Cempaka Culture and Tourism: Sukmawati Nita Lestari Azhar: Perfecting batik

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Sukmawati Nita Lestari Azhar: Perfecting batik

The Jakarta Post, Dec, 1st 2009 11:13 AM

Sukmawati Nita Lestari Azhar: JP/Tarko S

Batik making is not just about streaking white cloth with hot wax from a canting or spouted dipper, according to batik designer Sukmawati Nita Lestari Azhar.

Drawing the motif is actually a meditative process demanding a high degree of concentration to create beautiful batik patterns. That is why batik makers from the olden days were very much engrossed in their art, avoiding any disturbances. They would stop working when they felt upset otherwise the outcome would fall short of expectation.

According to the designer, known as Nita, handmade batiks in former times were refined, strong in character and highly artistic.

Batiks were not just fashion items, but works of art on par with top-notch paintings, collected rather than worn.

“My grandma used to make her own batiks. Besides her private collection, she also kept hundreds of batik pieces crafted by other artists. They were well looked after and rarely worn.”

“Once a month, I helped her air the hand-painted batik and would fold them up again thereafter,” said Nita, recalling her childhood in her home in Sleman, Yogyakarta.

Born in Yogyakarta on Dec. 15, 1964, Nita’s love affair with batikmaking and Javanese arts started when she was a child. Her grandparents indirectly taught her all the traditions. During daytime, she watched her grandma drawing batik motifs while in the evening she listened to her grandpa’s wayang or leather puppet epic stories.

“My childhood impressions continue to be transpire in my batik works, with motifs of wayang, kris handles, masks, woodcarvings and others related to Javanese arts. The deeper we delve into batiks, the more fascinating they will be.”

It’s owing to the traditional arts that Nita’s batik products have penetrated foreign markets, with her work displayed across the world, from China, Thailand, Europe to Singapore.

She exhibited her wayang beber (scroll) batiks in Kyoto, at a fashion event themed Centhini (literary work on Javanese culture) in Yogyakarta, and boasted Indonesian batiks’ superiority in a Swarna Java Dwipa show.

Through her work, she aimed to offer a sympathetic response to the controversy over batik.

“People have finally realized what batiks are really like, instead of only regarding them as painted fabrics. It’s because batiks are works of art demanding a long production process.”

“What Malaysia has claimed are cloths with drawings, so there’s no need to worry, as the world

will recognize the true batiks of Indonesia.”

Nita acknowledged that other countries such as Thailand, India, and the Aborigines in Australia

also have their own batik-making methods. But certain batik motifs are indeed only typical of Indonesia, she said.

After exploring various countries, Nita believes Indonesia actually possesses the most batik motifs and that they should be promptly patented.

She fears batik designs may some day be forgotten or claimed by other parties. So she suggested batik-making be included in the school curriculum as a mandatory subject, as in Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

By imposing the art form as a compulsory subject, the nation will not lose its batik heritage.

With booming batik businesses everywhere, genuine batiks are increasingly sidelined by printed and false handmade ones.

New technology has brought producers handsome rewards but also duped people into buying

inferior goods.

She recalled several wives of officials at a recent national handicraft exhibition in Aceh — also attended by President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono — knowing very little about different types of batiks.

“They wanted to buy a handmade silk batik piece worth Rp 750,000 for only Rp 50,000. They argued such a product costs Rp 35,000 in Klewer market in Surakarta [Central Java]. It’s embarrassing for the ladies, as they wore expensive gold and diamond ornaments,” complained Nita.

However, she has not given up her battle.

Entrusted with creating batik uniforms for several star-rated hotels, the mother of three also designed Miss Universe’s dresses when they visited Yogyakarta, like Miss Universe from Puerto Rico (2001), Russia (2002), and the Republic of Dominica (2003).

Nita’s batik-making journey has not ended yet, as she keeps practicing the traditional batik-making art using canting.

Several times a week, Nita, along with a group of batik lovers, continues to hone in her skill of drawing motifs on white cloths.

“I wish to imitate our ancestors. Batik makers of bygone times lived peacefully. So I’m determined to keep meditating while creating batiks,” she added.