FILE PHOTO: Women dye batik along a street in Mojokerto, East Java on October 15, 2024. Batik makers on Indonesia are struggling to compete with mass-produced batik - AFP
JAKARTA: Indonesia has seen a steep decline in the number of artisanal batik producers over the past four years across key production centres from Java to Sumatra, as pressure mounts from a surge of mass-produced batik-like fabrics, most of which are imported.
Batik artisan Ahmad Failasuf from Pekalongan, Central Java, struggles to compete with mass-produced batik and to find young workers to rejuvenate his business.
In the business for more than a decade, Ahmad told The Jakarta Post that consumers were increasingly turning to batik-like fabrics as a cheaper option amid weakening spending power in the country.
Batik-like fabrics are typically mass-produced through printing, allowing producers to offer inexpensive imitations that resemble traditional batik.
In contrast, the production of genuine batik is more time-consuming, involving artisanal techniques like stamping or hand-drawing, with the resulting products referred to as batik cap (stamped batik) and batik tulis (written batik), respectively.
Both of the artisanal methods use wax, but the hand-drawn batik is the more labour-intensive process, where intricate patterns are drawn directly onto the cloth using a tool called a canting, while the stamping method allows for replicating a pattern using copper stamps.
The competition from industrial products has affected traditional batik businesses, Ahmad noted, adding that his sales fluctuated but had at one point dropped by as much as 50 per cent from the average level.
Batik artisans were also becoming scarce, Ahmad added, with few young people taking up the craft of making genuine batik.
“In the past, there were batik artisans who graduated from elementary school and junior high school. Now, there are none. Batik artisans are mostly above 30 or 40 years of age,” he told the Post on Thursday (June 12).
By the next decade, he warned, batik artisans would be "on the brink of extinction" and traditional production methods would be replaced by new technologies.
Association of Archipelago Batik Lovers chairwoman Ayu Dyah Pasha said the younger generation generally lacked interest in mastering the skill to become a batik artisan. The association has been advocating for the preservation of batik since 2011 by building awareness, particularly targeting the youth through various initiatives in cooperation with government and private-sector entities.
Ayu told the Post on Thursday that, unlike the older generation who favoured traditional patterns, the young generation tended to prefer simple batik patterns, reducing the appeal of traditional batik and thereby adding to the producers’ woes.
She noted that the decline in the batik craft hurt not just the artisans but also the producers of batik stamps, the essential tool for batik cap. A recent report from the Indonesian Batik Artisan and Entrepreneurs Association (APPBI) shows that the number of batik producers in Central Java, East Java, West Java and Yogyakarta declined by 40 per cent in the past four years, dropping from 4,171 businesses in 2020 to 2,503 last year.
APPBI chairman Komarudin Kudiya told the Post on May 30 that the decline had begun when the Covid-19 pandemic prompted many artisans to switch jobs and turn to other industries, leaving the batik industry largely inactive for about two years.
“Some producers turned to making a living as domestic workers or switched to […] selling foods and so on,” he said. After the pandemic disruption, the batik industry slowly began to show signs of recovery, with many businesses shifting from conventional to digital sales.
“There were some businesses that didn’t have stores, but now they have digital stores. I heard the sales [on e-commerce platforms] even jumped up to 200 per cent,” Komarudin said, adding that most of the online sales came from consumers purchasing lower-priced products.
However, Komarudin noted that, as more businesses were entering the batik industry through e-commerce, many offered low prices without proper labelling.
Komarudin stressed that the association was urging for fair competition, pointing out that many businesses were not entirely transparent in stating the type of batik they sell, particularly those selling printed, batik-like fabrics, which he regarded as imitations.
The APPBI was not against printed batik in the market, he explained, but demanded clear distinctions in the use of term, so that consumers could differentiate between genuine products and imitations.
In a meeting with the House of Representatives on May 25, Komarudin also highlighted concerns among local producers about the competition caused by an influx of what he called counterfeit batik sold at low prices.
Moreover, local producers were heavily reliant on imported dyes and textiles, especially for cotton and silk, he noted. Komarudin projected that the number of batik artisans across the archipelago would drop to 75,000 this year, down from 131,565 in 2020.
The Industry Ministry's director general for chemical, textile and miscellaneous industries, Reni Yanita, said the ministry had enforced measures to protect the domestic batik industry, such as geographical indication to safeguard traditional batik from certain regions against imitations.
She told the Post on Tuesday that the ministry consistently promoted the use of genuine batik and that the government was seeking to increase the competitiveness of batik products.
Addressing imports, Reni explained that the Industry Ministry's regulations required importers to be certified and obtain technical permits for importing batik fabric or fabrics with batik patterns as raw or supporting materials.
Reni expressed confidence that demand for batik remained strong, pointing to the frequent use of batik within the government. “This has to be maintained by ensuring quality, innovation to create appealing designs and patterns, as well as [producing] environmentally friendly batik,” she said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
