Written by Nelly Andon
It is truly hard not to fall-in-love with beautiful naturally dyed hand-drawn Batik with soft subtle colours and with gorgeous, both contemporary and traditional designs. I heard about Batik Tulis Kebon Indah from a friend who is also a textile enthusiast. I was informed that the group was invited to attend exhibitions in the USA a few times, and truly proud of their achievement.
I must admit, Facebook is a truly great connecting tool if you use it correctly. Through Facebook, I managed to trace ibu Dlamini, the head of the Batik Tulis Pondok Indah group and have been communicating with her regularly ever since. Internet technology has enabled us to connect with one another, particularly through WhatsApp communications.
The Batik Tulis Pondok Indah Group divided into 5 smaller groups and each of the group consisting of several amazingly talented artisans (mainly women) who have produced high-quality hand-drawn Javanese Batik for the global market. The Group is located in Desa Kebon (a small village call Kebon), near Klaten, Central Java. Klaten is located between Yogjakarta and Surakarta (Solo). Besides their daily activity of hand-drawn batik making, the group also organises several batik workshop for the public to attend. Here you can book and attend batik making classes and natural dyeing workshops.
Below are pictures of the artisans from Batik Tulis Kebon Indah Group, modelling the reading glasses they have received from Connect Indonesia and to model the beautiful textiles they made.
Special to our wonderful Programme Manager, Ms Olvira Ballo who has worked tirelessly to manage the Spectacles Project, and sorted out the glasses distribution to Kebon Indah artisans. Ira, we can’t thank you enough for your true commitment and devotion. Thank you!!!
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PHOTOS OF GROUP A MEMBERS DURING THE GLASSES DISTRIBUTION:
PHOTOS OF GROUP B
PHOTOS OF GROUP C
PHOTOS OF GROUP D
PHOTOS OF GROUP E