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English›Kriyan Batik, from Cocoon to...

Kriyan Batik, from Cocoon to Butterfly

Name: Kriyan Batik, from Cocoon to Butterfly
Uploaded: 2020-10-05T06:24:42Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: the craftsmen of Batik Story Kriyan (BSK) have been facing the coronavirus health emergency that has hit almost all sectors of the economy, including the batik industry.

the craftsmen of Batik Story Kriyan (BSK) have been facing the coronavirus health emergency that has hit almost all sectors of the economy, including the batik industry.

ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

· 7 minutes read

Covid-19 pandemic is a time for cocooning oneself with creation. Later, when the butterfly emerges, many people can enjoy its beauty. This is the how the craftsmen of Batik Story Kriyan (BSK) have been facing the coronavirus health emergency that has hit almost all sectors of the economy, including the batik industry.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the country just as Batik Story Kriyan (BSK) turned 2. Its plans to exhibit at many batik festivals had to be cancelled. However, the organization founded in Cirebon, West Java, with the assistance of the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service (KACES), was not discouraged.

This Friday afternoon (2/10/2020), 10 craftsmen along with their instructor, 40-year-old Ferry Sugeng Santoso, shared a meal together at the BSK headquarters in RW (community unit) 017 Kriyan of Kriyan hamlet in Pegambiran village, Lemahwungkuk subdistrict. Eating the meal of rice, fried catfish, tempeh and rumbah (boiled vegetables with spicy dressing) was their way to celebrate National Batik Day. It was simple, but meaningful.

Also read: Waves of Confidence in Indonesian Batik

The individual serving dishes and plates were covered with teak leaves. Aside from their use as dish covers, teak leaves were used to design batik motifs. The leaf motifs are adorned with other drawings such as numbers, images of buildings, and butterflies. Children can learn from these motifs.

Ferry created the teak leaf motif so that the craftsmen and others will not forget their roots to Mount Jati, where Sunan Gunung Jati lived. The 15th-century leader of Cirebon was also a wali sanga, a Muslim cleric who spread Islam in Java.

Aside from original motifs, the craftsmen also make their batik using natural dye. After praying and eating, their hands were again stained purple, dark blue and brown. These colors come from indigo, tegeran wood (a type of wood related to the mulberry), the bark of the tingi (spurred mangrove), and the skin of various kinds of fruit. The waste from natural dyes is believed to be safer than waste from synthetic dyes.

An order has come in from a Cabinet ministry for four lengths of batik with the teak leaf motif. One of the batiks was made by Euis Komariah, a 49-year-old mother of six.

“I came home at 11 in the evening after making batik. My children said, ‘protect your health,’” she said while blowing into the thin tube at the tip of the canting, a traditional batik-making tool with a receptacle for holding hot wax.

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Although she has a tight deadline, Euis enjoys her work. Before joining the BSK in March, she sold cosmetics and taught the abacus. However, the Covid-19 health emergency hit her business. Luckily, one of her relatives, Ela, persuaded her to make batik.

The first thing she made was a motif resembling the coronavirus, bearing the virus’s distinctive circular shape with spikes. In fact, the motif is originally called tiga roda (three wheels) and has been around for a long time. Since the emergence of the disease, it has been nicknamed “corona”.

“When I posted [the batik] on Instagram, someone who claims to be from Serbia expressed interest in buying [it]. Blessings be to God, it sold for Rp 400,000,” said Euis, whose husband works at a rattan company. The same customer ordered seven more lengths of batik, each measuring 2.5 meters by 1.15 meters. Euis stands to make an income of Rp 2.8 million.

“However, I still haven’t [complete the order] until now because I have another order for [batik with] a teak leaf motif. Someone from the Cangkol puskesmas (community health center) made an order that needs to be read in one week. I can’t rush,” she said.

One length of handmade batik using natural dye takes one to two weeks to make, depending on the complexity of the design.

Also read: Dream of “Batik Complongan”

Shelvia, 27, is also making batik to overcome the economic fallout from Covid-19. This mother of two resigned from her job as a cook at a mall in Cirebon, because the number of customers had fallen. Half a month after resigning, her colleagues were laid off because of the impacts of the pandemic.

Shelvia’s hands, which were used to holding a spatula, have been wielding a canting since March. She joined the Cirebon Manpower Office’s batik training workshop at the BSK.

“My family asked me, why would I spend hours making batik. There’s no money in it. As a matter of fact, the free training has already started to pay off,” she said.

Just a few weeks later, Shelvia made a length of handmade batik with the “corona” motif that the manpower office bought by for Rp 150,000. She then receieved an order for batik that cost Rp 400,000.

“The proceeds from that sale was used to pay for my father’s appendectomy. My family [now] supports me in making batik,” she said.

Giska Febrian, 15, another batik maker, also marked a new chapter in her life by switching to batik making. The elementary school dropout is now earning money and has been able to help her parents open a small stall.

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“Four pieces I made were already bought. The price was around Rp 400,000 to Rp 500,000 [each],” said Giska, who dreams of having her own batik store one day. An official of the Cirebon administration, who is also a member of the House of Representatives, bought her batik.

BSK chairman Sulistio said that Kriyan hamlet did not have a rich batik culture like Trusmi or Ciwaringin, which were famous for their batik. However, the Cirebon administration selected Kriyan in 2018 as the site of the KACES batik training program.

“In fact, we did not have the basic batik-making skills,” he said.

The South Korean art and culture educational organization provided the necessary support to develop facilities and provide the tools and materials for making batik, as well as experts from Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea to provide the training. A total of 12 local residents learned to make batik, while a program mediator, Dr. Siska, assisted them with marketing.

Ferry expressed surprise on observing the craftsmen’s development. The quality of their work had increased. For him, making batik was not just a matter of blood ties or inheritance, but also individual skills. As long as people were willing to learn and be patient, they could make batik.

Making batik did not even require higher education. “People with diplomas are sought by companies. So what about those without diplomas? They can make batik,” said Ferry, who owns the Padepokan Alam Batik Pasuruan that employs 20 batik craftsmen, including school dropouts.

Butterflies

Now is the time to be a cocoon, to lie still, but keep working. Then, [they will] later take flight as butterflies

Ferry said that the pandemic was the perfect time for craftsmen to work. As long as their canting were moving, there would be a way.

“Now is the time to be a cocoon, to lie still, but keep working. Then, [they will] later take flight as butterflies,” he said.

Ferry said that more than 50 batik motifs were created during lockdown. His employees were allowed to work at home. He and his craftsmen still must fill orders for around 4,000 lengths of batik, even after a hospital cancelled its order for 9,000 lengths of batik.

Also read: Preserving Lasem’s Heritage

Making batik, he said, taught him about the meaning of life. The canting, for example, was used to draw from the left to the right.

“If we do bad deeds (left), we have to shift to good deeds (right). The canting is usually used to draw from the back to the front. It means that we have to look to the future,” he said.

This was why Ferry always reminded the BSK craftsmen to continue to work and to be patient like a cocoon. Ferry believed that their dreams would come true once the pandemic was over.

The canting is usually used to draw from the back to the front. It means that we have to look to the future

“I imagine that those craftsmen will later have their own batik stores at home. Then it will become the Kriyan Batik Village,” he said.

At the BSK, which stands close to the Kriyan river that has flowed alongside human civilization for centuries, the craftsmen learn not only how to make batik, but also how to find meaning in life. Happy National Batik Day.

Editor:

Syahnan Rangkuti

NATIONAL BATIK DAY handmade batik impacts of the pandemic batik with the “corona” motif