Batik and Craft Still Competitive

The facts have shown since the implementation of the ASEAN China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) force on 1 January 2010, the abundance of Chinese products coming into the country is unstoppable. Of course, it has an impact on local products that come to compete in the market. According to President Director of ACE Hardware Widyakrisnadi Prabowo, countless Chinese products have many advantages than the local product. In terms of quantity could be so much. Including the type.

Meanwhile, the day, China's product quality is getting better. Hence, the price is increasingly competing with local products. "The composition of products that we sell is 80 percent made in China," I Prabowo who was accompanied by one independent commissioner ACE Hardware Lt. Gen. (Ret.) TNI Tjiptono Darmadji Tarub and consultants, during the inauguration of the ACE Hardware store in the Mall Living World, Alam Sutera, Kota South Tangerang on Friday (18/02/2011).

However, Prabowo admits that it seeks to accommodate the entry of local products into a business tool that was run under these Kawan Lama group. As his form, said Prabowo, the institute was to design a new concept stores. His name was Hall. "This booth concept for local goods," he said.

If nobody gets in the way, continued Prabowo, opening Pendopo implemented in March this year. The first location is at the Living Mall World. The plan, Hall occupies an area of ​​6,000 square meters.

Meanwhile, local products that will dominate the Hall is the kinds of batik and handicraft. Prabowo admits, batik is a local product of the most pre-eminent consumer interest. Next is the handicraft products, especially those made of wood. "Product main craft of wooden furniture in the Hall later was," says Prabowo Widyakrisnadi.

Furthermore, still according to Prabowo, ACE Hardware is the latest in the mall brought the concept of lifestyle. There are 75,000 products that meet display at the location of 15,000 square meters.

7:09 AM | 0 komentar | Read More

ride along with batik Lasem

That afternoon the people gathered in the living room full of new white cloth painted night (a type of wax for batik), semi-finished batik cloth, batik cloth in the bag until ready to send. As the routine of everyday life, then wait for the distribution of wages labor batik.

As such it is a happy moment for Santoso Hartono, batik business owners lasem "Heritage Bear". Workers face lit up to receive the results of his labors. Though not the leading equipment manufacturers, today listed 754 workers involved in the batik business property lasem Santoso. "If you do not dare to feed people (others), what does work?" Said award recipient Upakarti Preservation Services at the time.

The worker is paid at the wholesale system based on their achievement of that day. Approximately USD 5 million to Rp 7.5 million per day must be prepared Santoso for the payment of wages. No more stories of workers who are paid only Rp 4,000 per day as it did in 1990. "Even if the workers, they have to live decent," said Santoso.

Not all of them work at home, as well as a place of business, Santoso at Jalan Jatirogo, Lasem Rembang, Central Java. About 40 people work at the workshop in the region Karasjajar, Pancur Sub-about 4 miles from the residence in Jatirogo Santoso. There stands a simple building to accommodate the batik. "The industry approached the village, the residence of the batik," said Santoso.

Batik centers in Apex is Pancur District, Pamotan, and Lasem. Each district has a distinctive characteristic. Residents have their own expertise in batik.

Santoso also rolling the idea of ​​promoting batik lasem well as preservation of cultural heritage buildings. Place marketing in Apex-north coast road was named Griya Batik Lasem Lasem. Ancient building which was founded in the 1800s was once used to Kawedanan Lasem. Currently, the building became the center of batik lasem marketing small and medium entrepreneurs who join the Lasem Batik Cooperatives.

"During these artisans scattered in remote areas so that buyers difficulty accessing Apex products crafters," said Santoso. With the marketing center in the coast, he hoped to be able to "intercept" out of town buyers who through this route.

Third Generation

Santoso pioneered the business in March 2005 with only four employees only. He was familiar with batik childhood. The second child of six children the couple Tirto Hartono (Ang Tjay Gwan)-Sri Endang Wahyuningsih (Djie Frieda) batik is the third generation in his family. However, despite the work of his family sold to East Java, Sumatra and even, their efforts are not quite big. "If not mistaken, has been closed since the 1980s," said Santoso.

Batik business at that time was not sufficiently profitable. Winding middlemen who make profits very thin, only Rp 1,500 per piece. Batik entrepreneurs down. Labour batik gasped and finally even batik lasem lying at the base.

7:08 AM | 0 komentar | Read More

Traditional Batik Madura Can Extinct

Traditional batik motifs Madura, East Java, could become extinct, if the batik crafters and entrepreneurs are tempted to follow the trend of soft batik, batik motif that is likely to interest the market lately.

"Batik motif with soft colors and written lately is the most demanding by consumer batik," said businessman batik Pamekasan, Madura, Surayya Salla.

This batik motif, he said, is a kind of motif that is no ethnic difference between one region to another. As Madurese batik motifs, Solo and Yogyakarta.

"It means soft batik motif has been cross-regional and cross-ethnic," said Surayya, Friday (02/25/2011).

On the one hand, he continued, that such a market will tend to benefit, as traders and craftsmen batik have the same opportunity to market their handicraft. But on the other hand, local identities tend to become extinct.

In fact, the word Surayya who is an activist of Women and Child Protection (PPA) is, batik, batik especially not just only a mere craft, but also a work of art and culture created by children of the nation.

