Diary Entry: Day 7

By: Feeza Ashruff

15 July 2009

At the break of dawn on day 7, it was a sure thing to find everyone still covered in their blankets embracing every last bit of their dreams from the night before. On day 7 we knew that there were no early sessions in the morning to wake up for and everyone just slept in except the travelers who had stories due in the morning at 10.00 a.m. Everyone had been reminded the night before that the whole afternoon was free for those who had to pursue their still unwritten stories due in the following days. Hence, in the morning all the travelers were scattered doing their own things; Joanna who had a soft story to write on Batik headed off with our student guide Ike and a few other fellow travellers who were personally interested in Batik to Kampung Kauman, where they were scheduled to learn the art of Batik from Batik master Lukman Jamali. While they were off to their Batik session, the other students were once again out on the streets bargaining their hearts out to buy souvenirs for their folks back home. Occasionally the shoppers would convene and compare prices of the goods bought, to get the best deals.

The results of the Batik session at Kauman

By 2.00pm everyone began heading back to the hotel from wherever they were to meet up with Dr.Yeoh at the lobby before heading off together for the final session in this trip; meeting the children of HUMANA, a kind of day care centre for underprivileged children. However on the way to HUMANA we lost our way and was rescued by Mbak Adis a representative from the shelter. Despite getting lost, we still arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled time of 3pm and thus had plenty of time convening in the HUMANA house and getting to know the adorable kids before heading off to a schoolyard nearby to play some pre-planned games. After lots of translations and miscommunication with the children we managed to play 3 games which were 'wolf and sheep', 'ular dan naga' and also basketball. Everyone including the travelers played along, laughing and running together with the children. A few injuries occurred to the travelers- Shazwan was accidentally hit in the face and I had my foot stomped on. Painful, but I am sure that for both Shazwan and I, these injuries only made the day more memorable, as sometimes memories are made from injuries. At the end of the session we took the compulsory sedate group photograph and Dr Yeoh's favourite 'jumping shot'. We also distributed the candies, toys and books that were brought for the children in the centre. We then slowly walked back to the hotel feeling really exhausted and old.

Playing 'Ular Naga Panjang' (Long Dragon) a traditional Indonesian game with the children

The children laughing and playing with the students

When we arrived, we gathered at the lobby for tomorrow's briefing and right after the briefing everyone was once again free to do their own activities; some headed off for dinner, some to the cyber cafe writing up their blog entries while the rest went shopping.Melanie and i went for a wonderful massage and spa at a hotel near by with Farhanah as our escort. I must say that today was one of the most laidback day on the entire trip to Yogyakarta.


WRITER'S PROFILE: Feeza is currently a third year student (hopefully graduating in 2 days time) majoring in International Studies and minoring in Communication. She is an absolute crazy one. Laughing is her middle name and she is always in love with children. One of the most veteran travelers in the IN SEARCH series organized by Dr.Yeoh and Monash University Sunway Campus, Feeza is also a person with a very complex heart and mind. She hides her feelings a lot (seriously) but adores her family and friends to bits. =)

Waxing lyrical Batik style.

By: Joanna Molloy

15 July 2009

Stepping foot on Malioboro, the main street and tourist drag in Yogyakarta, means being struck by the bedazzling array of Batik. Shops proclaim this to be the 'City of Batik', and I most definitely concur. Road-side stalls burst with colour as Batik is brazenly displayed anywhere and everywhere. It is all too easy to get caught up not only in the batik craze, but also in a pattern of consumption. First you are bargaining for a batik patch-work shoulder bag, and all too soon you find yourself laden with piles of intricately detailed cloth, eight bangles, a pair of flip-flops and five of the bags you initially wished to acquire (friend, friend, sister, friend, self). The most standard rule of fashion- to wear no more than one pattern simultaneously- is mercilessly abandoned as locals and tourists alike swathe themselves in this brightly patterned cloth..

Wandering along the colourful streets, I began to wonder how a textile had become so prolific; what could batik really means to this city? Yogyakarta offers a wide array of Batik: machine produced for the masses, finer handmade versions for the more discerning customer and Batik fine art for a select few. I mused over what role this textile played in Yogyakarta, not only culturally, but also in economic, traditional and social terms.

In this search, four students from the Monash team, accompanied by our charming student guide Ike, went on a journey to discover more about Yogyakartan Batik. We found ourselves once again in the Muhammadiyah Muslim community- Kampung Kauman. Teguh Ariebowo and his Father Lukman Jamali, an acclaimed Batik artist, took us on a journey to discover the real Yogyakartan batik. In the early days, Batik was of immense importance to Kauman when the majority of the community made batik for personal use, and some also made this their business. Today, Ariebowo's house is alone in Batik creation in Kauman. The decline in production and demand for handmade batik may be attributed to industrialization, outsourcing and unbeatable prices of factory produced fabric. However, there remains a market in which creativity, quality and skill remain competitive-within the fine art world.

We were privileged to be taught Batik by a master: Lukman is a renowned batik artist who not only exhibits in Indonesia, but also internationally. He has exhibited in the Netherlands and has a considerable client-base in Europe. Lukman studied at the Insitute Seni Indonesia in Yogyakarta within the sculpture department. As the institute did not offer a specific Batik art course, he independently adapted his skills to the traditional medium. His art appears Surrealist with the repeated motif of a mask, and it is not surprising to hear of his passion for the Dutch surrealist M. C. Escher. Lukman's works have greater popularity with a foreign market who may identify with his designs through a western framework of art interpretation as they are aesthetically familiar.

Lukman Jamali, world renown batik artst

Pak Lukman has a particular interest in painting dragons

Ariebowo took us through the steps to make our own first batik. We began by sketching our design on a piece of cotton. The canting, a traditional tool was then introduced to us. With this we applied melted wax to the areas of our design we wished to remain white, as Batik is a resist-dyeing process. This proved to be remarkably fiddly and at times messy, leading us to further appreciate handmade batik and understand the higher prices requested. After we had drawn our designs to the best of our abilities (and managed to make a rather impressive wax design on the tile floor), our colourful desires were unleashed.. We sponged the powder based, acidic dye on our cotton and waited in keen anticipation for the sun to work its magic, exposing the dye to create vivid colours. Once our fabric was suitably bright, we boiled and washed it to expose our finished batik designs.

The canting- the essential tool in batik making

Designing the pattern

The last procedure of batik making; the wash

Although the motifs we used were not traditional, and our art does not fit the conventional understanding of the Batik aesthetic, we did move closer to an understanding of the famous textile. Ariebowo and Lukman showed us that the process and the journey are all important. The mass-produced machine made versions are in our hosts perspective, “not real batik”. Through our investigations and brief foray into design, we became closer to true Yogyakartan batik, than we ever will at the stalls on Malioboro street.

With Ariebowo at Kauman after the session with his father

WRITER'S PROFILE: Joanna Molloy hails from Melbourne, Australia and has recently completed a semester of exchange at Monash Sunway, Malaysia. After Yogyakarta, she will embark on another adventure in Italy, completing her Italian major at L'Universita' di Bologna. Textiles send quivers of joy right through her body meaning this Batik rich Yogyakarta trip has been an entirely exhilarating experience.