Batik aficionado Tumbu Astiani Ramelan used to take batik for granted, she said.

JP/Dian Kuswandini

“I saw batik every day. I used it all the time — but I never really paid any attention to it,” recalls the 70-year-old.

Her wedding day in 1969, however, changed her perception of batik forever. Among her wedding gifts, some beautiful batik cloths captivated her.

“I can still remember how I held my breath, mesmerized by the beautiful batik cloths laid in front of me,” says Tumbu, wife of former trade and industry minister Rahardi Ramelan. That was the moment, she says, when her eyes and heart opened to “beautiful and diverse batik cloths”.

Since then, Tumbu, now head of Indonesia’s Batik Foundation for Cultural Development, began paying close attention to batik and collecting the textile from across Indonesia.

“It became an addiction,” says Tumbu, who now has around 1,000 batik cloths. “Whenever I saw a beautiful batik cloth, I would think so much about it that I wouldn’t sleep.”

But admiration was just the beginning. Tumbu, who then studied batik, became so attached to it that her admiration turned into deep respect.

“After I learned how to make batik, I realized that it took more than just skill to make one piece of batik cloth — it requires patience, diligence, emotional attachment and high creativity,” says Tumbu, who studied medicine in Russia and specialized in anesthesiology in Germany.

“I don’t call myself a collector [anymore], but more a batik devotee and observer.”

Tumbu can call herself anything she wants, but her unique views in issues concerning batik has been said to set her apart from other collectors or devotees. While others were busy accusing neighboring country Malaysia of claiming batik theirs, for example, Tumbu remained calm — and some would say wise.

“People became so angry over this issue without knowing the facts,” she said. “Malaysia has never registered a patent on batik, but only on a certain batik coloring technique.

“We shouldn’t make this an issue in the first place. Everybody knows that batik has been part of Indonesian cultures for years – no one can deny that.”

Although even though the feud was thought a blessing in disguise as it revived batik’s popularity among Indonesians, Tumbu underlines that the issue of batik’s origin shouldn’t be something to debate about.
“I don’t agree with forcing the world to admit that batik originated in Indonesia,” she says, adding, “No country can prove it was the birthplace of batik.”

So, what we should do, Tumbu said, was adopt a different way of thinking: “We ought to ensure the world remember Indonesia first when they talk about batik, simply because we create the finest.

“What we want is acknowledgment that batik is identical with Indonesia.”

With this smart response, Tumba continues to display her knowledge about batik. She says that batik is complex.

“When you try to understand batik, you don’t use a single pair glasses,” she says. “If you try to interpret certain batik motifs, you can’t use your judgment only because batik holds multiple meanings.”

Tumbu’s deep understanding of batik isn’t the only thing that distinguishes her from batik enthusiasts.

Her passion to preserve batik, especially old batik cloths that have become rare today, has also made her a high profile in the batik society. Tumbu began to see collecting batik as one way to “save” batik from foreign collectors.

“I met so many foreign batik collectors, and it’s a bit frightening to think they have been taking our old, valuable batik cloths out of the country,” she says. “If all the best ones were taken abroad, then one day Indonesians would have to travel to countries such as Japan, the US and Germany if we want to see them.”

With this in mind, she became serious about collecting batik for the coming generations. Not only that, recently she launched her bilingual Indonesian-English book, The 20th Century Batik Masterpieces, as an effort to document her rare collection for the future.

The book, she says, is also the answer to her long desire to “share” her collection.

“After collecting batik for 40 years, I asked myself, ‘is there any other advantage to my collection than achieving some sense of self-pleasure and satisfaction?’” Tumbu says.

Lucky for her, the answer came when a young batik maker and designer, Komar, asked her permission to document her collection. This inspired her to document her own collections.

“When I found that many other batik makers were requesting the same thing, I thought about publishing a book on my collection so that more people could enjoy them,” Tumbu says.

With support from her husband who often accompanies her wherever she goes, Tumbu keeps herself busy with her Indonesian Batik Foundation, promoting and preserving batik. As she’s getting older, Tumbu hopes that her two children will continue her effort to preserve batik.

“I don’t know what I will do with my collection, but one thing certain is that I want my batik cloths to stay in Indonesia.

 “My biggest dream is that the government builds a batik museum where batik cloths from across the archipelago are kept.

“It’s silly, really, that Indonesia has not created a public batik museum.”

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