Dream of "Batik Complongan"

Abdullah Fikri Ashri

· 6 minutes read

The descendant of a maker of Indramayu’s complongan batik, Carwati Basuri, 42, never dreamed of continuing the textile, which is indigenous to the northern coast of West Java. She led a fulfilling life without batik. But one day, her world seemed to turn upside down, and she left her job to preserve complongan batik.

Over the last few months, Carwati has been busy meeting Indramayu’s batik makers to learn more about complongan batik. The owner of the Senang Hati Batik shop even set up the Complongan Batik Community (KBC) Indramayu, led by 20 artisans.

All her efforts were aimed at gaining geographical indication (GI) for complongan batik as a unique product of Indramayu. Everything was for the sustainability of the indigenous textile.

Complongan refers to a technique of making tiny holes in the fabric with a wooden paddle that holds a row of around 20 needles. This tool is called complongan, which derives from the word complong meaning “to perforate” in the Javanese dialect that is spoken in Indramayu.

The perforations are made after wax is applied to the fabric and before it is dyed. Only a few sections are perforated according to the motifs and the batik maker’s design preferences. The end result is a fabric with pretty, perforated motifs. The technique has been passed down through the generations of Indramayu batik makers.

"The geographical indication documents have been submitted to the ministry in Jakarta," Carwati said on Friday (2/8/2019), showing a letter addressed to the Directorate General of Small and Medium Businesses and Other Entities at the Industry Ministry.

Once it had GI, she said, the region’s indigenous batik would become better known and its sales value will increase. The craftsmen would thus be more enthusiastic about their work. "I am optimistic about the future of Indramayu batik," said Carwati.

Decades ago, this statement would not have come out of her mouth. Making batik was the responsibility of her grandmother, Mimi Narmi (deceased), and her mother, Sutini, 63. After all, she could not make batik as well as her elders.

The two generations of batik makers were masters of the complongan technique. Not infrequently, people from several European countries came to buy their batik.

"When I was in elementary school in the 1980s, I never learned batik making under my grandmother. I was too afraid of damaging them. I learned from other craftsmen who produced ‘rough’ batik. I wasn’t bad, I made enough money to buy rice," Carwati recalled.

Although she lived in Paoman, a haven of batik makers, Carwati was not interested in making batik, which the women did while waiting for their fishermen husbands to return from the seas. "The colors and batik motifs were similar. I focused on school," said Carwati, who is the daughter of a fisherman.

Even while she was studying in the accounting extension program at Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Carwati sold veils, not batik. After graduating from university, Carwati found work in the banking sector and then worked as an accountant at a construction company.

Upside down

After three years working as a professional, Carwati decided to quit her job in 2008. She wanted to return to her hometown to raise her children and resettle after separating from her husband. Amid her personal situation, she was surprised when she checked in on the family’s batik business.

"The quality of the batik was not maintained. My younger sister had become a batik trader," said Carwati, who recalled that she wanted to be free of the grief from her divorce.

Her grandmother and mother had stopped making batik because they were not as physically fit as they once were. The other batik makers had followed suit. Her great-grandmother\'s legacy was close to dying out. Among the family’s seven children, none had mastered complongan batik.

"The world had turned upside down. I felt that I had to preserve complongan batik and stay here, while my sister should move to Jakarta with her husband," said Carwati.

She headed to Yogyakarta, where she had lived for six years without touching batik – this time to study batik making. She took her daughter, Zalfa Talita Sakhi, who had just started walking, with her. To continue her family’s batik business, she was determined to gain the precision and patience needed to make batik.

She asked around 20 complongan batik makers who had worked with her grandmother and mother to come work for her. When she saw the results for the first time, she fell in love with complongan batik.

"Even though our lives are well-off, this effort must continue. These complongan batik craftsmen are an invaluable asset, but they have not been empowered. Moreover, the complongan technique has existed for more than 100 years," she said.

Carwati made some innovations. In marketing the batik, for example, she did not employ the old practice of selling from village to village or selling them through shops that belonged to other people. The farmers who bought the batik typically promised to pay for them after the harvest. But when the time came, they were often busy paying off their debts. This disrupted the cash flow.

Carwati now sells her batik online, and does not accept installments. Her batik saw a heyday in 2008-2009, when it was very popular and she sold about 70 percent of her batik products online. However, sales declined after 2012.

So Carwati expanded to producing batik uniforms. She also expanded to pillowcases and prayer mats that were made using the complongan technique. Each month, she receives orders for 500 pieces of printed and handmade batik clothing from Indramayu, as well as from Jakarta and Japan.

In fact, for Indramayu’s anniversary, about 40 craftspeople produced 1,200 to 1,500 pieces of batik. This was far more than the monthly batik output of 300-500 pieces when her grandmother and her mother ran the business.

Carwati contributed to developing the complongan technique for printed batik. Before, complongan was used only in handmade batik. She wanted to dispel the notion that "printed batik is cheap" by producing printed complongan batik.

"Around 80 percent of our batik uses the complongan technique, so they cost Rp 30,000-Rp 50,000 more per piece for additional labor and costs. This is why not all craftsmen use complongan," she said.

Carwati also held a batik competition for elementary school students to commemorate Indramayu’s anniversary in 2018. "This is how we find ‘the seeds’ of artisans. Dozens of children participated, and some have good drawing skills," she said.

All is bearing fruit today. She was not mistaken in her decision to returning to her hometown. In addition to preserving complongan batik, she also met her soul mate, H. Suwenda, 52. Now, Carwati simply wants to sustain complongan batik sustainable and increase its renown throughout the country and even abroad.

In Budaya Batik Dermayon (The Dermayon batik culture, 2018), Nanang Ganda Prawira likens Carwati to the teluki flower motif of Indramayu batik, which symbolizes the strength and beauty of women: "Carwati, for example, has the strength to go it alone," he writes.

Carwati Basuri

Born: Indramayu, 23 November 1976

Education: Accountancy extension program, UGM (2003)

Husband: H. Suwenda (52)

Child: Zalfa Talita Sakhi (11)

Email: carwatibasuri2017@gmail.com

Editor:

kompascetak carwati basuri