Rosdiah Harlina, Fame and Anxiety of Songket
It seems that songket Siak, a type of hand-woven brocade textile from Siak, is currently at the peak of its fame. Appreciation is only growing for the indigenous creative product, which is believed to trace its origins to the mid-18th century during the reign of King Siak III. The demand for songket grew quickly when the regional administration issued a requirement for its civil servants to wear traditional songket attire on Fridays.
The increased demand for traditional textiles is a blessing for songket artisans, especially Rosdiah “Yati” Harlina, 41. Yati is overwhelmed every month with producing songket for her customers, even though she has 34 weavers that produce 150 to 200 songket per month.
“I don’t dare place an advertisement [for songket] on the internet. I am already overwhelmed with meeting the demands of customers who come to my house. Many customers are angry because their orders are not finished on time,” Yati said during the second week of January during a conversation with Kompas at her house. Yati’s house in Rempak on the banks of the Siak River in Siak, Riau, about 110 kilometers from the provincial capital Pekanbaru, is also a workshop and showroom.
Yati runs the largest songket weaving business in Siak today. The textile products bearing the Tenun Siak Mekar Permai-Bu Atun trademark are the most sought-after songket among Riau residents. Understandably, songket Siak is rarely made, even though the demand is high. Yati cannot maintain any stock of the textile, because it is purchased as soon as a product is completed.
Yati’s inherited her skills and the songket business from her mother, Rahimna, familiarly called Bu Atun, one of the few remaining weavers to survive the ups and downs and the crash of the songket business in the 1980s.
The local market did not absorb songket products at the time, and the weavers had to sell their products to Pekanbaru, Dumai or Duri. However, Atun continued to weave songket to support her family.
Due to the low demand, the number of songket weavers declined in Siak. Many weavers had died or switched to other jobs. Senior weavers did not pass their skill down to their children. Still, Atun continued to weave.
“I started weaving in junior high school. I was taught to use a more complicated tool, the gedogan,” said Yati alongisde her husband, Puguh Sutrisno, who assisted her in the preproduction stage of weaving songket Siak.
Market shift
The change in the songket market occurred when Siak district became an autonomous regency in 1999.
From then on, the demand for songket grew. Atun, who was still weaving, began to see an improvement in the market. However, Yati was not involved in the business, as she was still completing her biology concentration at the Teacher Training School of the University of Riau.
When Atun fell ill in 2009, Yati, who was working as a teacher in Siak, was asked to help with her mother’s business. When her mother died in 2011, the family’s songket business was passed on to Yati. Yet, she still continued to teach, even today.
In Yati’s hands, songket Siak started to grow. She and her husband developed new motifs, dyeing techniques and other production methods. They combined traditional and contemporary motifs to create more attractive patterns. However, they still preserved traditional motifs like pucuk rebung (young bamboo) and siku keluang (elbow).
In creating new motifs, Yati works with the senior weavers who Atun had fostered as children. After the senior weavers have learned the new motifs, they are taught to the junior weavers.
A senior weaver can finish one length of songket with simple motifs in 3.5 days. The more complex the motif, the longer the weaving takes. Prices are also increasing for songket with detailed motifs.
Yati’s songket products are not priced too high, and range from Rp 500,000 to Rp 1.5 million per piece. However, the songket bearing exclusive motifs are much more expensive.
“I don’t [keep a stock of] exclusive songket. If a customer wants one, we will show them a picture, and then we will make it. Usually, the exclusive motif is worn by the wives of state officials or are given as gifts to VIP guests,” she said.
Not all weavers can produce the exclusive songket motifs. Only three senior weavers have the special skills required to produce these textiles. Yati usually oversees the production process and supervises the weaver’s work for these complicated motifs.
According to Yati, songket Siak is similar to songket from neighboring provinces in West or South Sumatra. The main difference is that songket Siak usually have simpler motifs.
“A length of songket Siak is not covered with motifs. The base fabric is still visible. Songket from West Sumatra and Palembang are usually covered with motifs, so they take longer to produce. Our songket also doesn’t use silk thread,” said Yati.
History
According to Yati’s husband Puguh, songket Siak originated in Trengganu, Malaysia. King Siak III brought a Trengganu weaver named Siti binti Wan Karim to his kingdom to produce royal songket. The songket weaving technique was then taught to the ladies of the court. Over time, the weaving technique spread among the community and survived through the ages.
Even though songket Siak is currently experiencing a boom, Yati is anxious and concerned about the future of the textile. The problem is that it is hard to find new weavers. Since she inherited her mother’s business in 2011, Yati has a seen a decline in the number of her weavers.
“Today, not many young women want to become weavers. They prefer to work in an office or even
work in a cafe or a shop, when a weaver’s income is bigger than that of regular workers,” said Yati.
Puguh himself attends to the preproduction of songket Siak, which includes preparing the thread with a manual spinning machine called hani. Without the thread, the weavers cannot produce songket on their looms.
“It’s very difficult to find people who want to work in the production department. The skill level is high. Preparing the thread requires complicated calculations that use mathematical formulas. One length of fabric requires 3,840 strands of thread on shuttles. Besides, only two hani exist in Siak, one at our house and one at the office of the Siak Craft Council [Dekranasda],” said Puguh.
Meanwhile, teaching songket Siak techniques through formal education has stalled. The weaving course that the Siak Education Agency set up a few years ago is no longer running because of an absence of teachers.
Yati and Puguh certainly cannot change the situation on their own. Government intervention is needed to foster interest in songket weaving among youths to preserve the traditional textile. Otherwise, Siak’s weaving knowledge will stagnate and deteriorate.
Rosdiah Harlina
Born: Siak, Oct. 2, 1978
Education:
- Biology major, Teacher Training School, University of Riau (2001)
- SMAN Siak senior high school (1997)
- SMPN Siak junior high school (1994)
- SDN Rempak elementary school (1991)
Husband: Puguh Sutrisno
Children:
- M. Zikri A., 10; Atifah Zahraini, 8; Bintang Arkan R., 4