Batik Garut

Batik craft industry in Garut regency, West Java had experienced ups and downs from time to  time. Had time developed properly and reached the golden age during the colonial era of Dutch East Indies and declined during Japanese occupation.

ven in the era of independence was also experienced ups and downs, after being asleep during difficulty times in the early of independence era to the decade of the 1970s, the Garutan’s batik had hobbled in the 1980s when the batik craftman tried to rise-up from sluggishness There is Rajib Nasrudin (37), a businessman of  batik tulis (handmade), batik cap (stamp/block printed)  and  cap-handmade  combination  from city of Garut which is since 2005 had tried to rebuild the glory of Garutan who had cultivated by his ancestor According to Rajib, Garutan craft industry was rebuild in the 1980s, even had experienced a vacuum for many reasons, particularly because of the sluggish market conditions. But in the decade of the 2000s the market situation began to  increased  and  encouraging  him  to  establish the batik Garutan businesess, namely “RPG”, Weaving Silk and Batik Tulis.

Rajib said that his Batik Garutan is using two type of fabrics namely primisima and weaving silk, even more Rajib has also serving customer demand for batik tulis, batik cap and a combination of batik cap and tulis. “We still produce batik cap and a combination of cap and tulis since there is demand in the market.”

He added that The Garutan is generally characterized by the dominance of three main colors, namely Biron ( blue), Sogan (red brick) as influences of Yogyakarta and Cirebon batik, and ivory. In some cases, a motif/design and colors of batik Garutan is heavily influenced by a blended of the Netherlands, Japan, and China.

In addition to the influence of the above cultures, Batik Garutan has also another characteristics over other batik products in the country, namely the batik process is carried out on both sides of the fabrics (back and forth) so the both sides are equal looks each other.

Rajib who has currently two batik outlets in Garut is oftenly participates in batik exhibitions in the country. Through the exhibition Rajib has now many customers from many cities in the country, including Jakarta. “Thanks God, we have many requests, even from Jakarta that we can not fulfilled entirely. Therefore, to date we do not have planned   for export, since we can not meet the domestic demand “ Rajib has currenly 20 batik craftman working in RPG workshops. With the assistance of 20 people, each month he can produce 10-15 pieces of batik tulis, 300-400 pieces of batik combination, 300-400  pieces  of  batik  cap  and  300 pieces  of woven silk fabric that have not batik processed yet.

For Rajib, the main obstacles to meet the batik’s demand is a limited number of batik craftman. He felt that batik traning for public, especially the potential craftmen are very limited, even the socialization by goverment and private sector concerning batik crafts. “In fact, to date there is no batik school in Garut regency, therefore it is not surprising that young people are not much interested in batik.