Batik Karimunjawa as A Special Gift for Tourists

Karimunjawa batik was introduced to young people and residents of karimunjawa since 2010. And at that time it was still in pilot form as knick-knacks by karimunjawa. However, no one has been able to do this batik skill.

So Amrih Basuki from the Omah Sawah community, Limbangan, Kendal, guided dozens of elementary school (SD) to high school (SMA) students in Karimunjawa, in a batik workshop event in 2015.

Although batik art is often found in various areas in Java, especially Central Java, in Karimunjawa, this cloth painting still feels foreign.

In a series of folk parties of Barikan Karimunjawa, a batik training was held by presenting batik art experts from Kendal. The organization of this event was welcomed by the Camat of Karimunjawa, M Taksin. Apart from batik, a number of artists from Semarang and Jepara also share knowledge with children and youth in Karimunjawa in the form of dance training, drama, traditional music, and films.

This is important for the provision of children's creativity in the future. Given that it is impossible only the beauty of Karimunjawa is sold to tourists. So that children need to be equipped with creativity, explained Taksin.

For the first time, each workshop participant was given a piece of plain white cloth measuring 400 square centimeters. With pencils, students begin to scratch the pattern image on a piece of cloth.

The motive is up to the children what they want to draw, it's part of their expression, said Amrih.

After the pattern drawing was finished, Amrih continued, then the workshop participants took turns scratching the candle on top of the pattern image. This process requires persistence and patience. The reason is, if you are impatient, the inscribed candle will be uneven.

Caution is needed in this process, especially for elementary school children, because these candles are hot. So earlier, some elementary school children did not use canting, but with a brush, said Amrih.

After giving the candle to the pattern image, the next step is the coloring process. Given that in the Karimunjawa archipelago it is easy to get natural ingredients to create colors, this time the coloring process uses natural dyes. It's like using ketapang leaves, pandan leaves, coconut fibers, and mangrove seeds.

The dyes are introduced with natural dyes, because here there are many natural dyes and they are easy to get, said Amrih.

With one natural dye, Amirih explained, if it is locked with a different color lock, it will produce a different color. Exemplified natural dyes using ketapang leaves. If locked with alum, it will produce a yellow color. However, if the natural dye of ketapang leaves is locked with lime, it will produce a green color. Then, if locked with tunjung leaf flowers, it will produce a dark brown color.

With natural dyes we can explore colors as desired. It's just a matter of choosing what color the binder is with, said Amrih.

After going through a long process of more than four hours, beautiful handkerchiefs made by elementary school children were made. Meanwhile, the work produced by junior high and high school / vocational students is in the form of slayer batik cloth.

To make it more beautiful, the motifs that have been made by the children are colored with jumput and kriwil techniques, added Amrih.

This is about batik activities in 2015. Then in 2017, which was promoted by Travel Jepara and friends Jambrong held an Exhibition which was held by the local government of Jepara and in collaboration with Rumah Kartini.

In 2019, the Karimunjawa Youth brought the Omah Creative batik artist Dong Aji Yogya to Karimunjawa for batik knowledge and alternative art tourism.

With the seriousness of the youth of Karimunjawa to support the island of Karimunjawa tourism, the results of batik Karimunjawa can now be enjoyed by tourists from only those who come to this virgin island. There are already Karimunjawa batiks that have been made into finished materials, clothes, scarves and so on.

The average batik karimunjawa patterned life in the sea because this is karimunjawa.

If you are interested in visiting Karimunjawa and want to get batik for free, please contact us.

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