Research & quality time in Bandung

Near Bandung from the train

On the way to Singapore for a nice program together with aNERDgallery. Happy to return already after a year I had such a good time. 

This passed weekend I returned to Bandung. I only been there in 2016. I was traveling alone, like always, but at that time I didn’t know many people & really was finding out everything while traveling. Although my trip was good, it was also confronting, I cried on Braga street while eating a tompoes, and traditionally there isn’t much batik culture there. But I am glad I returned after 7 years, made friends along the way with whom I have been working with and would like to work with more. I was also invited to give a talk at the University Maranatha in Bandung.

With Nidi Kusmaya and Arlene D. Soemardi 

in front of Nidi's studio

Inside Nidi's studio 'Earth and Plant Pigment Expert'

Working on the recipes in Bandung

I left right after the Batik workshop at Erasmus Huis on Saturday. I was traveling with Mr. Pot, the pan I bought for the Indigo vat that would now be used by Nidi Kusmaya for our Natural Dye Lab project. My hand were a little bit blue, but luckily most people were sleeping in the train. 

I arrived late, but it gave me a full day on Sunday.

It was so so so nice to have a lazy cafe Sunday in Bandung talking with friends! Arlene D. Soemardi who I worked with in the Netherlands and of which just got published this amazing story for my Things That Talk zone ‘Fabric(s) of Leiden’ on a Batik by J.Jans that I helped her write. She joined me and Nidi, and we got to meet her baby, 4 months old, re-see her husband and mother. It was so sweet of them to join so that we got to chat and chat and chat. It is funny how sometimes it is a small world, Arlene and Nidi were schoolmates. Arlene also interviewed my brother who joined our batik workshop we gave together at the Indonesian embassy in May 2022. I had him on the phone in the morning and could give his warm regards right away! I love how we can be spread over the globe in different timezones and still connect and keep connected.

In the afternoon Nidi and I moved to another location to have lunch and work on our project. The Natural Dye Lab is for the first time on display. We started the project in the pandemic together with Tony Sugiarta of aNERDgallery.

Natural Dye Recipe Project in collaboration with Indonesian artist Nidi Kusmaya and curator Tony Sugiarta. With growing interest and discussion in sustainability and fashion (de-)colonisation history, it piques the curiosity of the use of natural dyes in local textile culture, including Indonesian batik. Through this research-based textile project, Bolk, Kusmaya and Sugiarta aim to

trace historical narratives and the connections through material exploration used in batik natural dyes. There is a knowledge gap in the technical execution and historical account of how natural dyes were used in batik in the past versus how it is used today. Due to limited records since the oral history has been lost, we depend on old writings often in Dutch. The starting point for this researchproject is therefor one of the oldest published dye recipe books in Dutch, ‘Iets over de inlandsche wijze van katoen-verven op Midden-Java’ (Something on the local way of Cotton dyeing on Central Java) by the Dutch Samuel Corneille Jean Wilhelm van Musschenbroek (1827 - 1883). The booklet was published in 1877 and was translated by Van Musschenbroek from an Javanese text which he doesn’t specify. He was based on Java as a civil servant and had in interest in local traditions. He also commissioned batik motifs drawn in wax on cardboard, so at least he was aware of the technique.

The text by Van Musschenbroek is translated by us to re-creation the old recipes and find out workable formulas. For Erasmus Huis we focus is on three natural colours, namely blue, brown and red. The process and progress of this colours will be shared and updated throughout the exhibition in this Natural Dye Lab.

Through WA, a zoom with experts and calls we manage to do a lot of preparations. Now it was a great opportunity to launch the project and use this time to work on it further. In the exhibition you can see the first experiments with re-creating the Blue ~ Indigo recipe from the recipe book by Van Musschenbroek. We hope to update Brown ~ Sogan on 28 November at Erasmus Huis {feel free to come, meet us & ask questions} and while work on collecting the materials needed for Red ~ Mengkudu. The process of dyeing with Mengkudu is pretty long and since the practice of dyeing bright red has been lost, we want to take our time with it. Our hope is we can present the recipe book by Van Musschenbroek in a not just translated version, but in a workable recipe book. 

It is so fun to work on this project. We laugh so much when trying to figure out what tools were used. Van Musschenbroek has this way of listing tools to scoop or measure with descriptions on local uses. This provides very useful to figure out what it actually is. 

