Journey on the Batik Road - Jakarta Textile Museum

 Self in front of the Museum Tekstil (Textile Museum, Jakarta), 16 June, 2011

Our journey on the Batik Road began in Jakarta on 15 June, 2011.  We fondly call the highway east from Jakarta along the north coast of Java the Batik Road, as it connects the towns and cities of the Pasisir. Our batik collection focuses on works from this region.  In these towns and cities you will find superb batik workshops many of which have been operating for generations.  I need to note that Pasisir batik also comes from non-coastal towns in Java like Garut, Banyumas, Ponorogo, and Tasikmalaya because of the similarities in the motifs and colours used in these locations. 

I highly recommend a visit to the Textile Museum Jakarta.  The exhibitions are very well curated and innovative display techniques are employed to maximise the visitor experience.  We were very fortunate that a large survey exhibition by two of Java's batik greats, Hardjono Go Tik Swan and Iwan Tirta, was on display.  The 150 works were not only drawn from the museum's collection but also from the collections of respected batik aficionados.  The aim of the exhibition was to raise the awareness of younger generations of the role and history of batik in Indonesia's rich culture.    

The museum has close to 2,00 works in its collection and approximately 700 of these are batik.  The museum which opened in June 1976, is housed in a charming early 19th century building surrounded by well maintained gardens.  There are also workshop facilities, a reference library and a small shop. I was hoping the shop may have had a more extensive range of textile publications for sale.  Sadly the shop did not stock the Jurnal Wastra, an excellent journal published twice yearly, for lovers of textiles.

We proudly came home with a copy of the Museum's collection catalogue the Jakarta Textile Museum, which is a fine publication of 118 pages and with full colour plates of works representing a cross-section of the Collection (ISBN 979 - 95306 - 1 - X).  The text is by Judi Achjadi, an internationally respected expert on Indonesian textiles.

It was wonderful for us to meet the museum's Director Indra Riawan.  Indra is highly committed to enhancing the role of the Museum and to making its collections very accessible to all Indonesians.  He recognises the significant role the Museum can play in celebrating and building knowledge and appreciation of batik, Indonesia's cultural treasure.

The Jakarta Textile Museum
Jalan Karel Sasuit Tubun No. 2 - 4
Jakarta Barat 11420 INDONESIA
Telephone: (62.21) 5606613
Email: mus_tekstil@yahoo.co.id  and Website: www.museumtekstiljakarta.com