Batik Umbrella From Bayat Klaten Now Translucent to America

Klaten - Batik umbrellas made by artisans in Pendem Hamlet, Jarum Village, Bayat District have successfully penetrated the Asian market to America.

Batik craftsmen use umbrellas at the Bima Sena production house, Pendem Hamlet, Jarum Village, Bayat District, Wednesday (28/9/2022)

Batik umbrellas made by craftsmen in Pendem Hamlet, Jarum Village, Bayat District have successfully penetrated the Asian to American market. The batik umbrella was born when the condition of the craftsmen was squeezed at the beginning of the pandemic.

The craftsman who developed the batik umbrella, namely Sularto, 42, or who is familiarly called Jeprik. In order to make batik umbrellas, Jeprik is now assisted by 40 people.

A total of six people work on batik umbrellas at a production site called Bima Sena as well as Jeprik's house. While other craftsmen make batik umbrellas from their respective homes. In the past month, Sularto has been flooded with orders for up to 1,000 batik umbrellas.

Similar to hand-drawn batik products in general, the process of making batik on umbrellas is done using canting. Only, the dye used is paint dye.

Various batik motifs are etched on the umbrella media, ranging from classic to contemporary batik patterns. The motifs are the three lands motifs as well as classical motifs such as kawung, sekar universe, truntum, and others.

"Regarding the motive according to the request of the customer. Currently for the new local trends bright color motifs such as the motif of the three countries. The foreign market is more of a classic motif," said Jeprik, Wednesday (28/9/2022).

Jeprik explained that the idea of ​​a batik umbrella was the fruit of the tight conditions at the beginning of the Cov1d-i9 pandemic. Since 1998, Jeprik has been a wooden batik craftsman with a foreign market. Due to the C0v1d-i9 pandemic, marketing suddenly stalled.

“We used to play on wood. Because there is Cov1d-i9, it finally stagnates. It was raining heavily, we were confused about what to do. How come there is an umbrella in the corner,” recalls Jeprik.

Jeprik then experimented. Initially, he tried to make batik on an umbrella.

Initially, the dye could not stick to the top of the umbrella. Up to six tries, Jeprik found a mixture of various brands of paint that was right so that it could stick to the umbrella.

“After six tries I finally got in. Then my wife told me to hang it without using a pattern. Once finished, then uploaded via IG [Instagram]," said Jeprik.

Unexpectedly, the upload of the batik umbrella photo made Indians smitten. Jeprik also received an order for the first batik umbrella from India.

After that, the orders came. Not only India, orders from abroad came from various countries such as Hong Kong, America, and Australia.

"The number of orders depends on the order. But thank God, this month we have completed 1,000 batik umbrellas. The minimum price is IDR 150,000 per seed and the maximum price is IDR 450,000 per seed. For motive, we follow their market. If there is no request, the motifs we have inscribed are based on Javanese motifs," he explained.

Order batik umbrellas not only support the interests of accessories. There is also an order for batik umbrellas for daily use as a barrier to heat and rain.

Regarding the durability of the dyes on batik umbrellas, Jeprik said that from the samples he currently makes, the color is still maintained even though the condition of the umbrellas has been damaged.

Jeprik now continues to develop innovations in batik umbrellas, including wooden and cloth batik. Not long ago, he made samples for buyers from Japan.

One of the batik makers who participated in making batik umbrellas, Wiji Lestari, 46, said that it takes two to three days to make batik using one umbrella. Batik with umbrella media is considered more difficult than batik on cloth.

"The difference is that if you are in an umbrella, don't get it wrong. Once wrong, it will be difficult to erase," said the woman who has been proficient in batik since she was a child.

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