To be continued!

Giving my talk at University Maranatha

Batik design made by students of Christine Lukman inspired by Lasem stories, 

produced in Lasem by batikworkshops

Batik design made by students of Christine Lukman inspired by Lasem stories, 

produced in Lasem by batikworkshops

Groupphoto at University Maranatha 

On Monday morning I gave a talk at the University Maranatha. Professor Christine Lukman invited me to share about my research. I gave the talk only for the lecturers, while I prepared with the students in mind, luckily it was received really well and provided us with enough points for discussion after wards. While fieldresearch is very common in Indonesia, provenance research is done far less. Logical if you consider most sources and data are kept outside Indonesia, with a big part kept in the Netherlands. So I hope we can continue sharing knowledge and help each others research.

Institut Teknologi Bandung

The institute was a big surprise, not only are the buildings stunning. 

It was build in 1920 as the first technical university

The Material library

The Material library

Ibu Tyar showing how thick the wooden beams are

at Bandung Institute of Technology 

After the talk I headed to meet Nidi & Ibu Tyar at Bandung Institute of Technology. Tyar Ratuanissa is a researcher at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) with a focus on Batik and natural materials.

I met Tyar online during the soft launch of the Natural dye project and it was great to go to her lab!

The institute was a big surprise, not only are the buildings stunning. it was build in 1920 as the first technical university. The students are so divers and cool, saw a lot of pink hair. Wish I could study there! 

In the building that houses Ibu Tyar’s lab ‘Tren Warna - Trend Color Lab’ is downstairs a Material library. Displayed are materials that research has been done on; colour pigments from waste materials, woven mats, and even more experimental stuff like textile from fungi. 

Upstairs Tyar has her lab, the main project she is working on is ‘mapping colours’. She shared her progress and the necessary detour her work is on. Turned out to do the actual mapping, first the photography of the batiks has to be correct and this turned out more challenging than imagined. Not having a standard system in place at the partner museum, ment this had to be created first. An interesting progress and I always think this is as much part of the research as the final report. So thanks for sharing Ibu Tyar!

We had too little time, and I really have to return, but it was already so great to just talk. It was so nice I almost missed my train back to Jakarta! 

Till next time Bandung!

There has been some shares on my exhibition online, check them out here:

Blog Erasmus Huisで展覧会Masa Depan Batik

Mediaweek Ingin Bedakan Proses Batik Asli atau Cetak? Ini Kata Pakar

Erasmus Huis: culturele brug tussen Nederland en Indonesië

True Blue*

Indigo dyeing in process, 4 November at Erasmus Huis

I had to return from Pekalongan and Batang right away after the weekend, because the Dutch embassy and Erasmus Huis would get a visit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 1 November, and it would include a visit to my exhibition. I never gave such a quick tour in my life, but it was happy I could share a little about the stories behind the batiks made by Ibu Ramini, Ibu Siti and Mak Sium. So in 5 minutes Hanke Bruins Slot was off to her next meeting.

Wrapping batik at Esmod

In the afternoon I headed to Ibu Liesna at Esmod. We hope to create a pop-up fashion moment in the exhibition in which students create looks by just wrapping the batiks. The students came to the Pasar Batik to pick out two kains they wanted to use. 

Ibu Liesna already did a pre-wrapping session and we tried 3 looks using two kains. Looking forward to see the final wraps!

Pak Bahri with a new Batik design with turtles, 

motif name Serak Danau Spin (Kura-kura Danau Sipin) Latar Bungo Klambanq Bertaut

Basket with fish in new batik design 'Jagad Panguripan' from Batang

New batik motif 'Semanggi Kontak Listrik'

On 2 November I headed to the presentation and exhibition of Pak William Kwan’s latest research project on Batik Jambi & Batang; Pameran Merangkai Batik

