One day in 1993, Wirda Hanim, a long-time resident of the West Sumatra provincial capital Padang, attended a traditional celebration at her village, Sumani, in Tanah Datar regency.
During the festivity, she observed some women and men wearing clay batik shawls, known locally as batik tanah liek. The shawls were already very old and worn, with patches everywhere. Local people, however, still wore the shawls with pride as a piece of traditional Minangkabau clothing.
Taking a closer look at the batik, Wirda realized the people handled the shawls with extreme care so they would not tear. Out of curiosity she asked some people about the batik and was astonished to learn that clay batik had not been made for about 70 years.
“I was worried (that clay batik would disappear forever), which moved me to produce batik tanah liek, just like the pieces they were wearing,” Wirda told The Jakarta Post recently.
Batik tanah liek is a hallmark of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra. It got its name because craftsmen use clay to dye the cloth. There is no historical record as to when clay batik first appeared in West Sumatra.
Many people believe batik tanah liek was influenced by Chinese culture and first appeared in what is now Tanah Datar regency. Clay batik suddenly disappeared during World War II, in particular during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia from 1942 to 1945
In 1993, Wirda already had an embroidery business in Padang, which she established in 1986. Her limited knowledge and experience in batik-making, particularly clay batik-making, however, did not discourage her.
Wirda consulted a batik teacher at a fine arts high school and asked him to experiment, imitating clay batik using synthetic materials. The teacher asked several students at the school to help out. Wirda provided the materials for the project, including the cloth and dye needed to make clay batik. The results were rather disappointing.
“While looking for a way out, I searched for and imitated the seahorse and phoenix motifs of old clay batik in my village. Aside from that, I also drew inspiration from Minang motifs in woodcarving and traditional cloths, and created new motifs by mixing up the old motifs,” said Wirda, who was born on May 8, 1952, in Batusangkar, also West Sumatra.
Wirda’s attempts to revive batik tanah liek seemed to have moved local officials. Six months later, the National Handicraft Council of West Sumatra organized a clay batik training course for 20 participants from Solok and Pesisir Selatan regencies.
Although Wirda was not invited to attend the training, she paid her own expenses just to participate in the program.
Still, she was disappointed with the training, and she decided to go to Yogyakarta to learn batik craft. However, after attending training in Yogyakarta for a few days she had to go back to Padang to attend to her embroidery business. Wirda then asked the Yogyakarta Batik Council to send an instructor to Padang on a three-month contract.
Before the instructor left for Padang, Wirda asked him to make copies of some old clay batik she brought along from Padang. Soon after making the copies, the instructor flew to Padang together with a young assistant, with Wirda paying all their expenses.
“Upon his arrival in Padang, he showed me the copies and I was extremely disappointed as they were not quite what I had expected. In fact, after working for two and a half months, none of the pieces they produced resembled the color of batik tanah liek that I liked,” she said.
For the experiments she spent more than Rp 20 million (US$2,300) which she borrowed from her husband Rusland Majid, a 71-year-old trader. She spent most of the money on silk, batik materials and equipment.
Still, the failures and high cost did not deter her. A week before the contract of the Yogya instructor ended, she recalled a color decorating lesson when she took a wedding cake course in Jakarta years earlier. She tested some coloring agents to find one compatible with the clay-like hue of the old batik.
“I tried them on 10 sheets of fabric, each measuring two meters long, and finally I got the tanah liek batik color, although only two pieces were comparatively good,” she said.
While experimenting, Wirda employed five batik makers. With this success, she started producing synthetic clay batik. For her marketing, she received great assistance from Zuraida Hasan Basri Durin, the wife of then West Sumatra governor Hasan Basri Durin. Zuraida championed the use of traditional batik at West Sumatra’s Darma Wanita and Bundo Kanduang women’s organizations. Wirda was even asked to offer her products to official guests from other regions in the hotels where they stayed.
“The visitors appreciated and showed interest in my batik, helping my business thrive,” she said.
In 2000 Wirda attended a training course on natural coloring techniques in Yogyakarta for a month. From then on, she tried natural materials for her clay batik. Once she collected brackish soil near her home, boiled it and mixed it with alum. And to her amazement, Wirda managed to produce batik tanah liek like the original ones she had found in Sumani village.
Now Wirda uses not only clay for her batik but also other natural materials such as gambir (betel nuts) and the skin of rambutan, jengkol nuts and red onions. In her two-story house, which also serves as her batik workshop, 15 workers produce 20 pieces of clay batik per month.
Owing to its complicated processing, the cost of batik tanah liek for shawls, sarongs and shirts range from Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2 million per piece. Buyers generally come from Jakarta, Malaysia and Japan, who want the unique products as souvenirs. And for her contribution to the revival of batik tanah liek the Indonesian government bestowed Wirda with the Upakarti Award of Merit in 2006.
“I want my employees to master embroidery and batik making skills so that they can stand on their own. I also hope that some of them will carry on my business and further develop batik tanah liek,” Wirda said.
