T

he Indonesian Arts Institute of Surakarta conferred the title of Empu (master) of the art of batik-making on Santosa Doellah on February 29.

With Santosa’s hundreds of creative works of batik, he is considered to have achieved the highest level of craftsmanship, worthy of being passed on to succeeding generations.

But this was not the first honor for the founder and owner of Danar Hadi, a well-known batik company. In 2010, he received an award from Sebelas Maret University in Solo for his contribution to the preservation and development of batik craftsmanship in Indonesia.

Born in Solo on December 7, 1941, Santosa comes from a family of batik businessmen. His great grandfather, H Bakri, was a batik merchant and involved in the Islamic Trading Association, and was actively engaged in the struggle for independence.

Introduced to batik by his grandfather, Wongsodinomo, who was also a batik businessman, batik has been part of Santosa’s life since childhood.

“My grandpa’s business was inclined toward batik art. As a child I frequently helped his employees craft batik souvenirs. When I grew up the childhood experience enabled me to design batik and create delicate motifs,” he said.

Santosa’s love of batik is so deep that in his early youth he decided to totally immerse himself in the batik business. After graduating from high school he decided to study economics at Padjadjaran University in Bandung to get a foundation in corporate management.

“I wanted to have a batik company. I had a command of batik-making techniques, designs and motifs but I had no knowledge of management so I joined the school of economics,” said the fifth of ten children.

He even started his batik business as a vendor while studying in Bandung by bringing batik sheets from Solo, making him a frequent traveler between both cities. “I built this business from scratch by working as a retailer,” he said at his home and store in Ndalem Wuryaningratan, Solo.

When his business started flourishing he decided to quit college and get married, setting up Danar Hadi in Solo in 1967. Danar Hadi was derived from the name of his wife, Danarsih, and the first name of his father-in-law, Hadi.    

With 20 employees, Danar Hadi’s first products were Wonogiren painted batiks adapted from the classic batik motifs of the Surakarta Court. “Rooted in traditional batiks, the first batch was unexpectedly much in demand and orders were placed in large quantities,” said the recipient of the Upakarti award for merit.

From his Wonogiren batik sales, Santosa opened a batik settlement in his village of Singosaren in 1968. Two years later, Danar Hadi expanded by establishing a similar settlement in Masaran, Sragen, 30 kilometers east of Solo, followed by a batik center in Pekalongan in 1973.

Danar Hadi products became even more famous through displays and fashion shows, not only in Indonesia but also in various countries like Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, and the US. Danar Hadi also opened outlets in major Indonesian cities including Jakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Medan.

In early 1980, Danar Hadi started exporting to countries such as the US, Italy and Japan. The company’s employees increased in number from 20 to more than a thousand.

“I’ve never been worried about foreign-made batiks because Indonesia has a richer variety of motifs and more creative craftspeople. As long as we maintain genuine batik-making, we needn’t be anxious about the presence of foreign products. It’s this batik tradition that should be preserved,” said Santosa, also an adviser to the Indonesian Batik Foundation.

Traditionally, batik-making involves manual labor from painting the motifs to the waxing, coloring and dying. “Indonesia’s batik industry should create new motifs instead of imitating the existing ones. Originality always has a place in the market,” Santosa said.

But more than loving batik and boosting his business, in 1999 the father of four founded a museum of old batiks in Solo. Over 10,000 vintage batik pieces are kept at the museum on Jl. Slamet Riyadi.

Various examples of batik of great historic value can be found there, such as those of the palaces of Surakarta and Yogyakarta and the Mangkunegaran and Pakualaman; Dutch, Chinese and Hokokai batiks; Indonesian batiks by batik master Go Tik Swan; and the batik attire of Surakarta Sultan Paku Buwono X when he wed Kanjeng Ratu Emas in 1893.

Santosa gathered the rare batik cloths and clothes while he was young by visiting batik collectors and original owners, even flying to Holland to secure a single piece made in 1830. All the museum’s batiks are therefore unusual, of high quality and no longer produced for the public.

“All this is because of my love of batik. If people describe my efforts as batik preservation, that’s okay with me. It may just be the consequence of my passion for the art of batik,” said the man who was awarded by the Indonesian government and the Indonesian Record Museum (MURI) for preserving traditional batik.

His museum also serves as a place for those interested in learn everything there is to know about batik. “Batik is more than just a matter of shopping, it also has to do with tourism. This museum is open daily to enable the study of batik through literature as well as batik-making practices,” Santosa said.