Minangkabau Batik: Investigate the Dynamics of Tanah Liek Batik and Its Ornaments

Minangkabau - National Batik Day which is celebrated every October 2, triggers my desire to revisit the batik collection in the wardrobe. Among the piles of batik cloth, almost all of them from Java, tucked a piece of Tanah Liek Batik (Batik Minangkabau). Made with a dark stamping technique from the west coast of Sumatra Island, Padang. This collection reminds us that batik does not only exist in Java. I unfolded it and unfolded the memory of his history.

Like batik making in general, this typical Minangkabau batik also uses wax to block the fabric, then it is colored. However, what is unique and not found in other areas is the use of clay mixed with water to soak the fabric before it is printed or stamped, hence the name Batik Tanah Liek. This soaking stage results in the base color of the fabric being as dark as earth.

The tradition of making batik with clay had disappeared for quite a long time. Almost seventy years were obliterated, until in the 90s, Wirda Hanim brought it back. At that time, this woman was persistent in experimenting with fabrics, clay and natural dyes. Until finally he found the right formula to make Batik Tanah Liek. This batik is like getting a life to come back to life and then become a typical Minangkabau cloth. Furthermore, he was not alone, many artisans grew up in West Sumatra and enriched the archipelago's batik treasures.

On the surface which tends to be dark, scattered bright motifs from synthetic dyes and natural dyes for motifs with dim hues. Natural dyes are obtained from hereditary knowledge which is still applied to dye the fabric. Among other things, boiled jengkol and mangosteen peel to get a purple color, avocado skin and onion skin to produce a brown color, and gambier to orange color, and yellow color is obtained from turmeric rhizome.

Various motifs were developed from the traditional as well as new creations. Traditional motifs are generally the transformation of forms from the natural surroundings. This is a manifestation of one of the aphorisms believed by the Minangkabau community, namely the takambang nature as a teacher. Freely translated, it means "nature is a landscape where humans learn".

These nature-inspired motifs in the form of transformations of animal and plant forms are not only visualized in batik, but also in the carvings of wall ornaments in the Gadang house. The Minangkabau people used to carve the walls, poles, and ceilings of houses made of wood with symbols of their customs.

The transformation can be in the form of simplification into simple forms and also distortion or stylization, especially for animal motifs. This is in accordance with the teachings of Islam which does not recommend making visuals of animate creatures such as animals and humans. For example, the motifs of itiak coming home patang (duck coming home in the evening), kuciang lalok (sleeping cat), ruso balari (running deer), rooster, chicken balatiang (chicken fighting), sakikek fish in aie (fish in water), and garundang mandi ( tadpoles in water).

As well as the ornamental carvings on the walls of typical Minangkabau houses, floral motifs are also abundant in Tanah Liek Batik, in the form of tendrils of leaves and flowers. Among them are kaluak nails (curved leaves of ferns or ferns), aka basaua (roots), kabek daun Kacang (bundles of peanut leaves), and Sitampuak Manggih (a pile of mangosteen fruits). Currently, 42 Minangkabau batik motifs have been patented at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights by Professor Herwandi, Professor of Archeology at Andalas University (Unand) Padang. Not only ancient motifs are patented, there are also new creative motifs that were created later, for example the jam gadang and rumah gadang motifs.

In addition to patenting the motifs, Herwandi also conducted a series of studies related to the history of Minangkabau Batik. According to him, there are five important timelines to determine the dynamics of the journey of Batik Tanah Liek.

The first period was during the Dharmasraya Kingdom in the 13th century AD. Allegedly at that time batik-patterned cloth had been known since King Kertanegara of the Singhasari Kingdom sent the Amoghapasa statue as the embodiment of Awalokiteswara or the compassionate Bodhisattva. Buddhist statue of andesite stone on which there is an inscription dating from 1286 AD. The statue features a figure wearing a patterned cloth. Not far from where the statue was found, there are also pottery shards with matching floral motifs.

The second period was the era of the Pagaruyung Kingdom in the 16th century when batik became a commodity that was widely produced and traded in the center of the kingdom. Then in the third period, namely the reign of the Dutch. At that time the West Sumatra region experienced a trade blockade. So the buying and selling of batik stopped.

In the era of the Republic of Indonesia, batik production began to grow again slowly which marked the fourth period of the development of West Sumatran batik. In 1946, a batik center appeared in Sampan, Padang Pariaman Regency, which was managed by, among others, Bagindo Idris, Sidi Ali, Sidi Zakaria, Sutan Salim, and Sutan Sjamsudin. In 1948, Waslim and Sutan Razab established a batik industry in Payakumbuh. After that, until the 90s, there was no clear record of the development of batik in West Sumatra.

At the end of the 20th century, 1995 to be precise, marked the revival of batik in Minangkabau. Starting from Wirda Hanim and followed by other batik craftsmen to develop batik which is now known as Batik Tanah Liek. The motifs that are inspired by nature are increasingly diverse, both new creation motifs and the results of excavation of ancient ornaments which are also found in the wooden carvings of the rumah gadang.

The Tanah Liek Batik motif is getting richer with the latest study which is a collaboration between academics, as conveyed by Dini Yanuarmi, a lecturer in the Fashion Design Study Program, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Padangpanjang Indonesian Art Institute. He said that the Craft Arts Study Program at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Padangpanjang and the Minangkabau Literature Study Program at Andalas University carried out joint research and then transformed the decorative illuminations of ancient manuscripts into batik motifs. This he wrote in his article entitled

"Aplikasi Motif Manuskrip Pada Batik: Pewarisan Budaya melalui Proses Pembelajaran terhadap Mahasiswa ISI Padangpanjang" in the Journal of Archipelago Cultural Studies Vol.4 No.1 (2020).

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