Batik: From the Courts of Java and Sumatra. Rudolf G. Smend

      Preface

      Every textile collection every catalog and every exhibition has its own story. It is a story of people who have been helpful of people who share the same interests the same curiosity about faraway countries the same passion for textiles as well as the same concern for the preservation of textiles.

      Who has inspired me most to put together the mosaic of my precious batik collection? Should I be more grateful to the specialist authors on batik or to the designers? Does Sir Stamford Raffles or J. A. Loeber deserve more thanks than Eliza van Zuylen or Lien Metzelaar? Do I owe more to the stubborn antique dealers on Jalan Surabaya in Jakarta than to the women patiently selling batik at the Yogyakarta market? Was it simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time? Was it not my good fortune that during the 1970s the tastes of so-called connoisseurs turned not to Javanese batik but to other textiles from the Indonesian islands? Was it also not my good luck that at auctions very few people showed any interest in these exquisite textiles? "Batik is for women made by women for women" was the prejudice of the time. It may have made more sense to accept this erroneous judgement for what it was and swim against the tide but collecting batik is not something one does on a whim. One needs to be a little crazy. Additional motives were the pleasure of discovery and the concern that these unique and irreplaceable textiles would not survive the humid tropical climate forever.

      Special thanks go to the women of Java who were my untiring teachers. They taught me about batik at their market stalls at the hotels where they came carrying their heavy loads on their heads and at the private homes of families once belonging to the batik dynasty. Women wanting to sell the inheritance of their grandparents were other informants. To them batik textiles were little more than a lot of worn old cloths that were no longer fashionable.

      I am particularly indebted to Donald Harper batik expert and aficionado who has played such a big part in the batik scene of Southeast Asia since 1975. We share a friendship going back more than twenty-five years and I feel fortunate that batik has created such a strong bond between us. Donald was largely instrumental in putting together this collection. Together we undertook several adventurous journeys in Java on the back of a motorbike always on the lookout for the "Blue Mauritius" among batik. In his article in this book "Collecting Batik in Java," he has aptly described the current situation in Yogyakarta as seen from the viewpoint of an "insider."

      In the late 1970s I attended textile courses at the Institute of Ethnology in Cologne conducted by Irmgard Timmermann. Brigitte Khan Majlis now Curator of Textiles at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum (Cologne Museum of Ethnology) and an expert on Indonesian textiles was one of my "classmates." Brigitte not only helped with the selection of textiles for the exhibition "Javanese and Sumatran Batiks from Courts and Palaces from the Rudolf G. Smend Collection," held at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum between June 22nd and October 8th 2000 but also wrote an academic introduction to the accompanying bilingual German-English catalog.

      Gisela Volger former Director of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum was the main inspiration behind the exhibition. She has a particular interest in Southeast Asia and it fitted well with her exhibition concept to make important private collections available to a small but extremely motivated circle of enthusiasts. The Smend Collection therefore gladly joined an exhibition series that had already included the "South American Indian Featherworks" of Horst Antes and the outstanding African collection of Arman. As early as 1984 the team of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum which at the time still included Karin von Welck made their mark with an exhibition entitled "Indonesische Textilien—Wege zu Gottern und Ahnen," which received considerable public attention. In 1985 the museum set new international standards with a symposium on Indonesian textiles followed by publication of the proceedings. In Jutta Engelhard Acting Director of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum and Curator of the Indonesian Department at the time of my exhibition I found not only an expert on Indonesia but also a committed comrade-in-arms. It was not least due to her involvement that Sultan Hamengku Buwono X Sultan of the principality of Central Java and Governor of the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta was able to travel to Cologne to officially open the Rudolf G. Smend batik exhibition.

      The sultans of Central Java have long been supporters of the arts. Under the patronage of Hamengku Buwono VII great-grandfather of the present sultan the famous German painter Walter Spies was employed as Kapellmeister (band master) at the court before moving to Bali to work as a painter. The father of the current sultan Hamengku Buwono IX also made a special visit to Cologne in order to open the above-mentioned exhibition in 1984. In this context I am grateful both to the current sultan Hamengku Buwono X and his ancestors and to the batik artists at the court of the Sultan of Yogyakarta who played their part in ensuring that batik production in Central Java could reach such heights. They represent all the now anonymous batik artists in Indonesia at the turn of the twentieth century and we cannot thank them enough for their patience and precision in applying the canting which led to the wonderful batik pieces we are able to admire in this book.

      One does not wake up one morning and announce "I am going to open a gallery today—what more a batik gallery." It does not often happen that one picks up the telephone to find someone at the other end saying "This is the Director of the Museum of Ethnology in Cologne. Would you like to exhibit your collection at the museum?" It would also seem unimaginable that the Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengku Buwono X would travel from Indonesia to personally open an exhibition of Javanese batik from the turn of the twentieth century. Such things only happen in fairytales—in a fairytale land. This magical land lies beyond India in Indonesia. That is where fairytales come true where a sultan rules Central Java and where everyone is interested in batik. This fairytale land is where I found myself at the beginning of the 1970s in my search of "salvation in the East"—just like Walter Spies but fifty years later. At the time however I knew nothing of the sultan or of Walter Spies least of all batik.

      As happens often in life a woman was responsible for my good fortune. As a hippie tourist in Yogyakarta one does not do very much: you sit in front of your losmen, eat bananas drink tea and listen to music. Then a beautiful Javanese woman comes by and asks "Do you like batik Mister? Do you want to see my batik collection?" Without waiting for an answer she puts down her bundle opens it and begins displaying wonderfully designed cloths. She notices your interest explains the technique and encourages you to purchase a cloth as a souvenir. The price is unbelievable: 5,000 rupiah. Still uncertain about the currency you ask again. Yes just US$10 for such a magnificent piece. This is how without hesitating you become the proud owner of a kain panjang with the sido mukti design. Later I find out that this is a hip cloth decorated with the popular Javanese wedding motif. I also find out that I paid far too much for it; 2,000 rupiah would have been enough according to those more experienced in the trade. Too late. The beautiful Javanese woman has long since disappeared along with my ten dollars and neither she nor I know that this marks the beginning of a collection. It is also the beginning of a new life a passion—indeed an obsession.

      RUDOLF G. SMEND

      Cologne October 2003