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang
May 25th, 2007
With about 17,508 islands, most of them still unnamed, Indonesia is among the most exotic neighbours that India has. Tito Dos Santos Baptista, Consul General Of The Republic Of Indonesia, Mumbai, speaks with Express TravelWorld about its India strategies.
What strategies are you employing to promote Indonesia here?
Our visa-on-arrival policy that started in August 2005 has made an instantaneous impact on arrivals. The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Mumbai is now planning various programmes to promote Indonesia in India like:
• Buyer-seller meets amongst the Indonesian and Indian travel agents
• Invitations to travel and tour operators from Indonesia to participate in outbound travel fairs held in India
• Road shows to be arranged through our ministry of culture & tourism and various Indonesian tourism boards in major cities of India in the form of cultural events, etc
• FAM tours to Indonesia for tour operators, MICE organisers, etc.
Any particular plans for the Indian travel agents?
On the sidelines of Expo Indonesia 2007, the ministry of culture & tourism, in co-operation with Consulate General of The Republic of Indonesia, Mumbai, had organised ‘Focus Group Discussion (FGD)’ chaired by the head of the Centre for Research & Development, Department of Culture & Tourism, whose officials interacted directly with the Indian tour operators and travel associations, outbound tour exhibition organisers and the media. Its objective was to get views and suggestions with regards to the Indonesian tourism promotion.
The consulate also wants to work in close co-operation with travel and tour associations of India like TAAI, TAFI, Indian Hotels & Restaurant Associations, operators, outbound travel mart organisers, outbound tourism marketing agencies and other related agencies.
Since every travel and tour operator has its own market characteristic, we would like to invite the Indian tour operator to observe our travel and tourism industry along with a wide range of hotel selections - from three-stars to five-stars as well as boutique and special class hotels and restaurants, so that they may experience a comprehensive spectrum of Indonesian tourism facilities. We want participants to choose the best option of tour package to fit the demand of their customers by having direct observation. We will arrange business meeting with Indonesian airlines, the local government and our tour operators during the trip to provide a direct contact for the participants.
Are you promoting any specific regions?
Our five priority regions to be promoted are West Sumatra, North and South Sulawesi, West Nusatenggara and East Nusatenggara that support the promotion of Bali and Yogyakarta. The Indonesian ministry of culture & tourism has recently formed directorate of MICE under the directorate general of tourism marketing. The new directorate is tasked to increase conventions and meetings by 50 per cent in 2007 to reach 300 this year, which was up from some 200 conventions held in 2006 in Indonesia’s main conventions destinations of Jakarta, Bali and Yogyakarta.
Indonesia finds substantial interest and growth in MICE business and looks at India as one of the emerging markets and we want to offer India in attractive packages at attractive prices.
What are the highlights of Indonesia as a destination?
Indonesia, a diverse nation of over 200 million people offers everything from value for money tour packages to the exotic eco-tourism, a world-class tropical underwater world, international class hotels and convention venues, and for the more adventurous a journey to the habitat of the fearsome komodo dragons. It is interesting to know that in 1970, Indonesia had 13,000 islands and in a span of 30 years, the Indonesian archipelago is now composed of 17,508 islands, most of them yet unnamed.
Bali has been confirmed as the host city for the PATA Travel Mart 2007, which will be held in Bali from September 25-28, 2007 and is expected to attract 1,500 sellers and buyers from around the world. Headquartered at the Bali International Convention Centre (BICC) in Nusa Dua, the event on the Asia Pacific travel industry calendar moves to a new host destination each year.
Indonesia has had a long association with PATA…
Indonesia is a proud member of PATA, having hosted numerous PATA events in the past. We are honoured to host PATA Travel Mart in 2007. The event is instrumental to the ongoing recovery of the tourism industry in Bali and throughout the Indonesian archipelago. The Indonesian government assures each and every prospective delegate of a memorable and productive Pata Travel Mart 2007. The ministry has indicated its plans to promote special interest tours, including golf, community-based tourism, eco-tourism, village tours and marine tourism at the mart.
Do you have other events lined up this year?
Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo (TIME) or ‘Pasar Wisata’ will also be held in Bali this September. TIME is the premier tourism event in Indonesia, in which top industry policy makers, practitioners, sellers and buyers of Indonesian-based tourism products and services participate. With the slogan ‘Meet all of Indonesia under one roof’, TIME accommodates the interests of those who sell Indonesia’s tourism products and services to international markets. The event will feature most of Indonesia’s tourist attractions which include all popular destinations and special interests as well as top tourist facilities in the country. As Indonesia’s only international annual tourism trade show, TIME 2007 will bring together international tourism fraternity and Indonesian tourism industrial players to meet under one roof.
How would you rate the recently held Expo Indonesia 2007?
Expo Indonesia 2007 was the first ever Indonesian event, organised by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia during its existence in Mumbai since last 55 years. One of its main objective was to enhance relations between the two countries through trade, tourism and investment, and providing avenues to promote Indonesian business in world market, especially amongst the small and medium enterprises to the global Indian market under the accredited jurisdiction of Indonesian Consulate General, Mumbai and the Indian territory as a whole.
Express Travel World - Mumbay,India
May 25th, 2007