a mixture of cultural influences and the media on the north coast of Java
When we look toward Mount Ciremai with scudding clouds on a sapphire sky, you can not miss the brand design of batik Cirebon . Its light relief terrain with clean lines curling and got shades on fine cotton is unequivocal. The port city of 350,000 people on the north coast of Java has long been a commercial and cultural center. Only three o'clock train to Jakarta, which siphons off the overflow of tourists and Bandung became a pleasant diversion in its own right with four and five star hotels.
The area is famous for its handicrafts - mainly batik, rattan and glass painting. distinct designs and inspiration as a single stamp Cirebon. With trekking traders in the interior mountains and covering the seas, the city has become a hub for goods and people. Indian textile, Chinese ceramics, silver and European gold were exchanged against spices, bringing wealth and station in this port.
Cirebon began as a Hindu Kingdom in 1378, but by the 16 he resolutely century, Islam had obtained. Sunan Gunang Jati came to power and established the city as a center for religion and the arts, and his marriage to a Chinese princess, started mixing Hindu, Muslim, Chinese and European influences in his craft.
700 years ago, a decree established journey, male artist guilds only along the coast. It generated models of batik sober, masculine. Before the Dutch arrived, the likely tissue was drawn and painted for royalty or religious use only, with roots in the Tulisan or scroll narration. Over time, batik has become a fabric of the people who actually was an accomplished skill to master for women for marriage exam. The term "batik" means "dots fabric", describing the details added to the complex process of resistance of the wax and female fussier dyeing. Originally, the dyes were made from the bark, turmeric, mango leaves and other natural substances.
The batik motif is stamped or hand-drawn with a hot wax pipe important reasons like dragons, peacocks, cars, feathers, flowers and more, revealing Cirebon artists' horizons geographic and heritage. In principle, everyone can make batik. All it takes is practice, patience and a penchant for hot wax. To batik, dare Trusmi where this home industry is still practiced by a usual circle of women. With bulky wax aprons splattered across their laps, they skillfully pull the canting in the bold lines of wada rocks, clouds and peaks protruding, meaning mountains rounded up to the sky.
The original rattan industry strong flexible design, bamboo and vine-jointed structures. Rattan is traditionally harvested in the jungles of Borneo, Sulawesi and Sumatra with trade concentrated in Java. Several hundred species of palm that also grow in plantations in Indonesia and beyond the archipelago. The plant of the vine as a thin stem, growing up to 200 meters long with a uniform diameter, making it an ideal component for weaving. Most of the raw material for wicker furniture once was exported, but in 1987 a law established that only the finished products can be shipped. Since then, demand has created a manufacturing business booming in Cirebon, featuring these products resistant to wear in the world.
In the maze of streets Tegal Wangi, this craft is alive and well. Baskets, cribs, sofas, chairs, hall displays and shelves are woven, integrating other natural fibers, such as water lily roots, seagrass beds and banana leaves to create neutral or bright decoration. In outdoor stores, chairs are stacked for shipping and packed piles are embedded in the gloss urethane. Framed rods, strips and braided coils form piles, while hoops hang cob-webby rafters. Browse the wide range of goods and manual work and good business skilful strike, as we did, on a new sofa, chairs and a table purchased for about rp.1 million, including delivery.
paint Glass Glorious
Glass painting, or Lukisan Kaca , is emblematic of Cirebon and started in 15 e century. The work is framed flamboyant and surprisingly misleading. Instead of a glass painting, the method is worked in the reverse direction with the glass serving as a canvas. The artist must think backwards, using the smallest details in black ink first, adding the broader subject and finishing with the background. It is demanding with no second chance. Despite the laborious process, the results are rich in detail. Glass painting fell out of practice, but it is resurging with modern techniques. contemporary painters have added elements in three dimensions through gradation layers of glue and glass for extra complexity and grain. Topics include traditional characters, such as wayang or Barong, as well as portraits or landscapes.
Painter Arles Sutardi demonstrated its edgy passion, brush painting red and black oil through the glass and scraping away with a corner of paper. His daubs, scans and engraved lines formed a dhow, thrown into the sea by a stormy night. The artist coated the back with spray paint and finished his work with a flame flash a torch to harden and seal the room. Quick show of glass painting illustrated a changing work in progress, like the long history of arts of Cirebon.
Cirebon Fast Facts
Country: Indonesia
Province: West Java
population 350000
Getting there: A train three hours from Jakarta
Accommodation: Hotel Santika Cirebon Jl Dr Wahidin No. 32 Cirebon 45122.
Phone: (62) 231-200570, 200662, 200575 Email: Cirebon@santika.com
craft Areas: Trusmi for batik; Tegal Wangi for rattan