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n order to preserve Betawi culture and integrate it with aspects of religion, a studio in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, is commissioning a Mushaf Betawi, a Quran manuscript with ornamental designs inspired by traditional Betawi culture.

Once finished, the manuscript is to be duplicated and bound into a book to be distributed to mosques, Islamic schools and clerics in the city for educating people about Betawi arts and culture, according to the studio’s founder, Sidup Damiri, 64.

Damiri, who is a photographer, said that the inspiration to produce a manuscript Quran with Betawi designs came in 1996 when he took several photos of the Mushaf Sundawi, an Quran manuscript decorated with Sundanese-inspired designs along the borders of each page.

“Then I thought: Why don’t we make a Mushaf Betawi for Jakarta?” Damiri told The Jakarta Post.

He explained that the plan was changed to producing the Mushaf Jakarta under the patronage of then Jakarta governor Sutiyoso to accommodate other ethnic groups in the capital.

Mushaf Jakarta was published in 2002, with about 3,000 being printed and circulated for free, including as gifts to foreign Muslim people visiting the city.

More than a decade after producing the Mushaf Jakarta, Damiri said he felt it was time to finally make the Mushaf Betawi manuscript. He started the preliminary research for the project in 2014 with help from several artists. Damiri enlisted the aid of senior calligrapher Baiquni Yasin from Lengkong Kulon, Tangerang, Banten, graphic designer Kiki Dikdik Ruyama, Jakarta Arts Institute curator Firman Ichsan, Betawi painter Sardani Adam and other graphic designers, calligraphers and colorists, forming a team of about 25.

He said the project was currently making drafts of the designs for 630 pages on A0-sized paper, 30 of which had been completed, before duplicating the manuscript as a Quran-sized book. The work on each master page started with printing the ornamental borders of each, with every page specially designed with themes according to Betawi culture.

Damiri explained that as the Quran had 30 juz (parts), each would have a special theme. The signature designs of the city’s six administrative regions would also be reflected in the six juz.

“The ornamentation is inspired by Betawi arts and culture. We distill famous Betawi plants, cuisine and culture to make the designs,” he said.

The next step was for the calligraphers to write the Quran verses using the Naskhi script familiar to Indonesian Muslims.

The calligraphers first wrote a draft of the verses using pencil before bolding the script with acrylic paint using a special brush called a Handam pen made from pilgrim fen wood that originates in Bogor, West Java.

The final step was coloring the manuscript’s ornamentation. One of the colorists, Mila Rosiana, 30, said the coloring meticulously followed the intricate designs. Each colorist was given a quota of finishing one page per week and mistakes were barely tolerated.

“If we make a mistake we have to fix it ourselves. We have to clean the mistake using sandpaper before recoloring it with the correct color,” Mila said.

The studio, which started the manuscript in February, aimed to complete it by the end of 2019 for it to later be mass printed.

Damiri added that the project already had the backing of the Jakarta administration and various officials, including Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan who signed a pledge to support the work on the manuscript at a Betawi Lebaran event at the Setu Babakan Betawi cultural center in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, on July 29.

However, the project has yet to be officially supported by the city, he added.