Siti Maemonah, Preserving Gentongan Batiks

Siti Maemonah (Mae) has been in the batik business for over 25 years. She also educates Tanjung Bumi residents in batik-making according to processing standards.

KOMPAS/SOELASTRI SOEKIRNO

Siti Maemonah

Siti Maemonah, 53, was once known as a trader of Gentongan vintage batiks from Bangkalan, East Java. Decades afterward, she discontinued trading and chose to become an artisan and at the same time a preserver of Gentongan batiks from Madura.

Maemonah has been in the batik business for over 25 years. Her batik-making skill was self-taught. As a child, she watched Mariya (her late mother) crafting Gentongan batiks at home in Tanjung Bumi, Bangkalan, Madura, East Java. However, she has quit selling Gentongan vintage batiks for about seven years now. “When I see my mother’s vintage batiks, they’re exceptional. It’s a pity to sell them in spite of their high prices,” said Mae, as Maemonah is commonly called, on Monday (11/7/2022).

The other reason that strengthens her resolve to give up selling batiks aged 30 and over is that some of the plants used to dye batiks are already extinct. “There are no more plants producing the red color typical of Gentongan. I’ve searched for them everywhere in Madura and East Nusa Tenggara without results. Since then, I’ve been very selective when people want to buy my vintage batiks. Even if they’re ready to pay very high prices, I won’t sell,” added Mae, who belongs to the fourth-generation family of Gentongan batik artisans.

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In Mae’s family, her great-grandmother Sarija aka Tan Mi Kwa was the first to make batiks. Sarija was a native of China who came to Tanjung Bumi. The expertise of Sarija was handed down to her daughter Saipa (Mae’s grandmother). Then Saipa taught the batik-making skill to Mariya.

Up until now, Mae and her sister Adita Wezaina Ningsih have still followed the process of Gentongan batik production. In its coloring process, batik cloth has to be dyed and brushed repeatedly so that it takes a year to finish. The method has proven to produce batik colors that become even thicker as they get older. Batik prices range from Rp 20 million (US$1,335.90) to Rp 25 million per piece.

KOMPAS/SOELASTRI SOEKIRNO

Siti Maemonah

Mae had a long journey through life before becoming a regional-batik preserver. After graduating from senior high school, Mae was admitted to Sunan Ampel State Islamic University (formerly State Islamic Institute), Surabaya. But her mother did not want her to study a long way from Tanjung Bumi. Therefore, Mae studied economics at the Teacher’s Training and Pedagogic College (STKIP) PGRI Bangkalan and finished in 3.5 years.

After graduation, she returned to Tanjung Bumi, a coastal region 60 kilometers from Bangkalan, to apply for a job as a teacher. Her desire was fulfilled and she taught in Tanjung Bumi junior high school while learning to craft and sell batiks, but her job did not last long. The attractive profits from the sale of vintage batiks aged 30 and over prompted her to abandon her profession.

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Her winding road in life began. It started with the sale of Gentongan batiks at an exhibition with a profit of Rp 500,000 per cloth. After meeting many people, Mae realized that the rich were seeking vintage batiks. She thus began learning about antique batiks -- not only in Madura, she also went to Pekalongan, Yogyakarta and Surakarta. It was in the 1990s, when vintage batiks cost millions of rupiah, a lot more expensive than new batik products.

“I remember my mother’s old batik at home being used as a dust cloth. Madurese women only use batiks as a padding to carry goods on their heads. I went home to take the batiks already treated as junk to be sold,” said Mae. From initially earning a Rp 1 million profit per piece, with her increasing knowledge of vintage-batik business she could manage to sell the cloths at Rp 20 million to Rp 30 million.

“The profits were not for me alone; I shared with batik owners. They were happy as their belongings, just used as props, turned into money, he-he,” the mother of three laughingly said.

AGNES SWETTA PANDIA

Siti Maemonah

Market expansion

By joining exhibitions, she got to know many more fellow batik traders and buyers. It was the buyers who gave Mae the opportunity to market Gentongan vintage batiks. She was then frequently requested to sell batiks at parties held by officials or business people in Bogor, West Java, and Jakarta. Only after the parties were over did they crowd around the batiks Mae offered.

“I used to work until midnight. Those going to the parties brought a lot of money, so I was just waiting while feeling sleepy, but I also returned home with a lot of money,” said Mae, relating her experience in the early 2000s.

As soon as she knew people not only sought vintage batiks from Madura, Java, but also songket (embroideries), Mae went to Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Lasem, Central Java. She learned about vintage batiks and songket there, both directly from craftspeople and by reading books.

Her name was also popular among vintage-cloth collectors and batik lovers. She a regular supplier of former president Soeharto’s family. Later, in the period of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) as president, Mae served the Gentongan batik needs of SBY and family. Moreover, the owner of a well-known batik shop in Surakarta was also her vintage-batik customer.

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Her deep knowledge of Gentongan batiks facilitated her acquaintance with Professor Seiji Okawa, who was researching tenun ikat (tie-dyed woven fabric). Okawa invited Mae to display Gentongan vintage batiks in Japan. For two years, Mae was on round trips to Japan to meet the orders of Okawa who made kimonos from Gentongan batiks.

In addition to Japan, Mae also took vintage batiks to China and Europe. No less than 500 vintage batiks from her mother’s collection were sold, until she felt pity for the remaining vintage cloths. “I finally decided to be very careful when people want to buy the cloths left by mama. I have to discuss it with my sister first,” said Mae, who has opened a Gentongan batik shop and museum in her house in Bangkalan. She displays Gentongan batiks aged over 50 to be viewed by batik lovers.

She also educates Tanjung Bumi residents in batik-making according to processing standards. Originally, many batik artisans working with her voiced their objection because of the year-long batik production. As a result, those who were mostly fishermen’s wives had difficulty in meeting daily needs and sending children to school. Mae helped provide their costs of living and children’s schooling. They repaid their borrowings with income from batik sales.

Thanks to Mae’s efforts, the lives of Gentongan batik artisans have improved. Tanjung Bumi residents are more prosperous and their children can further their studies at college.

Siti Maemonah

Born: Tanjung Bumi, Bangkalan, Madura, 1969

Education: Teacher’s Training and Pedagogic College PGRI Bangkalan, Madura

Husband: Budi

Children: three

Award: Upakarti 2014 category of pioneering service

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.