SMPN 3 Sugio, Lamongan, East Java, Indonesia
Teacher: Nasruddin Latief, with overall project coordination by R. Chusnu Yuli Setyo
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- Batik is one of the cultural heritages of Indonesia. In this country there are many cities that have their own batik characteristic such as Jogjakarta, Solo, Pekalongan, Kalimantan, Cirebon and many more.
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- We can wear batik clothes either in a formal or informal situation. Kristin Bauer, the US Consul General in Surabaya, and all USA teachers wearing batik in Hotel Shangrila, Surabaya.
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- At School (Middle school of SMPN 3 Sugio), our uniform is also batik. We wear it on every Wednesday and Thursday.
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- Every school uniform has their own motif of Batik. This picture shows student of SMPN Kembangbahu showing a jack-o-lantern carved out of watermelon. Beth Williams, who took part in an AsiaPacificEd program involving Indonesia, taught it to students at this school. Happy Halloween.
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- The teachers and traditional dancers in SMPN 4 Lamongan welcome the special guest from East West Center, Mrs Grace Chao and Mrs. Elaine Robinson. This kind of batik is called batik tenun, since it is hand woven.
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- Batik tenun Parengan is the most popular in Lamongan and East Java. It is woven with hand and traditional tools like this. This product is exported to other countries.
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- Batik is one of the extracurricular lessons in SMPN 3 Sugio, Lamongan, East Java. We must keep this invaluable heritage by learning how to make it.
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- When Sarah Williams, student of Indiana University, came to our school in July 2011, she learned how to make batik. The special tool she is holding is called a canting.
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- After making a pattern with inked candle canting, the next process is coloring. The result is like this.
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- Batik is one of the goods marketed in a free trade. Other APEC countries may sell electronics and machines to Indonesia, and in other hand Indonesia can sell Batik to them.
The Batik is very beautiful.
I am also doing a photo colange and I think that this is a great of representation of trade. What is you most traded item? What is the item that you most frequently receive?
i am a student at Scarsdale Middle School NY. I thought it was cool about how you use and make so many batik products. Do you have a cafeteria in school, or do you have to bring lunch from home? If you bring lunch, what do you bring? What sports do you play?
Dear students, I am a student at Scarsdale Middle School and I think this is a great project. I learned a lot about the culture in Indonesia and I learned about how clothing can be sustainable. Where I live, we have some sustainable clothing, however, we never make clothing in our schools. How long does it take to make batik?
Dear students, I think that it is really cool that you design and and use patterns to create clothing and other materials. I learned a lot about batiking that I didn’t know before such as it’s a good marketed in a free trade, and that you do it as an extra curricular activity. In my school, we do something similar to that we sew and design a stuffed animal. Does everyone in your school [make] batik or is it something you can choose? Are the materials you use to make batik environmentally friendly? Overall, I think that this is a really great project.
Ilana S, Scarsdale Middle School, NY,USA
I think your project is very informative and interesting to read. Before reading this, i did not know anything about batik or even what it was. After reading this, i understand the process of how to make batik and how hard it is to make. I also learned it is a very big part of the culture.
it seems like you make all your clothes yourself. Is that true because in America most people buy their clothes.
While reading this project, I learned that Batik is [a type of cloth] popular around the world. A question I have is how can this impact sustainability?
Dear students-
Your page was very interesting and informative. Your clothing really shows tradition and heritage. Our clothing is very boring and not uniformed. I wish I could wear your style of clothing.
I found this very interesting in many ways. I find it very cool that you make your own clothes. In America, it is more of a hobby than lifestyle. I also think it is cool that all of the teachers also get involved.
Batik is very beautiful. I wish one day I would learn how to make batik.
The batik is very nice. Hopefully in our class we will learn how to make it. Our teacher has some, because she’s been to Indonesia. It’s very pretty.
Dear SMPN 3 Sugio Lamongan students,
I’m a student from SMPN 1 Lamongan (hello neighbor school, he he). It’s really interesting to read about your project, and I appreciate that you’re successfully promoting batik to the world!
Yuan Edo Ramadhana, SMPN 1 Lamongan
Oh, these photos remind me of my wonderful visits to Lamongan and to your schools! It is a beautiful place and a beautiful culture. I am very proud of the beautiful batiks I brought home with me to America. We have a large display case in the main lobby of Fall Creek Valley Middle School displaying many of the beautiful crafts from Indonesia. Many thanks from my husband Chris, who came with me on my first trip, and my daughter Sarah who came with me last summer. We will always remember you.
I learned a lot about your culture and it was a great project!!! I really liked the Jack-o-Lantern!!!!!
Is Batik one of your major exports there? It looks very valuable and well made.
It looks like a major thing in the area.
It’s very beautiful.
It’s great to see you share our culture and the art of batik-making with students from around the world! As the future generation of Indonesians, we must strive to ensure that our traditional handicraft like batik does not disappear.
We are very happy to see fellow Indonesian students practice and pass on the Indonesian art of batik-making!
Batik is very remarkable indeed, especially with the use of traditional tools, such as batik parengan in Lamongan and eastern Java.
I hope we all can develop Indonesian batik, so that Indonesian batik can be known around the world.
Good job brah.