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. In the exhibition, which was way to short on display only 3 days, Pak William showed pieces from his collection, new made designs created by artisans in Jambi and Batang and collaborations of the two. There were some really fun designs, about lighting and electricity, or on local crafts like basket weaving, but also sea turtles and revivals of classic motifs. One of this classic ones right away caught my eye. Pak Zainul Bahri who made the Jambi pieces, said to me, this is a very old motif from Jambi. The motif in question is a motif I know all too well, because it is on one of the pieces I have been researching to. This motif is referred to in old documents as ‘Dancing peacocks’, while Pak Bahri birds were called ‘Kuau Berhias’ which translated into ‘Decorated Pheasants’. I shared this together with the new motif next to old one on my social media and oh how I love my friends. Jennifer got inspired by my post and started googling. She not only found that the local bird Kuau and Peacocks are closely related. The Kuau bird recently was re-discovered in Aceh! She shared a video of the bird and actually they do truly dance to impress the females. So a real Dancing peacock. There are several subspecies of the bird, even one called Bornean peacock-pheasant. So probably both names are right, but over time the motif was more explained as a peacock, will actually it is more a pheasant. To be continued…

New design by Pak Bahri, motif name 'Kuau Berhias'

Old version from before 1874, 

Collection Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, 

former collection by Van Rijckevorsel

inventorynumber WM-272

The talk ‘Diskusi Literasi: Ecoefisiensi & Masa Depan Batik Indonesia’ held at the venue was interesting and frustrating. It was a younger generation sharing their thoughts on Batik, but two explained how ‘cold wax’ was a good idea for the future of batik. ‘Malam dinggin’ is not batik. It is a resist dye technique using screenprinting, or “sjablon. But only the hot wax process is batik as stated clearly in the description of this Unesco intangible heritage. Brands that work with Malam dinggin are happy to post pictures of pembatiks, but never of their actual workshop where the screenprinting is done. These small workshop don’t have any protective measures for the makers, the working conditions are really bad, at least seen from the secret videos shared online. Worst of all, the whole it is cheaper argument is only for the one who produce and sells it. The malam dinggin products are as high or higher priced than batik. It is so smart to tell consumers that it is cheaper. Honestly just buy a real batik and go to a tailor, or learn to wrap it in different ways and have 5 looks for the price of one. We should not consider ‘Malam dinggin’ as a good solution.

Luckily Pak Bahri saved the morning by sharing with us batiks he made based on old motifs he could find in books and (Dutch) collections. He even showed us two old Jambi batiks, which were almost falling apart, but still so gorgeous. Wanted have a closer look, but had to run of to go to a meeting at Erasmus Huis.

Slide on 'Cold wax', next to Batik Tulis

Pak Bahri sharing a old Jambi Batik with us

In the afternoon Chandra Prijosusilo visited my exhibition. I have been admiring her work for a while now. As the founder of Sekar Kawung Social Enterprize that focusses on Biodiversity & culture for sustainable prosperity, Chandra did remarkable projects with textile communities. She is not just looking at the craft, but at the full picture. So what is needed to grow and maintain to be able to continue the craft in a sustainable way, improving not just the craft but their surrounding as well. At the moment her focus is on Tuban.

She brought with her this so stylishly dressed couple Mas Lalu Hilman Afriandi and his wife Dina of Bidadariku. They make natural produced textiles in Lombok and they were dressed head to tow in it too. 

What an honour to have such amazing visitors. By the way, we already had more than a 1000 visitors!!

It was so wonderful to go with them through the exhibition. The work by Ibu Siti, which is fully done in natural dye, and the Natural Dye lab project had their interest. They looking forward to the continuation of this project, Nidi and Tony! 

At my small cinema, we watched ‘Tari Batik'. Automatically ‘Dance in a ricecarpet’ started playing too and we ended up watching it in full. We laughed about how “mainstream” my exhibition is, compared to my older work. Thank you so much for your visit and cannot wait for our next meet-up in Yogya or Tuban!

Ibu Chandra, me, Ibu Dina and Mas Lalu at my exhibition

On Friday 3 November me and Ibu Liesna went to visit Griya Peni, the creative home/workshop of Ibu Indra and her daughter Peni. 

I have seen Ibu Indra often during the pandemic in zooms on Batik, either as a speaker or as a participants like me. I was so happy when Ibu Indra, her daughter and full Griya Peni team attended the Pasar Batik. 

So Friday me and Ibu Liesna went to their place, thanks Liesna for driving and joining me. The place is great, but a little outside of Jakarta. It was so nice to see be there and share stories. Every corner is pretty and I am sure who ever follows a workshop there has a lovely time.

