UNS – The Student Executive Board of the Vocational School (SV) of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta developed Empon-Empon batik in Pendem Village, Karanganyar Regency. This activity was the implementation of the Village Empowerment Program (P2MD) funded by the Directorate General of Vocational Education (Diksi) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) of the Republic of Indonesia. The community service had the main theme “Development of Empon-Empon Batik as the Leading Commodity of Pendem Village to Realize the Concept of Community Based Tourism “.
Pendem Village has a tourist village area called Sumberbulu. This tourist village has Empon-Empon batik known as Batik Sumberbulu with three different motifs, namely Anget-Anget, Jampi Usada, and Siti Rajabrana. These motifs were specially created in 2022 by a souvenir group under the guidance of the Borobudur Authority Agency (BOB) using the jBatik software.
However, issues arose as Sumberbulu, as a tourist village, could not develop Empon-Empon batik solely through jBatik software. They also needed hands-on practices using canting (a traditional tool) in the development of Empon-Empon batik.
To develop this innovative concept, the P2MD Team of BEM SV UNS carried out various activities in the form of community service with the souvenir group. One of them was organizing a training and practice of canting batik with the participants from the souvenir group of Sumberbulu Tourism Village, under the theme, ” Workshop and Training of Canting Batik as an Effort to Develop Empon-Empon Batik as the Leading Commodity for Sumberbulu Tourism Village”. The workshop took place at the Pendopo of Sumberbulu Tourism Village, Pendem Village, Mojogedang Sub-district, Karanganyar Regency on Monday (17/7/2023).
“This batik training is expected to improve the skills with the initial training capital so that it can become the leading commodity of the village to support the tourism sector,” Rysca Indreswari, S.Pt., M.Sc., the supervising lecturer, explained when opening the canting batik training.
The main activities of the canting batik workshop and training were directly guided by Maryati, the Giriarum Batik Coordinator from Girilayu Village. There are several stages and processes of canting batik, starting from creating patterns on fabric, applying hot wax with a canting tool to the patterns, and the final coloring process. All stages of canting batik were done collaboratively to make the process easier.
During the session, Maryati demonstrated the canting batik process, which was then followed by the souvenir group of Sumberbulu Tourism Village. The event was attended by 10 participants who were members of the souvenir group. They completed the Empon-Empon batik patterns on the distributed fabric and continued with the canting process.
The aim of this canting batik training was not only to increase the knowledge of the souvenir group about canting batik but also to develop their skills in making canting batik, with the hope that they could produce batik independently to support the tourism sector and improve the community’s economy.
Laila Nur Fatimatuzzahro, as the Chair of P2MD, said that the finished batik fabric could be used as the main material for making unique souvenirs from Sumberbulu Tourist Village. After drawing the pattern and applying the hot wax, the process continued with coloring the finished fabric by the souvenir group. The colored fabric then underwent a waterglass dipping process to fix the batik color.
On Sunday (23/7/2023), the canting batik training programs continued with the dyeing method using the coletan system. Maryati explained that the dyeing method using the coletan system is one of the methods that beginners can use to add more colors to their batik fabric, thus increasing its value.
The training of the dyeing method using the coletan system was expected to broaden the knowledge of the souvenir group, so they would be more enthusiastic about learning canting batik, as the results of the dyeing process using the coletan system provide more variations and attractiveness, thus increasing its selling power.
Endang, as one of the souvenir group members who had the opportunity to practice canting batik, expressed great joy in being part of the Empon-Empon batik development in Sumberbulu Tourist Village.
“Hopefully, this canting batik skill will not only be produced independently but used as an additional edu-tourism program in Sumberbulu Tourist Village. Thus, we hope that Empon-Empon Batik can be widely recognized,” she said. Humas UNS
Reporter: Rangga Pangestu Adji
Editor: Dwi Hastuti