Your batiks are beaiutiful. Your culture is very different from my culture when it comes to clothing. We can wear whatever we choose to wear to school. I am wondering how do you decide on what colors to chose to make a batik?
Do you guys have classes outside? Do you also knit stuff at school to sell?
I think its really cool that you make jack o lanterns out of watermelons. The clothes look really good with the colors that you use.
I love your project and I think that it is so interesting. I also participated in this club and I can’t beleive how huge it is. I think that the Batik material is so beautiful and it’s cultural background is amazing. In the United States we really don’t appreciate our materials like you do. At my school we don’t wear uniforms and I think it is so interesting that you wear different uniforms on different days. We don’t have many special materials in the United States. I wonder if we have batik. Do you know of another name for it? Again I think you concept is so interesting and I love it.
Heather A. from Hudson
It is cool that there is different characteristics for batik. The Batik tenun is beautiful. How long does it take to make those?
Watermelon jack-o-lanterns? I’ve never heard about that before. In the USA, we carve pumpkins on Halloween.
Hi Daniel,
Watermelon can be made into a jack-o-lantern, as you see, but because we don’t celebrate Halloween like American people, we don’t put it in front of house or put a candle inside it. We have a kind of pumpkin but not as big as in America.
I also like batik. It’s awesome
Shangrani Ayom Lyberta A., SMPN 1, Lamonan, Indonesia
Hi! My name is Hani. I live in Lamongan….I don’t like watermelon, but I like apples….Thanks…oh, yeah, my school is SMPN 3 Sugio (a school that is famous internationally).
Hi! My name is Tess, I go to Callisburg Texas, USA. Here, we do not wear or have uniforms, but I admire oh so much the beautiful tradition of Batik!! I also love the watermelon Jack-O-Lanterns! So cute! In Texas, we use pumpkins instead.
I love Batik so much! I have several types of Batik! Thanks to SMPN 3 Lamongan for sharing this.
Rizqi Zabir Manna, SMPN 1 Lamongan
Hi Jared,
Making batik needs more than 2 days and depending on the motif and the level of difficulty. The more colors and motif, the longer time is needed. For a piece of cloth, we need two or three days at least.
Many thanks. Warm regards from Lamongan Indonesia.
Dea Angelia (SMPN 3 Sugio, Lamongan)
Hi Rizqi,
Thanks for your comment. I love batik too. Moreover, batik now can be designed for teenagers like us. So, we are still cool to wear it.
Salam kenal.
Dea Angelia
Hi Rishabh from Scarsdale,
We don’t have a big cafeteria at school, but three small canteens. we can buy rice and cake there. Rice is the main food for us. I like to eat bread and cake. But If I don’t eat rice, it feels as if I haven’t eaten. I don’t know why it’s like this, but it’s funny actually.
Dea Angelia (SMPN 3 Sugio)
Hi Mrs Beth,
I am Dea, the student of SMPN 3 Sugio, who gave you a drawing that Mr. Chusnu told me you put on the wall in your office. Nice to read your comment. When will you come back to visit my school? We miss you and Sarah….
Great big “HELLO” to you and Sarah from my friends and me at SMPN 3 Sugio.
Dea angelia (SMPN 3 Sugio)
HI Dea!!! We miss you, too!!! We have many wonderful reminders of our time in Lamongan. I am looking at a beautiful picture here in my living room at home from Lamongan. I also have many photos and art work on my office walls at work, including yours! Sarah is coming home from college this weekend (and so is Jordan) because it is their dad (Chris’s) 50th birthday, so we will have a big party here! I will tell Sarah you say hello. Chris also misses Indonesia, and Jordan hopes to visit some day. He is finishing college at Purdue in Civil engineering in the next 2 weeks, so he is very busy right now. One of my favorite experiences from our trip to Lamongan last summer was seeing how batik is actually made, and trying to get the wax to go smoothly on to the fabric! It was not easy!!! Please give my best wishes to all the students and teachers! You are all forever in my heart!
I wonder what it’s like there. Do you get snow? I like how you make those blankets. They look cool and VERY VERY warm!
Have fun making more!
This is AMAZING!!! There are lots of things y’all do I wish we could do (:
For me, I celebrate Christmas on the 25 of December. Do you celebrate Christmas?
Do you believe in Santa???
What religion do you all believe in?
Hi, I’m Vanessa A.
I’m from Callisburg Middle School.
Where I go, we don’t wear Dresscode, I mean we still have rules about what not to wear. Your batiks are beautiful. How do you make them and how long do they take to make.. In Texas we use pumpkin for halloween, but the watermelons are cute too.. do you celebrate Christmas, and how do you celebrate it if you do?
Batik looks beautiful. Most of our clothing here is cotton and polyester. Is anyone there allergic to batik? Some people can’t wear polyester because they’re allergic to it.
Hi Macy,
My family and I do not celebrate Christmas since our religion is Islam, but my cousin and his family celebrate it. On Christmas day and during Eid ul-Fitr , they visit my family and my family visit their house in a different district. Even though we have different religions, we respect each other and live together peacefully here.
I don’t believe in Santa because Santa flies with reindeers.
[NOTE from AsiaPacificEd Crossings: Eid ul-Fitr is one of the most important Muslim holidays, and it marks the end of Ramadan, an Islamic holy month of fasting when believers don't eat or drink from dawn to sunset each day.]