Batik: An Indonesian Cultural Treasure

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S MOTHER: From the collection of the late Ann Dunham, the president's mother, comes the Tambal Nitik batik, also called Nitik Cakar, worn during the Siraman ceremony. Nadia Ghattas/The Epoch Times

NEW YORK—The exhibit Two Ladies Found a Culture in Cloths arrived in New York, at the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia, on July 24, the start of its tour to nine U.S. cities. Batik expert Aryo Prakoso Vidyarto accompanied the exhibit to explain how batik masterpieces are created.

The exhibit presented pieces from the personal collections of President Obama’s late mother and Indonesian First Lady Madame Hj. Ani Yudhoyono and was organized by the Indonesian Embassy and Consulate in collaboration with President Obama’s sister, Maya Soetoro Ng.

Vidyarto’s House of Danar Hadi continues to create beautiful batik fabrics in the traditional way. Vidyarto took me through the exhibit, explaining each motif.

There are many misconceptions about batik, Vidyarto said. Batik is the process and not the motif itself. The process is making the fabric. The technique uses dye-resistant color, and wax is the resistant agent.

Each motif represents the environment and time when and where the batik is made. By looking at a fabric, one can determine its origin. Known by the Javanese term Ambatik, or Nimbat titik, batik from the royal courts and palaces are always brown with philosophical motifs and symbols. This represents an Islamic belief that people or animals should not be depicted. This does not apply to Java’s coastal regions, which make batik in bright colors with delightful birds, flowers, and butterflies.

One pattern from the royal court from Madame Yudhoyono’s collection is Sida Luhur (pronounced “sido”). Completed in the 1990s, the pattern appears intricate but actually is not, said Vidyarto.

Made on natural fabric, the pattern is hand-drawn. A gentle square is filled with flowers with a black background. “Sida” means “dreams becoming reality,” and Luhur refers to a person of high rank such as a president or an honorable person. A white background without flowers and a single ornament that looks like a hook is called Sida Mukti, which represents hope for the wearer.

“The Sida family of patterns always has squares with flowers around the square,” he said. A white background without the hook-shaped ornament is called Sida Mulya and means rich, prosperous, wealthy.

Ann Dunham’s piece called Tambal Nitik has 50 octagons, each filled with a “nitik,” or dot, pattern. Vidyarto said this motif originates from India, but the technique is Indonesian.

There are many Javanese variations of Nitik. For instance, Nitik Cakar has an eagle in the motif, and what is interesting is that the wings and claws look like those of a chicken. A chicken uses its claws to scratch the earth for food. An eagle’s wings represent the Visnu god of wisdom. Whoever wears this fabric will have wisdom. This motif is worn during a ceremony known as Siraman, in which a pregnant bride is blessed by seven elderly women of stature. They pour water over the bride’s head while wearing the piece and extend wishes for the couple and the child that they may find food as easily as a chicken.

One among Danar Hadi’s collection was a colorful piece with two different motifs called Morning Afternoon. Influenced as all batik is by the times and the environment, the piece from the coast found meaning from the occupation of the Japanese between 1942 and 1945.

As if two motifs joined together, the piece is renowned for its delicate design and artwork. It was made in 1940s by Chinese merchants under the Japanese occupation. At that time, supply of cotton was tight and difficult to find. They used two different motifs on one piece to wear at different times of the day. That is why it is called Morning Afternoon batik.

Making a Royal Batik

Because scratching the wax is time consuming, boiling is now used. 1. Start with a plain white fabric called Mori. 2. Klowongan: the process of applying wax to the fabric either through stamping or using the canting tool to outline the main motif. Stamping became widely used after the 1890s because it was faster. 3. Tembokan: Wax is now applied to maintain the desired white areas. 4. Wedelan: Dip the already waxed fabric in dark blue dye, which is required for every fabric, especially for royalty. 5. Kerokan: the process of scratching the klowongan to make the outline of the motif. 6. Biron: Blue areas are covered with wax. 7. Sogan: The fabric is then dipped in brown dye to appear in the flowongaan area. 8. The fabric is then placed in boiling water—three to five minutes for cotton and one to two minutes for silk.