Jogja City

Although she is 60 years old, Dzuriah, a grandmother with seven children, still looks fit.

There are no wrinkles on her face. Someone who has just met her might think that Dzuriah, a mother of six from Imogiri, Bantul, Yogyakarta, was perhaps 10 years younger.

Dzuriah was introduced to batik at the age of eight. At that age, she was always closely involved in her father’s batik-making business. Her parents subsequently began Joyo Pertiwi hand-drawn batik in 1970.

Today, Dzuriah said, there is an abundant supply of factory-made batik. Of course, a batik factory can produce a large quantity of batik in a short time, she admitted.

Thanks to her consistent efforts in preserving classical batik, Dzuriah and her late mother were awarded in 1991 the Upakarti dedication citation by then president Soeharto at the State Palace.

In 2001, she also earned an award from Germany for her merit as someone preserving Yogyakarta classical batik. The Yogyakarta Palace also gave her a similar award in 2005.

The classical nature of Joyo Pertiwi batik has become famous internationally. She receives regular orders from buyers in Japan, Australia and Germany. In Tokyo, the name Joyo Pertiwi has been used for a shophouse that specializes in selling classical batik.

It takes a long time to produce a piece of classical batik, she said. For a piece that measures 250 centimeters by 90 cm, it can take up to six months. “Cash flow is very slow so you cannot rely on batik-making in pursuit of profit. Still, I’m happy making batik and enjoy it,” she said.

Classical batik not only takes a lot of time to produce, but also involves a high production cost. The process of dyeing (to determine the colors) takes place in Surakarta at a cost of Rp 100,000 each time.

Dzuriah said she could not afford a batik-dyeing plant, which must also include a waste-treatment facility.

Batik-making, she said, has recently become even more expensive because of last year’s fuel price increases, which have led to an increase in the price of raw materials.

That is why, she rationalized, a batik piece was quite expensive. On average, a piece costs Rp 300,000, a price affordable only to people in the middle- to upper-income brackets. Handmade batik, she added, sells well only among the well-off because of the price.

In the course of a typical month, she said, the production of Joyo Pertiwi batik stood at 30 to 40 pieces. Her overall monthly sales turnover, which includes the sales of classical batik pieces and other products made of classical batik such as an untasseled fez, Javanese headgear and shawls, may reach Rp 20 million.

Most of that income is used to pay the batik makers. In the present economic situation, which has been worsened by the recent hikes in fuel prices, has led to higher production costs.

“Batik makers are just like members of our family. When the price of fuel was increased, they also needed more money to cover their daily necessities. So, after negotiations, we increased their pay from Rp 27,500 to Rp 30,000 per day. I don’t mind taking a smaller profit as long as all of us can continue to have something to eat,” she said.

The heyday of Joyo Pertiwi lasted from the early 1990s to 1998, when the economic crisis swept the whole country. In those days, production costs were still low and sales easy. Unfortunately, the crisis sent production costs soaring, and sales declined.

“Between 1998 and 2002 our business really took a hammering. We must thank God just for being able to keep production running,” she said. Thanks to the strong bond between Dzuriah and her employees, Joyo Pertiwi survived and has made a business comeback.

Dzuriah said when her parents died five years ago, she took charge of the business herself. It would be passed on to the younger generation, she said.

However, she added, she did not know which of her children would take up the business later on.

“I hope that one of my children will have a flair for batik-making and will also receive a divine revelation to inherit this Yogyakarta-pattern classical batik,” she said.

Source: thejakartapost.com