The word “textile” refers to material made by interlacing fibers, while “fabric” refers to material made through weaving, knitting, knotting, spreading, crocheting or bonding.

Fashion and textile are influenced by culture. During the feudal period in Java, different motifs of clothing were created for certain stratas of society, for example with batik. Only royalty was allowed to wear clothes displaying the “parang” batik motif; while gilded batik, called “prada”, could only be worn by dancers for a sacred dance called the Bedhoyo Ketawang.

So an ancient piece of cloth, be it batik, a woven fabric, speaks a lot about a culture.

Indonesia’s geographic configuration, with its thousands of islands, has allowed many diverse local cultures to flourish. But in this day and age, when interaction with other nations is a must, the development of textile and fabric cannot escape external influences.  

People’s concern over modern textile “attacking” traditional textile led to the idea of preserving traditional textiles to prevent them from disappearing. The Jakarta Textile Museum was thus founded in 1976, out of this growing concern. Wastraprema, an association of Indonesian traditional textile enthusiasts, as well as ex-Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin, played a vital role establishing the museum.  

The Jakarta Textile Museum occupies an old building with a colonial architecture, built in the 19th  century. The building, initially belonging to a French citizen, is now protected as a cultural heritage. In 1942 it was sold to Karel Christian Cruq. It then became a base for Barisan Keamanan Rakyat or the People’s Security Agency and later to Lie Sion Pin. In 1952, the Social Department bought the building, before handing it over to the Jakarta local government in 1975.

The museum, the only one of its kind in Indonesia, manages around 2,000 pieces of textile which include batik, ikat, songket, etc. The oldest piece in the collection is a cloth from the 18th century, with Arabic writing as mantras to encourage the spirit of warriors, used by the Cirebon Islamic kingdom when it fought against Dutch colonial forces.   

This museum is currently under the management of the Culture and Tourism Office of Jakarta’s Special Administrative Region.  

Indra Riawan, who studied archeology at the University of Indonesia in 1987, has been in charge of the museum since 2009.

“We were finding it difficult to get people to visit the museum. However, when batik was declared Indonesia’s Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in October 2009, people’s interest in the Jakarta Textile Museum rose. We then designed activities to make the visit to the museum an educational as well as entertaining one. We’ve been inviting visitors to participate in batik, weaving, and celup ikat classes,” Indra explained.

The museum has a natural dye garden with plants used as natural dyes; a library; a laboratory and conservation room; an auditorium and a souvenir shop.

Next to the main gallery of textile museum is a batik gallery that houses the finest batik collection from around Indonesia. Its official launch by none other than Jero Wacik, the culture and tourism minister, coincided with the commemoration of the National Batik Day on Oct. 2, 2010.

“We added this gallery to show people why our batik was established as the Intangible Heritage for Humanity by UNESCO. Visitors can come to this gallery and see for themselves the beauty of Indonesian batiks,” said Indra Riawan.  

The pieces exhibited come from individual collectors, the Thai Women Association in Indonesia, the Jakarta Textile Museum and Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum, the Seri Endon Gallery from Kuala Lumpur, the Documentation Center of Wastra and Busana Indonesia and the Thai Embassy in Jakarta.

The development of motifs and techniques in fabrics shows that ASEAN countries established connections and that cultures influenced each other since early civilization. Evidence shows that what is known today as the Dong Son weaving technique in North Vietnam (circa 600 BC-100 C) influenced weaving in other regions of Southeast Asia. The spread of Islam led to the creation of the “stylization motif”, such as floral designs, reflecting Islam’s dislike for portraying living beings.

Various activities such as discussions on ASEAN textiles, book signings and launchings have also been organized as part of the exhibition, including Kain Batik Antik Nusantara, a book launched by collector Emma Amalia Agus Bisrie, as well as batik and weavings workshops and bazaars.

— Photos by Ani Suswantoro


Similarities and Differences

Museum Tekstil Jakarta
Jl. K.S. Tubun 2-4 Jakarta.
Telp. 021- 5606613
Email : info@museumtekstiljakarta.com
Website: www.museumtekstiljakarta.com

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