Thanks for welcome me & read more in Bahasa Indonesia on their blog; DIPLOMASI WASTRA bersama Ms. SABINE BOLK

Ibu Liesna at Griya Peni

Slendang mural outside of Griya Peni with Ibu Indra

Saturday was an event I was looking forward to and was scared off all at once. The Batikworkshop with Indigo. I have been giving workshop myself and doing it on a new location is always exciting, but now with buying, borrowing and improvising the needed materials, I really was like, can we? But it went perfect. Museum Tekstil borrowed us all the material we needed for the batik making. So the stoves {kompor}, little stools, canting, wax, bigger stove for boiling out the wax {lorod}, a pan and plastic containers for rinsing. Their batik teachers Mbak Yeni and Mas Edy were there to guide everyone to the process. At Museum Tekstil you can follow Batik courses (I believe every weekend, and on request). At the moment they are closed for renovations, but later this year you can go there again to learn making batik. 

Mbak Elisa of Jivaloka was our Indigo expert all the way from Yogyakarta. It was amazing to see her create a dye vat, all natural, in the morning. Her focus is indigo, so it was great to put her expertise together with Museum Tekstil. Mbak Yeni and Mas Edy had loads of questions for her, and it turned out they never had an Indigo vat at the museum. Because the dye vat wouldn’t be used at Erasmus Huis after the workshop and couldn’t be brought home with Elisa, so we were very happy ‘migunani’ { useful/nuttig as Elisa named the vat } was brought to Museum Tekstil after the workshop. Talking about Masa depan Batik!

Mbak Elisa of Jivaloka with Indigo dyevat ‘Migunani'

Ibu Yeni explaining how to use the canting to draw the hot wax

Starting with a blank canvas

Giving information on Indigo while bringing the vat to live

30+ participants making batik

Ready to be dipped into the Indigo

Watching everyones dyed batiks

Mas Edy of Museum Tekstil boiling out the wax

We worked on cotton prepared by Ibu Siti in Batang, the cotton has to be mordant so the dye can go into the cloth. I cut it on size the night before. Ripping pieces of white cotton in a hotelroom is a strange experience and I was worried my neighbors might call the hotel wkwkwk.

I didn’t put a drawing with pencil on the cloth, I never do that, but it is very common on Java. So first the participants were like, we need to design ourselves?!? 

I was so happy that after a short moment, they all just dove in it, creating all unique pieces.

The participants came in as early as 9.30. After meeting Elisa and talk about Indigo, they would start with drawing the wax. When it was time for the first group to start dyeing, the dye vat was a little bit too hot. Luckily Hema the small restaurant at Erasmus Huis provided us with buckets of icecubes. It cooled it enough down, to put the cloth in without melting the wax already. 

The participants had to dip their batiks 3 to 4 times to get a dark enough blue before boiling the wax out. We really had a nice production going on with timers going off, people rinsing, hanging to dry, taking the dried pieces and putting it back in the dye vat.

By 13.30 all batiks were ready to have the wax removed, so perfectly on time. Amazing with 30+ participants! And everyone was so happy with their own made batik!

Thanks Elisa, Mbak Yeni, Mas Edy, Mas Ardi, Museum Tekstil and Ibu Siti! Thanks Erasmus Huis for letting me host this workshop!

Up to the next one!

Insta story of Elisa of Jivaloka

* True love

You're the one I'm dreaming of

Your heart fits me like a glove

And I'm gonna be true blue, baby, I love you

                                                        - Madonna

We don’t put big sign like that

Ibu Rasminah and her batik

Batik Carnival Pekalongan

Last weekend I escaped Jakarta and now I am escaping again. So trainride blogging again.

Last weekend I went to Pekalongan. I was already planning to go and got an invite to the Batik Carnival, just to watch this time, not as a jury. 

To my surprise the Pekan Batik/Batik Week just started also. So when I arrived on Friday, I went there first. Mbak Mila of the brand Molafi, who I met last year, accompanied me. Her university had their own booth this year. At the university Pekalongan batik making and making batik product is part of the education. It is nice that through Mbak Mila I get to know other students too. At the booth my eye caught this interesting slendang. I thought it was white with only a bold motif of a squirrel on. The tails were connected in the shape of clouds like Mega Mendung. Actually the background was dyed using Coconut husk. Apparently the batik was made last year and the colour had faded into this pale yellow. I asked Mbak Mila if we could meet the maker the next day, so I could buy it from her directly.

