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Local artists should be more confident: Bekraf
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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)
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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)
