed Laweyan badly.

Now, however, Priyatmono says determination has been a revival, with astir 40 to 50 sellers established successful the area.

“But determination is inactive a precocious hazard to the section textile marketplace successful Indonesia, truthful we inactive request to nurture and turn the industry,” helium said.

For his part, Setiawan says the outlook for batik is promising.

“I americium precise optimistic that the authorities volition proceed to beforehand Indonesian batik truthful that it tin besides beryllium well-known internationally. I privation it to beryllium a worldwide trend,” helium said.

Indonesia has agelong fixed batik covering and products to visiting dignitaries. At past year’s summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), leaders were pictured greeting President Joko Widodo wearing batik. Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders besides wore them erstwhile they met successful Indonesia successful 2013.

Some Indonesian nationalist figures are besides known arsenic regular batik wearers astatine location and overseas – including vice president-elect and erstwhile politician of Solo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and the curate for tourism, Sandiaga Uno.

Indonesia’s mentation of “casual Friday” besides sees civilian servants and bureau workers wearing batik and the state celebrates National Batik Day connected October 2 each year.

A caller generation

As successful Setiawan’s family, batik businesses are usually handed down from procreation to generation, but younger generations successful Indonesia sometimes deficiency enthusiasm for the concern which tin beryllium laborious and wherever profits thin to fluctuate.

Singapore’s then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (left) deterioration batik connected an authoritative sojourn to Jakarta successful April this twelvemonth [Bay Ismoyo/AFP]

Solo journalist, Syifaul Arifin, comes from a household of batik sellers and said that portion helium regularly wears batik, helium did not privation to enactment successful the household business.

“My begetter made beauteous sarongs but erstwhile I grew up, I wanted to beryllium a writer alternatively than marque batik,” helium said. “I consciousness atrocious astir that now. When my begetter died, each that cognition died with him.”

Setiawan said the diminution of household businesses was each excessively communal and that his workshops astatine Kampung Batik Kauman, different of Solo’s batik centres, were an effort to revive younger people’s involvement successful the craft.

At his shop, visitors to Solo beryllium cross-legged connected the level astir wax burners and effort their manus astatine their ain batik designs, drafting them connected the achromatic cloth with wax earlier they are plunged into the dye.

Rizka, a 19-year-old tourer and arts student, who similar galore Indonesians goes by 1 name, said she had signed up for the people to “learn thing new”.

Around her were different section and planetary visitors diligently coating their designs from the buckets of melted wax connected the free-standing burners astir the room.

Gunawan Setiawan is the 4th procreation of batik makers successful his household [Aisyah Llewellyn/Al Jazeera]

Rizka, who is astatine assemblage successful Surabaya, said that she was funny successful each Indonesian creation forms and that it was important to recognize Indonesia’s originative history.

“Batik is truthful absorbing due to the fact that it tin alteration with the times and beryllium up to day adjacent though it is seen successful Indonesian arsenic an past craft,” she said.

“But it depends connected america to instrumentality attraction of it.”