Creative Economy from the ruins: Indigofera Tinctoria, Cultural Heritage, and Sustainable Development: the Revival of Natural Indigo Dyed Batik in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Dyah Miller
The Day the Earth Rumbled
On May 27th, 2006, a 6.2 earthquake on the Richter scale shook Yogyakarta and Central Java, with the epicenter by the Indian Ocean. Imogiri, a town south of the capital province of Yogyakarta, was hit hard. Overall in Yogyakarta and surrounding towns, about 5,500 people died, 58,790 injured, 67,000 houses destroyed, 72,00 seriously damaged, and 600,000 were left homeless. Wukirsari Batik Village, where about 700 batik artisans live, is one of the areas affected by the earthquake. Wukirsari is located in Imogiri, a town south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri is the location of Mataram Royal Cemetery. It was built by Sultan Agung of Yogyakarta from 1632-1640 around the Muslim era of Mataram. The royal burial ceremonies created demands for batik.
Dr. Larasati Suliantoro is an anthropologist with a deep connection and passion to her cultural roots in Yogyakarta. Her research includes traditional medicine and traditional flower arrangement from palm leaves. In her research throughout the 1980s, Dr. Suliantoro discovered that the Dutch and other European countries had cultivated and imported indigofera tinctoria paste by the blocks, around 100,000 kilograms per year during their time in colonizing Java, India, and other parts of Asia. Indigofera tinctoria is a dye plant used to create indigo colors. It is widely grown in Asia, Africa, and Rusia to create indigo colors, known in Indonesia as “tarum” and “nila”. She discovered the remains of indigofera tinctoria fields around the coastal areas of Yogyakarta. Today, indigofera tinctoria grows in the wild there, making it easy to cultivate and harvest. In her research, she also discovered the exclusive use of indigofera tinctoria as the color blue used only by the royals and kings. Other colors used before the invention of syntethic dyes were derived from tree barks and other plants, resulting in mostly brown and orange hues. Today, synthetic dyes are more common, therefore cheaper,in the production of batik, which has become a national treasure. In 2009, Indonesian Batik was added in the World Intangible Heritage List by UNESCO.
Witnessing the destruction of the earthquake, Ibu Suliantoro, along with Dr. Laretna Adishakti, the Director of Jogja Heritage Society, and Mrs. Mayasari Sekarlaranti, a batik entrepreneur and founder of Galeri Batik Jawa, connected the batik tradition, indigofera cultivation history, and the Imogiri community to help the community to recover in a sustainable way. What is important to note is that both Dr. Adishakti and Mrs. Sekarlaranti are daughters of Dr. Suliantoro. Their family dedicated the past ten years into building and supporting the economic development of the batik artisans in Yogyakarta through Galeri Batik Jawa.
Together with the local leaders, they gathered the community to create a sustainable way to recover from the earthquake destruction. The Jogja Heritage Society, Culture Emergency Response - Prince Claus Fund, Netherlands, and Sekarjagad Batik Enthusiasts, planned for the recovery. They invited batik crafters to a daily workshop where they strengthened their skills in this traditional craft. They created a community center where people can work together, as well as space for the public to learn about batik as well as purchase items. The use of natural indigo dye was uncommon before this collaboration. Most batik has brown or orange colors, and other colors were produced using synthetic dyes.
Training and Co-Working Space. Photo Credit: Laretna Adishakti
Hand-Painted Natural Indigo Dyed Batik: A Work of Art
Hand-painted batik is a work of art. The batik crafters passed down the patterns from one generation to the next. With the high demand of batik, this process has declined and been replaced with stamped batik, which is less expensive and has less cultural value. In Imogiri, there were 675 batik artisans who were faithful to the hand-painted process. Since they lost their homes and livelihood from the earthquake, Jogja Heritage Society created a co-working space at the Wukirsari Batik Village called Gazebo. Gazebo is also a center where the public can learn about batik history, process, and art.
One of the strategies for the recovery plan was to create a stream of income resources for the community by creating a batik brand based on the natural dye and hand-painted batik. So Galeri Batik Jawa was born. Jogja Heritage Society also trained the community in the natural indigo dyeing process to produce batik for Galeri Batik Jawa. Currently, Galeri Batik Jawa has been working with more than 10 villages and about 900 batik crafters.
Rendering for “Gazebo”, the plan for batik artisans co-working space, as well as community space for batik education. Photo Credit: Jogja Heritage Society & Laretna Adishakti
World Market: Galeri Batik Jawa on World Tour
Mrs. Sekarlaranti and Dr. Adishakti work together to promote Galeri Batik Jawa through exhibits, trade shows, and folk markets around the world. Galeri Batik Jawa has been selected by the curated folk market exhibit at Santa Fe International Folk Market for the past three years. They have worked with several embassies, such as the Netherlands, Austria, and Portugal, among others.
They have been invited by Indonesian embassies all over the world to showcase the products and to create a demand for their products. They produce “all season” sustainable fashion. Along with their sustainable philosophy, they created products from leftover materials to create accessories and small stuffed animals, so no batik is wasted.