Facing The Crisis with Creative Innovation

Batik Themes on the Ceramics Dishes

Go back one step and then go forward thousand steps. And even, maybe running to the world market. That is the trick which now hold by the businessperson who faces the global crisis. Win the competition in the domestic market with developing creative works are the option when the world market sluggish.
 
This is what the Managing Director of Pusaka Iwan Tirta Inc, Lidya Kusuma Hendra has been doing. " Creating ceramics are something common. But, if we want creating something creative, I’m sure it will have a high selling power. The crisis may comes, but the creativity shall not stop, " she says in the middle of ceramics exhibition.
Facing this crisis, Lidya still takes the bull by the horns. When the other entrepreneurs who have export-oriented products screaming because the low demands, and the escalating of the basic materials prices, the Lidya’s spirit to develops the new products just buoyant.
Lidya promotes Indonesian Batik with her own way, which is combines the batik beauty to the ceramics products. To achieves her current result she is willing to stop for several markets targets. Forgetting for a little while about her ambitions to export her products to Dutch, France and Japan markets.
Lidya says that 17 months ago, after the meeting with Commissioner President of Panasonic Gobel Inc, Rahmat Gobel, and the batik maestro Iwan Tirta, with the support from Indonesian Various Ceramics Industries Association on the exhibition in Jakarta, she determined to work harder.
Lidya, who started her business with Trimarga Jaya Hutama Inc, applied her mind to added value on her products. She determined that her products have to have some meaning and fantastic profits. Her option has fallen into gives batik touch to the ceramics dishes. Lidya sure that the batik themes will make her ceramics have their own added values.
For Lidya, worked in the silent with the batik maestro Iwan Tirta have its own challenges. Iwan Tirta used the dishes as his creative medium. It was not a simple thing to create Batik theme into something beautiful art work on the ceramics. It requires a solid collaboration between Lidya and Iwan Tirta to make the batik art characteristic from Iwan Tirta appears beautifully on the ceramics.
Lidya says, the batik themes require the special handling. The colors choices, for instance, have to determined carefully, so when the ceramic put into the burning oven, it won’t changes. Be sides that, to keep the theme and color uniqueness just like what Iwan hopes isn’t easy.
The masterpiece from the collaboration indeed created for the collectors or Batik lovers. Not all available workers can take a part on the production process. In her factory, at Karawaci, according Lidya, some workers who mainly are women, who judged as creative people, trusted to handle that batik ceramics.
The result, according Lidya, not only as the exhibition artworks or keep as collection, but also used as the dishes. The ceramics dishes can used as their function because they are environmentally safe and safe for healthy as well. To gives added values to her artworks, Lidya willing to uses 10-12 % gold content into her products. For instance, on the glass’ edge, there is a golden thread.
The collaboration between Iwan Tirta and Lidya produce the batik ceramics dishes with traditional themes which called modang and hokokai. Modang is one of the Jogjakarta Palace’s batik theme. This theme chose because it has been a main ornament on the Jogja’s batik. Modang’s theme can be found on the edge openwork on the bachelors clothes, which called dodot. This ornament is a flame symbol which called cemungkiran, which the meaning related with power and spirit to achieve every wants.
And the hokokai theme or butterfly from Pekalongan, including in one of beach batik which colorful. This theme adopts various ornaments and colors from Japanese kimono. Hokokai is Japanese word that means association of public worship.