Toeli Batik Community at Laweyan batik center

 Disabled craftsman and initiator of Batik Toeli, Dian Prymadika, tidies up the batik cloth that has been drawn using a canting at the Batik Toeli workshop, Laweyan, Solo, Central Java, (3/8/2022). Dian and three other deaf people together built and developed Batik Toeli.

The Batik Toeli Community in the Laweyan batik center, Solo, consists of disabled craftsmen with unusual creative talents.

Some time ago, a photo of an unusual batik design went viral. The motif is a combination of images of the Manahan Solo Stadium, mountains, logos or pictograms of sports branches participated by disabled athletes, and Rajamala, the mascot of the 2022 ASEAN Paragames. All of the combined images were made with a red background on a 2 meter x 1.15 meter cotton cloth. 

That is the work of Dian Primadyka, a deaf person originally from Laweyan, Surakarta, Central Java. He dedicated the hand-drawn batik cloth to welcome the 2022 ASEAN Paragames in the city of Solo. Dian is one of four people with disabilities who joined the Batik Toeli community, which he initiated with Muhammad Fauzan Wicaksono. 

They made Fauzan's residence in a house at Jl Parangkusumo Gentan Baki number 19A, Pajang Village, Laweyan District, Surakarta City, as the center of activities. The green-painted house built in the 1970s has become their workshop since 2020, when the community was first established. 

Fauzan also dedicated his residence as a production location. "I am challenged to invite my fellow people with disabilities to be more advanced in their work because they have great potential to be developed," said the 28-year-old man, Tuesday (2/8/2022). 

He also collaborated with a batik producer from Laweyan, Batik Mahkota, as the foster father. Batik Toeli was also appointed as the creative production house for batik for people with disabilities. All raw materials for batik and fabric are supplied by Batik Mahkota. 

All of Dian and her friends' production results are displayed in the Batik Mahkota showroom. Fauzan explained that since its establishment for two years, Batik Toeli has been able to provide income to meet the daily needs of Dian and her friends. 

Fauzan admitted that he was not wrong in choosing Dian as a partner. Because, he admitted that the 32-year-old man is versatile. Not only is he good at canting, Dian is also able to design various batik motifs including for the stamp or printing type using a computer. In fact, Dian initially only worked as a batik dyer at Batik Mahkota since 2012. 

Since Batik Toeli, he has developed all his talents and abilities. He is also a potential mime actor in Surakarta City and is often asked to appear in a number of locations, both in Surakarta and other cities in Central Java. Dian had studied with Septian Dwi Cahyo, a famous mime actor in Indonesia.

Unique Motifs

This creative production house has not only created batik motifs for the 2022 ASEAN Paragames. This unique creative community has produced more than 100 batik motifs since its founding. Most of these motifs are contemporary. For example, the Persis motif, the pride of the Surakarta City residents, or the MotoGP racer motif, to welcome the motorbike race at the Mandalika Circuit, West Nusa Tenggara.

Dian is also preparing a special motif to welcome the celebration of Indonesian Independence Day, August 17, 2022. The special motif features the Proclaimer of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno and the national symbol, the Garuda Bird. A number of famous artists' faces have also been made into batik motifs. Dian admitted that she did not have a special educational background to study each batik motif, including those with floral motifs or those that have long been the standard of Laweyan batik, such as sidomukti, parang, and others.

The time it takes to make one batik cloth varies depending on the level of complexity. "For the 2022 ASEAN Paragames motif, it was completed in five days including the pattern so that it fits when sewn as a batik shirt. While the most complicated motifs such as sidomukti or parang take a maximum of 14 days," he said.

Fauzan said that these disabled craftsmen have advantages compared to craftsmen in general. "They are much more focused on making batik and have a high work ethic. It is very pleasant to be able to partner with them," said Fauzan.

He himself still relies on social media as the most effective promotional medium. Through this intensive promotion, their products then began to be covered by the national mass media. After receiving widespread news, the public became familiar with the work of Dian and his friends. "Mas Dian is also actively promoting Batik Toeli to various communities so that it becomes better known even though we have only been established for two years," said Fauzan.

Batik Purchased by the First Lady

Dian has an interesting story about her batik designs. One day, First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo, who is known to have high concern for people with disabilities in the country, bought Dian's work. The products would be used as souvenirs when inviting a number of wives of state leaders when accompanying their husbands on state visits to Indonesia.

"At that time, I was very happy because the products produced could be bought by Mrs. Iriana for her guests when they visited the Bogor Palace, West Java," said Dian, recalling the incident that occurred in 2017.

Not only bought by the First Lady, President Joko Widodo once made Dian a symbolic recipient of a batik professional competency test certificate from the National Professional Certification Agency on October 2, 2019.

In fact, Dian was made one of the first Solo people to receive the certificate. "At that time, the President congratulated me and he was proud that I could pass the competency test as a certified professional batik maker," explained Dian.

Fauzan said that Dian's works have high selling value even though he never set a price for his partner's works. "That was an agreement between Mas Dian and Batik Mahkota as the foster father of our business," said Fauzan regarding the batik production house in the Kampung Laweyan area.

Currently, Fauzan only wants to direct Dian to focus more on creating more unique batik motifs that can become a characteristic of Batik Toeli in the future.

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