The art of batik to be taught in schools

Newspaper article in The Jakarta Post

Slamet Susanto , The Jakarta Post , Yogyakarta | Fri, 01/29/2010 11:04 AM | The Archipelago
Photo I made during my stay in Indonesia

Batik reaches new heights in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, with the administration planning to include batik as a school subject for elementary to senior high school students as of the next school year. The regency also plans to require students and teachers to wear batik uniform three times a week, from Thursday to Saturday.

“We hope all schools can implement the new school subject properly to ensure that all students understand batik from an early age,” Bantul Regent Idham Samawi said.

He said he has issued a regulation requiring schools to include batik as a local school subject as part of its teaching model, which is based on local wisdom and culture. Head of Bantul regency basic education office, Sahari, said the inclusion of batik as a school subject is intended to ensure of batik’s survival as a component of local culture. He said his office would also work together with the Indonesian Art Institute to determine the standard of curriculum for batik as school subject.

“We’re currently working with universities on details to set the standard for the curriculum,” he said.
He said batik would likely be ready to be included as a school subject in the upcoming new school year.

Apart from batik, several schools have taken the lead in including local content in the school subjects. Sriharjo elementary school in Imogiri, Bantul has taught karawitan and gamelan traditional music orchestra as well as batik-making to its students.

“Currently, we just start introducing karawitan and batik-making for first graders. Soon, the subjects will be given to all students,” said teacher Budi Haryoto.

He said the school cooperates with local group near the school for the subjects, including in providing gamelan orchestra and teachers. “Learning about karawitan and gamelan is good to shape children’s characters,” said Ngadiran, the ka-rawitan and gamelan music teacher.

He said the key to teaching the subjects was patience. “Children are impatient so we have to be patient.”

Disposable-camera photos, last film

Taman Sari seen from the pool

Wading in the Sultan's pool at Taman Sari

Batikmakers in Yogya

Street musicians at traffic light

Bird market in Yogya

Beyond the Dutch

De expositie Beyond the Dutch in het Centraal museum in Utrecht toont een overzicht van Indonesische kunst van 1900 tot nu. In de tentoonstelling ligt de nadruk op de eigen stijl die zich (kon) ontwikkelde na de grote invloed van Europa en specifiek Nederland. Traditionele landschapschilderenOp het eerste oog een realistisch geschilderd tafereel, maar het schilderij toont de weg van de kunst Fijne tekeningen van een Gamelan orkest met danseressenHedendaagse kunstenaars uit Indonesië komen ruim aanbod, maar ook Nederlandse kunstenaars met een Indonesische afkomst of een grote liefde voor Indonesië.The space of Si Kabayan/
Ruang Sikabayan van Tisna SanjayaLinosnede drukkenWayang Machine, video installatie van Krisna Murti. Een wayang verhaal wordt verteld aan de hand van de video's.Morgen is de expo voor het laatst te bezichtigen.

Disposable-camera photos

Finally some time to scan the disposable-camera photos. Some are still being developed, so more to come! It's a bite like traveling again.

Yogya seen from a bejak. I made this picture on my second day in Indonesia.

Denny and me on his scooter

To Semarang

Aris and Denny at Rumah Seni Yaitu. When I took this picture, I just arrived and didn't know them. Now I'm really happy I took this picture!

StreetArt in Semarang

Back to Yogya

Batik hanging to dry

Voortborduren & Wapens

Een aantal weken terug was Pitra Hutomo van de organisatie IVAA (Indonesian Visual Art Archive) in Nederland. Ze zocht mij op in Breda. We praatten over mijn plannen om dit jaar terug te keren naar Indonesië. De komende weken ga ik mij richten op het op papier zetten van mijn plannen en om een mooi verslag te maken van mijn reis. Er moet nog een hoop gebeuren om nogmaals terug te gaan, maar dat ik terug wil staat vast!

Ik gaf Pitra een kleine rondleiding door Breda en bezocht met haar de expositie Voortborduren in het Breda's Museum. Ik verwachte veel typisch Hollands geborduurde klederdracht, maar Pitra wees naar de klederdracht en vertelde mij dat het uit Sumatra kwam. Ook de proeflappen zaten vol met geborduurde patronen die ik herkende uit Batiklappen.Zoals deze tekens/patronen. Een ervan is William Kwan's lievelingsbatikpatroon! Dit symbool is een heilig symbool uit het hindoeïsme en zie je ook vaak terug in Batik.Het opvallendste was toch wel de Batiklap uit Indonesië die afgewerkt was met een geborduurde rand. Even als de kantenlap uit Indonesië met een chinese draak erin.Na het museum lunchte we en bezochten we de Grote Kerk. Hier was net de opbouw bezig van de komende expositie Woord & Wapen. Een overzicht van alle wapenschilden uit Breda en omgeving...De expositie opent 15 januari en ik verzoek iedereen om uit tepuzzelen welke wapens ik heb gebruikt voor mijn werk "Heerlijkheden" voor de Grafiekmap De Brabantse Ring!Morgen naar Beyond the Dutch in Utrecht, dus hou mijn blog in de gaten voor foto's!

Synchronicity part IV Bowerbird

During my second exhibition about my project "Tour des poulets" in the StadsGalerij Breda in November 2008, a man told me that my work reminded him of something. Usually people then start mentioning artists that make similar work. But this time it wasn't an artist, it was a bird. My work reminded him of the Bowerbird (in Dutch: Prieelvogel).
This little bird makes beautiful, hut shaped nests and decorates it with organic carpets! He gathers leaves, berries and twigs and sort them on color to impress the females.



I'm still pretty obsessed by this tropical bird, once in a while it pops back in my mind and it fascinates me all over again. It's so strange and typical that a bird makes similar work as I do, our better said, I make carpets like bowerbirds.


The first ricecarpet I made, I made of cooked rice to feed the birds in my backyard on a more pretty way. After that I did the project "Tour des poulets", in which chickens ate my ricecarpets.


Even when it's not birds eating my work, they are never very far away in my work. If they are not in the pattern, I find them some were else in my work.
When I was looking at the recording of the try-out of Dance in a ricecarpet in Indonesia I noticed Barbara's tattoo coming into the frame after she danced away my carpet, a bird...


Maybe all the hours I spend with my grandfather spotting birds have something to do with it...

Something else, Bio-fashion in Colombia

End 2008 an 'Eco friendly' fashionshow was held in Cali, Colombia. With flowers and (banana) leaves different outfits by different designers were made. "A Walking Garden" is definitely my favorite.

"A Walking Garden" by designer Hugo Alberto Puentes

By Colombian designer Cristhian Vargas

By Colombian designer Angela Aponte

By Colombian designer Iveth Jaramillo