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It would be hard to visit Indonesia and not notice the intricately patterned batik shirts and dresses worn by so many people. Locals tend to associate batik — the fabric that results from a traditional dying process — with cities like Yogyakarta, Solo and Pekalongan, Central Java.

A city in West Java, however, is trying to buck the trend by establishing itself as a batik center through an exhibition designed to showcase the beauty of batik motifs from Indramayu.

The exhibition, titled “Indramayu Dari Dekat” (“Indramayu Up Close”), showcases batik cloth from the city and other handcrafted products made by local artisans from the region.

“The quality of batik from Indramayu is just as good as that from any other place,” said Carwati Basuri, who owns a small batik business in Indramayu.

“We make beautiful batik. I want to let people know that they can also wear batik from Indramayu.”

Traditional batik is made by using wax and dye to create patterns on fabric. In Javanese batik, those patterns have special meanings rooted in traditional ideas about the universe. Indramayu has its share of signature batik motifs, such as perang teja (knights’ war), merak ngibing (dancing peacock), kereta kencana (gold chariot) and kembang suket (wild flowers), but the region still isn’t considered a leader when it comes to producing batik.

Carwati said that people from Indramayu had been producing original batik for hundreds of years. She added that the batik from the area was made using a special process that makes it unique.

Artisans in the city add an extra step to the process called complangan in which a small, square piece of wood bristling with 10 to 20 needles is used to create tiny holes throughout the fabric before the dying process begins.

“These tiny holes create a very unique pattern,” Carwati said.

She said the patterns and motifs of Indramayu batik represented the daily lives of the people, who made their home along the coast.

Unlike batik fabrics from Central Java that are mostly brown and dark, Indramayu batik uses colorful and bright dyes.

“You can find batik fabrics with vivid blues, reds and greens,” Carwati said.

Etong, the main fish caught in the region, along with cotton flowers are the most common items depicted in batik motifs from Indramayu.

Carwati acknowledged some of the batik makers in West Java were not as skilled as artisans from Central Java, but she said she was constantly working to make sure the 40 artisans in her batik workshop created the best products possible. She does this by promising them higher fees if they make higher quality products.

For each piece of batik cloth produced, her artisans usually get from Rp 60,000 to Rp 90,000 ($7 to $10). “But sometimes they can get up to Rp 500,000 for a single piece of high-quality fabric,” she added.

According to Carwati, skillful batik makers are the key to producing quality batik and the current exhibition gives visitors a great opportunity to watch them demonstrate their craft firsthand.

It’s an opportunity Carwati hopes many people will jump at. She is certain that once people see the brilliant color and intricate designs of batik from Indramayu, the city’s batik makers will have a bright future indeed.

‘Indramayu Dari Dekat’

Bentara Budaya
Jl. Palmerah Selatan No. 17
021 548 3008

Until Sunday,
Aug. 8