William Kwan: Reviving Lasem Batik
Motivated by his concern over riots tinged with primordialism across the country at the end of the 1990’s, William Kwan established a non-profit organization to promote pluralism in the public.
Motivated by his concern over riots tinged with primordialism across the country at the end of the 1990’s, William Kwan established a non-profit organization to promote pluralism in the public. He never thought that his decision would begin the revival of Lasem batik.
The May 1998 riots, the riots in Ambon, tribal strife in Kalimantan and several other conflicts prompted William to establish the Indonesian Institute of Pluralism (IPI). Initially, IPI activities encompassed organizing blood donations, mediating conflicts in several regions and other activities that aimed to unite the people based on on-ground situation and observation.
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However, recently, the institute’s activities have expanded to include the study and development of batik in Lasem, Central Java. “I had no intention to do that at the beginning,” said William when he was contacted last week.
When I went back home to Jakarta from Semarang, my head was full of questions about Lasem batik.
Why batik? And why Lasem? William laughed upon hearing the questions. “At that time, I did not have any knowledge about batik. Batik was just like any other apparel for me. I did not know its history or the differences of batik patterns. Regarding Lasem, I had never been there as well,” said William.
William “discovered” Lasem accidentally. In January 2004, he visited his senior in school in Semarang. When he was waiting for his friend, he met two women who told him a story about their visit to Lasem, during which they saw batik fabrics featuring the famous tiga negeri (three nations) dyeing method. At that time, the batik industry there was relatively quiet.
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The 1998-1999 crisis had paralyzed the batik industry in Lasem, which lasted until 2004. The arrival of cheap printed batik fabrics had disturbed the industry of batik tulis (hand-drawn batik). “When I went back home to Jakarta from Semarang, my head was full of questions about Lasem batik,” said William. He then tried to find further information regarding batik and Lasem.
In February 2004, William and two other IPI staff went to Lasem, despite having no acquaintances in the region. “It was rather odd, but upon my arrival in Lasem, I felt like I had come home. I felt like I knew everyone there. I don’t know why. Maybe I was a local resident in Lasem in my previous life, ha-ha-ha,” said William, who was born in Pekalongan, Central Java.
During his visit, William witnessed the desolation surrounding the Lasem batik industry. Out of approximately 120 households in Lasem that worked in the industry in the 1930s, only 18 households remained in the industry in 2004. 14 households were of Chinese descent, while the remaining four households were Javanese.
Rebuilding the industry
William wanted to revive the glory of Lasem batik. He returned to Jakarta to introduce his plan to his friends. However, instead of being supported, William received sneers instead.
“My friends said that instead of helping a dying industry, it would be better to help other industries, like meatball sellers. They said I didn’t have to go far to Lasem since in Jakarta alone, there were many that needed help. Lasem batik was not popular enough, and there was no market to absorb the products. If I insisted on developing batik, they believed batik in Pekalongan or Solo was more prospective,” said William, recalling the words of his friends.
However, William did not give. He went back to Lasem, during which he met businessmen of Lasem batik, who at that time were on the brink of bankruptcy. Lasem batik represents the identity of Lasem, embodying a fusion of two traditions. The pattern of Lasem batik fuses Chinese and Lasem traditions, signifying the culture of tolerance in the region.
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Following numerous visits, William started to devise a plan to revitalize the industry of Lasem batik. He finally decided to start a pilot project, from which other Lasem batik entrepreneurs could revive their businesses.
“I tried to find an underdeveloped village with a flagging economy but still preserved batik tradition. The batik fabrics that this village produced must still be raw as well so that they could be further developed,” said William.
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In mid-2006, the IPI decided to turn Jeruk village in Pancur district into a pilot village. In this village, there were 172 women that could produce batik fabrics, but at that time they no longer did that. William then formed a joint enterprise group (KUB) called Srikandi Jeruk, which then had four members.
The members of Srikandi Jeruk KUB received training in natural dyeing technique, which required 20-30 immersions to acquire rich colors, unlike naphthol synthetic dyes which only required 2-3 immersions.
It took two years to reintroduce natural dyeing technique in Lasem. At the same time, William also started introducing Lasem batik to fashion designers, from which he received input regarding colors that were most popular among consumers.
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Meanwhile, batik entrepreneurs, including those that were not part of Srikandi Jeruk KUB, were invited to visit batik centers to learn more as well as to present their batik fabrics in craft exhibitions to gradually boost the popularity of Lasem batik. Not only that, William also visited schools to encourage the youth to take part in the batik industry.
Throughout the years, the number of Lasem batik entrepreneurs and the popularity of Lasem batik have increased. In 2021, there are 111 batik entrepreneurs in Lasem.
Empowerment
At the beginning, it was not an easy feat to encourage simple housewives in Jeruk village to become resilient entrepreneurs. The empowerment and mentoring of the local housewives were carried out on a “tug-of-war” basis from Jakarta. Batik artisans who were mentored were equipped with much knowledge, but there was no direct interference from the mentors. The local artisans were deliberately given an opportunity to undergo the whole process naturally.
William helped the housewives to become more communicative, to be more brave in promoting their products in other regions. “We assisted them, but we still kept our distance. We did not constantly keep them under our watch. We did not want to perceive them as merely an object, and we did not want the mentors to feel superior over the mentees,” explained William.
From this, the results are diverse: there are members of Srikandi Jeruk KUB whose businesses operate moderately, but there are also those whose businesses have grown fast. One of the KUB members, for instance, currently has a shop in one of Jakarta’s batik centers in Thamrin City, Central Jakarta.
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After several years of reviving Lasem batik, has the vision and mission of the IPI regarding pluralism still remained? William asserted that the IPI and he were still committed to such vision and mission. “Many believe that only households of Chinese descent can be entrepreneurs. However, the case of Lasem shows how numerous batik entrepreneurs come from Javanese families,” said William.
The patterns weaved by canting (spouted bowl) on batik fabrics signify an important message, namely the values of diversity, togetherness, mutual respect and mutual support.
Kwan Hwie Liong (William Kwan)
Born: Pekalongan, Sept. 13, 1962
Position: Director of the Indonesian Institute of Pluralism (IPI), Jakarta, 2000-Present
Education:
· Graduate Program in Economic Development, Vanderbilt University, US
· The Faculty of Economy, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga, Central Java.
This article was translated by Astria Z. Nabila