Ancient Color of 'Green' Batik

2011-06-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

By Mujib Rahman & Lufti Avianto

This woman is digging back blend of traditional dyes are almost extinct. He made various kinds of plants as dye batik. From his hand, was born a beautiful ‘green’ batik modern and environmentally friendly.

THERE are so many beautifully motif of batik, displayed in the CreativeWorkshop Kanawida, Jalan H. Salah No. 2, Benda Baru, Pamulang, Tangerang, Banten. Fine fabrics featuring a variety of colors, but not flashy. Batik-patterned batik coloring by beautiful nature, like the brown soil, leaf green, sky blue, and red brick. In terms of motifs and patterns, that batik called ''Green Batik'' is just as beautiful with a lot of developed traditional batik in Indonesia. What makes it even more special: the use of dyes derived from natural ingredients.

Batik is pretty environmentally friendly made Sancaya Rini, 50 years old. Mother of four children graduated from Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, was concocting a variety of natural ingredients to dye cloth. The result: rich motif, style, and color is more durable. Her creativity was selected as superior products Cooperatives version of Jakarta in 2008. One form of awards she received are the outlets at the House of SME Center, Reservoir area Melati, Central Jakarta. Last year, she also won the Prudential Award from the Foundation for Biodiversity. Rini rated as meritorious individuals who use Indonesia as a useful biological diversity and sustainable.

Actually effort initiated in 2005 Sancaya Rini is still home-based scale. At this time, women born in Yogyakarta, August 11^th, 1959, she employs three imported batik from Pekalongan, Central Java, three local batik under her directions, outlets and employees. The process of batik making experience is not much different from the usual batik. Just takes more time, because of the color produced from natural materials may require immersion repeatedly-dipping seven or eight times.

A sheet of fabric display size 2.6 x 1.10 meters, for example, takes one to two weeks to make a sketch, dip, until to ‘canting’, a small dipper used to apply wax in batik process. Making scarves can be faster, at most a week. The duration of the process of making a product is highly dependent on the complexity of her motives. According to Rini, Nature provides the colors are rich, abundant in number, and low price. Almost all the ingredients around the house can be used as dyes. For example skin of rambutan, mango, mangosteen, avocado, noni, hibiscus petals, fruit jengkol, and jackfruit.

However, for some special natural dye materials, sometimes she would have to stray far. For example, to plant Tarum and a cup that could lead to blue and purple, Rini find after hunting to East Java. Now, in the garden beside the house, Rini cultivating seed plants endangered natural dyes, among others ‘kesumba keling’ (Bixa Orellana) that can display a yellow to orange.

Making natural ingredients to dye a simple fact. The materials consist of seeds, leaves, bark, stems, or fruits of certain plants only need to be boiled, and precipitated overnight. The next morning, ready for use. The entire staining process takes 2-10 days, depending on the difficulty level and type of color motif. Creating a natural-colored batik was originally not thought by Rini. Ever since I was young until her children are older, she accompanied her husband, who works at a mining company in Lhokseumawe, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

After her husband no longer worked, her family returned to Pamulang, Banten. "At that point, I started to look busy," said Rini, who had four children. Her inspiration came after he reopened the batik works of her grandmother, Sri Ginah, which is still kept. He spontaneously inspired to explore batik blood flowing in his body. Thus, the second of five brothers and Kartini Brojohudoyo Sapardi pair decided to learn batik at the Textile Museum Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. After studying, he began practicing the science gets.

Unfortunately, her husband objected her to coloring with chemical dyes. Her husband, Sutadi Sastroatmojo, set in chemical engineering education was concerned about his hobby is bad for the environment around the housing. ''If you are still using chemicals, better not to batik course,'' he said, who was born in Wonosobo, 25 September 1952, it. Then her husband suggested Rini using natural ingredients as coloring. But it is not easy. Armed with makeshift theory, Rini did hundreds of times before finally know the experiment that produced a typical color of the materials he used.

Rini claimed likes to experiment with the remnants of the dye. Some of the material he usually mixed with other ingredients. ''It's actually producing new and unexpected colors,'' she said. Because like innovating, Rini batik color is often wild and inconsistent. She never produced a single of the same color in every product. She claimed to prefer it.

Now, Green Batik began widely known. According to Rini, product prices Rp 125,000 to Rp 1.5 million. Pointing to a piece of the red scarf of a mixture of two motifs pineapple fiber and silk, he called the price of Rp 125,000. Price a piece of silk cloth with a dye Tarum Rp 1.5 million. In addition to selling in stores, Rini often serve the order that sometimes come from distant places. Recently, for example, he receives an order from Australia.

Later, a nephew Rini help make the design theme for a particular product made limited edition. Usually one theme only for the five shirts. ''Like the patterned fabric of this bike,'' said Rini, while showing a piece of a shirt for Rp 450,000.

To fill the two outlets Creative Kanawida, her staff also do other crafts from recycled materials, such as envelopes, greeting cards, and key chains. For a byproduct of this, Rini submit its marketing to the youth who cultivated. "Importation of recycled paper products were specific to them," she said.

On behalf of his business, Rini had a story to tell. Creative Kanawida name is a combination of English words, creative, meaningful and creative kanawida of the Kawi language that means different colors."Not only the activities of various kinds, but also different colors are amazing," she said.

Loaded on News Magazine - Gatra

Kartini's Day Special Issue, "Women On Top of Achievement", 21 April 2010

Catatan Cakar Ayam Lufti Avianto

Ancient Color of 'Green' Batik