"If the local identity is lost, along with global market trends are desired by consumers batik, the cultural values ​​will also be washed out," said Surayya.

Some craftsmen who still have a concern to maintain regional ethnic identity, are now still trying to enter the regional identity of the motif that became desire market lately.

"If we keep trying to put a little Madurese batik motif with bright colored flowers add a picture like this," he explained, pointing to the element type of interest which he as ethnic identity Madurese batik.

Batik-patterned soft, which is now a trend of market demand, is actually the third phase in the world market of batik in Indonesia and an international scale.

"Trends in the beginning it was semi-contemporary batik and contemporary batik motif and is now into soft," he said.

According Surayya Madura batik, actually has a variety of motives, even a hundred more batik motifs. Among other motives sekar Pote, sekar bowl, bing-Tabing, and sekar universe.

But of the hundreds of batik motifs, the most in demand by consumers is sekar motif universe.

7:07 AM | 0 komentar | Read More

Sasirangan fabrics preserved Banjar

Banjar typical fabric crafters in Sasirangan, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, have to rack my brain for fixed sasirangan cloth fluttering, beating the factory made a year later bloom in the market.

The effort is embodied by memerbanyak motif, collaborating with batik, to create in the form of other crafts.

One of the crafters who have applied innovation is Sasirangan Pedal Baimbai at Jalan Pahlawan, Kampung Melayu. Adis, crafters of the paddles Baimbai, Wednesday (02/03/2011), suggests, the institute collaborate on new colors outside the existing color. During this sasirangan homogeneous dominated by one color with another color on the motive.

Similarly, the form of motive, this time combined with Javanese batik and other areas. The form is also reproduced, not only limited to fabrics, shirts, and shirts.

"Now there are slippers, wrap jars, and decorative lights that adopt elements sasirangan fabric. All done so that consumers have other options and do not have to bother making your own," he said.

During this time, known as Kampung Melayu Sasirangan center in Banjarmasin. We have dozens of craftsmen who still survived. In making the crafts, they embrace the local community, especially the mothers to process jerujut (suturing). Making sasirangan similar to batik, all by hand.

The process begins providing material (usually cotton), making patterns, sewing, dyeing, and drying. The motive which made a different crafters with other crafters.

Unlike printing products, handmade motif sasirangan products do not have the same even if made by a craftsman. There are about an 30-motifs sasirangan, including spinach king, dragon balimbur, toadstool rikit ka, leaf taruju, haruan teeth, and bahambur star.

Therefore, local crafters can identify where the original and the imitation sasirangan. Yaya, crafters sasirangan Azza, who met separately said printing product which recently entered into Banjarmasin probably derived from textile factories in Java, not from China as it developed over the years.

So far, according to Yaya, invasion of printing products that have not much influence the original sasirangan crafters because buyers are aware of the direct purchase to the location of manufacture.

"So far there has been no effect. Do not know future because people who wear the products currently starting a lot of printing on the streets," he said.

7:02 AM | 0 komentar | Read More

have not necessarily know

"The absence of a written reference about the collection of traditional batik motifs or patterns cause intergenerational knowledge gap. The problem will arise when the older generation had no time to lose all his knowledge to younger generations. The gap has led to lack of understanding the younger generation will be rich heritage of the past. We did not realize that the real Javanese batik rich in style and motifs, that number could reach thousands, "as written in the press to the press at the launch of the book Engineering Ornamental Variety Batik Yogya and Solo, which took place in the Restaurant Palalada, Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, Thursday, March 10, 2011.

That said, batik patterns already exist in Indonesian society since the XII century in Kediri, East Java. However, it turns out batik pattern has ever been found also in ancient Egypt since the fourth century BC, also existed in China since the year 618-794. But there is no specific literature that expresses this. Not many are also literature that explains the exact meaning of the motifs and batik pattern that has developed so much, maybe this time amounted to thousands.

Do not want batik motifs and their philosophical wisdom and values ​​contained in them is lost, an intellectual Java, Ir Sri Soedewi Samsi, wrote a book titled Techniques Ornamental Variety Batik Yogya and Solo. In the book, Mother Goddess, so he was usually called, intends to perpetuate patterns of batik through his book for Indonesia's young generation can learn and preserve their heritage.

Since the 1970s, the Mother Goddess has been collecting traditional batik patterns and motifs. He travels from village to village in Yogyakarta and Solo to look for typical local village style batik. From penelusurannya, the woman who is now 81-year-old is usually only found ready-made batik cloth, such as scarves, long cloth, tablecloth, and so forth. From the fabrics are Mother Goddess learn curve, line, and ornaments that are in it to then be translated in the form of pictures or patterns. Assisted by a Javanese batik pattern peggambar, Mangundikarso (deceased), Mother Goddess redrawing each motif in detail and named it as the name known to the public, then grouped according to type.

Travel since the 1970's brought the Mother Goddess launch this book with Titian Foundation and Bank Panin. The book is divided into 2 parts, on the start page, Mother Goddess tells about how the technical aspects of batik and the manner of manufacture, ranging from the tools used, how to draw lines and patterns, staining method, and chemical recipes, so little history about batik. In the second part, he describes the batik patterns that never he met in Yogyakarta and Solo, which he again divided into 2 parts: geometric and nongeometris illustrated with original size.

7:00 AM | 0 komentar | Read More