Mas Fairuzulha also came to meet us. As the tourism/cultural ambassador he was already there everyday, but still came to meet me with his friend who was also the current ambassador. We went for dinner together nearby. We talked about how batik can be promoted for younger generation. The friend organised an event where you had to wear batik to enter, inspired by the events in Jakarta by Swara Gembira. Only most were wearing printed textiles, of course with batik motifs.Not real handmade Batik Tulis or Cap. So it is a nice idea, but if the visitors do not wear real batik, you are actually adding onto the problem, not being the solution. So how do you get people inspired to wear it. Mbak Mila is working on this too with her brand. She was wearing these fabulous pants with a large free parang motif. They were sold out, great, less great for me, but she explained at her university they didn’t teach them about fashion, only making fine batik. How to balance all these ideas and find a way forward? I think it is also a generational thing, because guess what, the new generation of Batik wearing is already there and it is a young generation, jippie!

Batik from Mbak Mila's family collection

Angel on Batik from Mbak Mila's family collection

On Saturday 28 October I was welcomed at Mbak Mila’s home. The house of her grandparents was renovated last year. It is this stunning 1920’s house with patterned floor-tiles, completely surrounded by other buildings, so not visible from the street, but even has a garden. Mila’s mother, who runs ‘Batik H.M’, surprised us by sharing Mila’s grandmothers batik collection. Some are made by her, others only worn probably. It were mostly Pekalongan pieces, I recognised styles I now only see in Batang, some Sogan pieces, including one with an angel. Our favourite was one with a European style basket. The batik most likely dates from 1940-1950. It was amazing to see, and Mila was so happy her mother finally shared them with her too. They will definitely provided much inspiration for upcoming collections for Molafi.

Ibu Nur showing us around in the exhibition 'Buketan' 

at Museum Batik in Pekalongan

After the batik breakfast, me and Mila headed to Museum Batik. She was a month an internship there, between my last visit and now, just so she could learn more about batik! 

At Museum Batik we were welcomed by Ibu Nur, the director of the museum. Very tired after non-stop program with many batik competitions, she still gave us a guided tour through the new exhibition about ‘Buketan’ and showed us the new collection pieces, all by Iwan Tirta. Truly artworks, his designs are so beautiful and I realised, or think, that some might be inspired by William Morris his wallpaper. I wonder if he was, I think Morris writing about protecting and reviving crafts must have spoken to Tirta. I have a quote by Iwan Tirta in my exhibition as well, so it was extra nice to see his work up close again. Before we headed to the Batik Week, we had a short look around at the Batik Carnival preparations. This time it was held at night, so the participants were judged in the afternoon. 

Batik by Iwan Tirta at Museum Pekalongan

Batik Carnival Pekalongan preparations

At the Batik Week we met with Yovita Christi the maker of the slendang. The booth was filled with nervous students and everything was documented on phones. I tried to make a little conversation and if she wanted to ask me anything, but as often is with first meetings here, she did not dare yet. She did send me through WA this explanation about her work;

Inspired by squirrels that have calm behavior and intelligent thinking, this Selendang Batik visualizes how Batik culture and the young generation collaborate to survive in this era.

Background color: Natural dyes from Coconut Husk 

Colet dyes: Remazol

Process: 1-2 months

Elements: 

1. Two squirrels with modifications of Mega Mendung on their tails. 

2. Trees and pine cones at both ends of the Selendang Batik.

3. Squirrels running around the edge of Selendang Batik. 

 

I hope Yovita continues to make batik and looking forward to meeting her again and seeing her next designs!

In the evening it was Batik Carnival time. The new trend on Java is at night. So participants add lights, even fireworks to their creations. I was happy I saw some of them already during the day, because it was difficult to see any details, or the batik for that matter. There were some spectacular looks, really a new level. Some favourites; The Hong bird, which was an installations on wheels with firework! The food-cart with one person dressed up as the meal. The boat, there were many boats, but this was like a full size boat. All the dragons and a Nonna Belanda. Not a favourite, but it is interesting how this history is being referred too. It is not about the sarong kebaya style of the early 1900’s or about the Indo-European batik entrepreneurs. The look they made is like the “Dutch lady” in the old city in Jakarta which whom you can take a photograph. The style is more like a lady in an impressionistic painting, or like in a costume drama movie, not really what they were wearing when they walked around in Pekalongan a century or more ago.

