Batik of Obama�s Mother Dresses Up Exhibition

Batik of Obama�s Mother Dresses Up Exhibition

An exhibition in Jakarta featuring the batik collection of the US President Barack Obama�s mother was officially opened in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Speaking at the occasion, Maya Soetoro, Obama�s half-sister, said their mother, Ann Dunham, collected batik as part of her efforts to understand Indonesian culture. Dunham passed away from ovarian cancer in 1995.

Maya said their mother had told them that culture was a good way to build international relationships.

The exhibition features Dunham�s collection of batik from Yogyakarta, Solo and Pekalongan in Central Java; Indramayu and Cirebon in West Java; and Madura, East Java.

The exhibition will also display the collections of first lady Ani Yudhoyono and Go Tik Swan, a renowned batik designer from Central Java.

A fashion show of batik dresses designed by Agus Susastro, an Indonesian designer living in New York, was the highlight of the opening.

Ani, who officially opened �The Batik Essay, a Collection of Love Stories� at Grand Indonesia mall, said batik � recently proclaimed by Unesco as Indonesian cultural heritage � was a medium for understanding the nation.

�Through this expo, one can picture a story of someone who loved batik very much,� Ani said, referring to Dunham.

Ani also recalled that when she was a child, her mother, Sunarti Sri Hadiyah, the wife of the late Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, introduced her to various batik designs and taught her how to choose certain designs for certain occasions.

Ani said she was proud of her mother and her role in preserving the tradition found in batik.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, said on Monday that the exhibition was to welcome Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia.

�This is a symbol of the US partnership with Indonesia as well as Mr. Obama�s appreciation of [our culture],� she said, as quoted by VIVAnews.

Jakarta in Batik

The Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo`s instruction to the local units to wear batik on Friday (10/2) is obeyed. Today all the civil officials and staffs in city hall are wearing batik. Several days before, the instruction was given not only to civil officers, but also to private companies and public. �The governor`s instruction has been responded by the staffs,� said Oyong Hanna Abidin for Mass Media Division of Dept. of Communication, Information and Public Relation, Friday (10/2).
Achyar (40), one of the staffs admitted that he support wearing batik in order that it is recognized as a world heritage. �I support the effort which is being run in Arab. I have plenty of batik collection,� he admitted. Not only civil officers, but private company staffs are also wearing batik. Elli (24), one of administration staffs in a well-known book store, for example. �The staff must wear batik today as the form of support on batik to be recognized as a world heritage,� she said.

Batik Software launched

Seven young people from Bandung, West Java, grouped together as the Bluemoon Technology-Pixel People Project have introduced a potentially revolutionary innovation to the world of batik design in Indonesia with the launch of their Batik Fraktal V2 software, which enables batik to be designed without human intuition.

The software, development of which began in late 2007 with the support of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, the Research and Technology Ministry and a grant from Senada-USAID, enables designs to be made by a computer, which processes traditional batik design patterns into millions of new motifs by using fractal mathematics formulas.

The software launching ceremony was held at the Blitz Megaplex in Bandung recently and was attended by Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman, head of the West Java Industry and Trade Office Agustiar and representatives from Senada-USAID.

Nancy Margried, who served as project manager for the Pixel People Project, said the software allows traditional batik makers to design an unlimited number of motifs. She added the basic forms in the software, such as angles, length and repetitive motifs, were taken from traditional batik motifs, such as from Pekalongan, Garut, Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

"We have included a number of basic motifs, such as angles, length and motif duplication in the database so as to facilitate making batik motifs," Margried said.

Minister Kusmayanto said his ministry had provided support to the Batik Fraktal software given its extraordinary innovation, which combines art, computer, mathematics and economics.

"I am impressed because the innovation could expand batik sales extensively. Batik, which was regarded as traditional and out-moded, can now become a trend among the younger generation with its new and up-to-date designs," Kusmayanto said.

Nancy said batik fabrics could be made manually by using the traditional manner and the computer designs could easily be downloaded to the batik printing machines for mass production. Besides government agencies, Nancy said demand for the Batik Fraktal software was also sought after by customers from Australia, the United States and Singapore.

"We sell it in the form of software, design and finished products, but our capital is still limited so we have to bring in new investors."

They have decided to provide the software free to traditional and small-scale batik makers, but have set a high price for large-scale companies and overseas orders so as to protect local batik makers.

In Cirebon, traditional batik makers have aired their concern over the influx of Chinese-made batik products flooding the domestic market, including those producing the local Cirebon batik, better known as Trusmi.

They are afraid the Chinese-made batik could wipe out the local batik industry, which is managed traditionally.

The batik makers have urged the government to act immediately to anticipate the problem and take serious moves to protect the traditional batik industry, which is part of the national cultural wealth.

"The government should act quickly to prevent the invasion of Chinese-made batik," Katura, an elder member of the Trusmi Traditional Batik Artisans Association, said.

from: jakartapos

Indonesian batik better than Malaysian, Chinese : Minister

Pekalongan (ANTARA News) - Indonesian batik is superior to similar products from Malaysia or China, and therefore the country`s batik producers should not worry about the competition, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said. Pangestu made the statement at a function to open International Batik Week (PBI) here on Thursday.

"We don`t have to worry about the competition from China and Malaysia because our batik designs are superior and difficult to emulate by other countries," Pangestu said. She said Indonesian batik was more oriented to painted and printed batik and thus its superiority was difficult to match by China and Malaysia.

Commenting on Malaysian batik, the minister said its motifs and colors were less competitive than the batik work from Indonesia.

"Malaysian batik is completely different from Indonesia`s because it has bright colors with one or two flowers on it but ours has a lot of flowers on it," she said.

Asked about the number of batik prducers who had been registered as patent right users, Mari said the Trade Ministry still did not know the exact number.

"I still don`t o know the exact number of batik producers who have been registered because it is an affair of the Intellectual Property Rights (HAKI) Directorate General at the Law and Human Rights Ministry," Pangestu Said.

But she said her office would trace the number of batik makers who had been registered as patent right users.

The minister also said the International Batik Week in Pekalongan was expected to increase the number of international buyers of Indonesian batik commodities.

"The important thing for the PBI which is held for the second time in Pekalongan is that it can attract as many foreign buyers as possible to come to Pekalongan," she said. (*)