TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Local artists should be more confident: Bekraf
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Creative industry – A batik maker colors cloth using natural dyes. Manufacturers in Kampung Laweyan in Surakarta, Central Java, have begun to shift from artificial colors to natural dyes to color batik in order to reduce river pollution. (thejakartapost.com/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
I
ndonesia has various cultural products that could meet the tastes of international consumers; however, local artists often have no confidence to put their products in the market, the Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) has said.
“We have so much cultural heritage. It is our own people who have often doubted whether their products could be sold in a broader market,” Bekraf head Triawan Munaf said in Jakarta on Monday.
Bekraf education director Poppy Savitri said there were many cases in which local artists rejected the idea of commercializing their products because they were adorned with the sacred symbols often used in traditional religious rites.
“Hence, we need to make a new modern design because it’s impossible to put those original symbols on bags or shoes,” Poppy said.
Meanwhile, Damianus, a member of the Ngada community from Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, who lives in Jakarta, said that Indonesia has many environmentally friendly cultural products, including traditional Ngada woven fabrics, that could attract international consumers.
“Ngada woven fabrics are made of materials from nature, including its coloring dye. It is in accordance with the global policy to implement the Clean Development Mechanism, which aims to prevent pollution,” he said. (vps/ebf)