Batik Carnival Pekalongan 2023

Sunday 29 October in Pekalongan I spend by relaxing and visiting Ibu Widianti of Oey Soe Tjoen. She couldn’t be at the opening, so I wanted to visit her and thank her, also from Erasmus Huis. 

We talked about her exhibition and book plans for 2025. About her newly made designs, about the quality of batiks and the lack of workshops in Kedungwuni or Pekalongan for that matter. On the way to Kedungwuni you see so many signs saying that Batik is sold there. The bigger banner the better. But in reality only the batikworkshop of Oey Soe Tjoen and Liem Ping Wie are really making batik and the others sell printed dusters (housedresses) and sarongs with ‘cold wax’. Ibu Widianti said; “We don’t put big sign like that”, meaning, the big signs are the ones selling fake batik. 

Ibu Widianti and me

Banner on a shop selling "Batik"

My short visit to Pekalongan was not complete without a visit to Batang. I just wanted to visit the pembatiks I hadn’t seen yet the weekend before, because I will return later this month. 

Mas Qomar picked me up on Monday and we first went to Ibu Rasminah. Our visit was not announced, so she opened the door wondering who was bothering her, then shock, to continue in full laughter. I shared with Ibu Rasminah photos of Koen and Noël van Bemmel wearing a blouse made from her batik. She loved it sooo much! She approved on the way her motif was placed and was just so surprised and proud all at once. 

She wanted to share her latest made pieces. Most designs I have at home, but I learn every time new things about motif names and this time gender also. In Batang the kepala, head of the sarong, is called Tumpal and is actually only for men! The sarong without kepala is for women. Men wear the sarong with the kepala in the back, this I knew, but that only they  wear the kepala was something new. I don’t know from when this is custom and if in other places it is like this too, something to dive into.

Ibu Rasminah holding the batik for women, 

her son shows us the batik for men

Ibu Salmah with a batik by her grandmother, her grandfather pointing out the details

 

After our visit to Ibu Rasminah, miss her already, we headed to Ibu Rujaemah and granddaughter Ibu Salmah. I have stayed in contact with Ibu Salmah on WA. I wish we could chat more easily, we are from different world, but I just love how she support her grandmothers batik. She is not a batikmaker herself, yet but she does make clothing. Only homedresses at the moment, but I ask her to make something with a batik. Hopefully it is finished when I return and I can share it here. 

We talked batik, of course and her sewing business, while we got to try different snacks, fruits and even pecel made by their family. I always laugh about Mas Qomar ability to snack while asking about the most serious everything. In between hee would tell me; don’t eat this, not vegetarian, eat this and pushes a plate or pot towards me. 

Design to make a Cap at workshop Khopir

Weaving at Ridaka Tenun

Cotton Shop

After my visits, Mas Qomar wanted to show me some more things. First we went to a local cap maker. Mas Khopir has been producing caps since 1999. The porch that is their workshop had just two tables, for him and Mas Amad. In a cupboard all the design drawings are kept, oh I wanted to see them all, but also didn’t want to take more of their time.

Next stop was Tenun. Ridaka Tenun in Pekalongan has been up and running since 1940. The family house that is the shop has in the back the production. The old wooden looms are used the produce unconvention fabrics. They were weaving cotton, natural dyed, together with banana fiber. It is shipped to Japan and used as wallpaper. 

In the shop I was showed other products such as towels with batik motifs, but the motifs are actually applied with Batik Cap! 

Last place we stopped was the local cottonseller. A space just filled with rolls and bales of cotton. They had the local ‘Tari kupu-kupu’, primissima, prima, but also a cotton called ‘silk’ because of the shiny finish and other textiles like dobby (silk/cotton) and rayon. Didn’t buy any textile, but it was nice to see where basically everyone in Pekalongan & Batang gets their cotton.

Thank you Batik City, and Batik region of the world, and sampai jumpa lagi! 

Yes, Batik is Art! Love this graffiti artwork