Viewing page 22 of 41

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

38

TUBAN
9/27/81
notes from Wahyono on the village of TUBAN and other matters

Wahyono views batik as a "tradisibank" - post-Majopahit
that doesn't, however, shut out the possibility that older paste batik traditions existed; just that canting batik is post-Majapohit

there are no ancient inscriptions
about malam (wgh) but many 
about indigo and dyestuffs
idea of resist dying in Indonesia
very old & gives example of prehistoric
handprints on stone 

re Tuban: 
Yon says it is a mistake to support that old hand - loomed cloths were too coarse for canting work 
old kains from Tuban are halus and
he thinks is a degeneration 
Tuban anciently supplied batik
to the small court of  hasem - made
Prajurit kain (cloth for the palace guards) 
dying done by women in Tuban - 
in 1960 yon says they were still

[[end page]] 
[[new page]] 

note: plan trip to Tuban w/ Yon & Zanimas Raehim of Fask Ekon, Sur.
using natural dyes
by 1974, when he first visited,
they were already using chemical
dyes
Villages view chemical indigo
as a great improvement since
natural dye rots in the water &
very smelly ("kalau kenahair bau")
[[left margin]] not using chem. indigo only chem mengkudu

Tuban is remarkable, of course,
in being the only village I know
of on Java where villages
still grow their own cotton, spin
their own thread, weave their own
cloth & then batik it
(Asmoro Damai's shop in Aryahuta Hotel Lobby carries Tuban batik-an urban female trader from Surabaya hadles a lot of the marketing for the village)

only one person in Tuban makes thread (as of 74) and is a man Wahyono says he is the poorest person involved in the industry)       not true

location:    Kab. Tuban
             Kec. Kerek
             4-5 desas, incl. Ma[[strikethrugh]] n[[/strikethrough]] rgorejo & Gaji