A collection of works by CCD-NL artisans (Photo credit: CCD-NL)

Yetty Van Der Made-Haning is the founder of Center for Culture and Development – The Netherlands (CCD-NL), an organisation focusing on the revitalisation of cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) for sustainable development. Yetty set-up CCD-NL when she was a research fellow at International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden University in 2011. She does just work with Indonesian ikat but also finding historical connections of ikat from Japan and India too. This work is not a cari kutu (a local saying saying that it is a job for people who are idling around) but one that aims to empower.

In this episode of aNERDspective (our NERD talk show where we converse with amazing friends about their textile adventure and perspectives), we talked to Yetty about how she first fell in love with ikat and how, even though she is far away, ikat brings back home.

Note: This transcript has been edited for reading format.

Tony Sugiarta: We can start with a little introduction of yourself.

Yetty Van Der Made-Haning: I can start with a story about how I started with ikat. In 2009, I was working as an Affiliate Fellow at the International Institute of Asian Studies in Leiden University, and I was working on a very ambitious research project on maritime boundaries of Indonesia-Australia, related to the Dutch connection in the past when Indonesia was a part of colonial Netherlands.

My background is a lawyer. I was studying law and also development studies. Then, I was studying. I conducted research, but unfortunately that kind of legal research has a lot of politics especially when it comes to maritime borders. You know how complicated Indonesia’s maritime borders are. So, the research did not progress very well. Unfortunately, there was no funding at all (to continue) this project, so how can I do research without funding. Besides, there is some tension here. I was debating whether I should continue or do something else.

Interestingly, the institute where I was affiliated with, opened a new program on the cultural preservation of tangible and intangible heritage. It is also funny, my boss and I were sitting down and chatting and he was asking about how my research was going. I told him about the situation. Then he said that there is this new cluster and if I am interested in doing it. I said, “Oh my God, I have no idea how to start, because I am a lawyer and working on development projects, but how could I approach this project?”

Then I was thinking that I have a development project background, maybe I can look from that angle. My father is a cultural anthropologist and I always see that he is busy with writing books and talking about culture, he is always passionate. I remember when I was a teenager, of course, when you are a teenager, you are a rebel, you are against all this culture and what do you do with such an old fashion thing, and so on. But then, you never know. When you go far away you will be brought back to where you are originally from and that is what I experienced. So, then I said, “Okay, let me start with it.”

So, I told my boss that if we talk about both tangible and cultural tangible preservation, I remembered that when I was little, I always saw this man making ikat, they went door to door selling ikat in the house and I did not see him anymore. So, what happened? That is the starting point. Before that, I told my dad that I do not know what to do and my father said to start with something that is close to me. Then it linked me to these people who bring ikat around. I talked to my boss and he thought that it was very interesting. And I started to explain how ikat play their role in society. Maybe he did not realise that he was trying to push me to work on that, but neither did I. I was just listening to my father’s story and then I told my boss about how ikat can play the role and the society in the past. He agreed to start it.

He then sent me to Indonesia to do some research. I went to one island and another. I did not realise that they were very powerful in the past. A culture that is really strongly embedded into society. NTT has at least 599 islands belonging to that one province. However, not all are inhabited, of course, like on the main islands of Flores, Sumba, Alor, and Timor. Then I found out that in Sumba, ikat is strongly preserved. Of course, there is some decline but you can still find that it is strongly preserved.

But islands like Rote, where I originally come from, have almost disappeared. Most ikat there are made from this toxic chemical like wantex (ed.: a local textile dye) and naphthol. Then I go to Timor, there is a community called Boboti, a traditional community, where ikat is still maintained. Of course, there are a few  where it is still alive, but faded away, with the exception of Sumba and some parts in Flores, Timor, and Savu. But in Rote and others, it has almost disappeared and most use chemical dyes.

I researched for about six months but I also can come back to Holland to present to my boss. He said that this is a very interesting thing and we needed to study further. I then organised an international conference to bring all these stakeholders, from artisans, designers, policymakers, academic and international scholars. How can we come together to study and to do workshops to see why this ikat was so powerful as part of the trade and economy, why there is a decline and what can we do to help to preserve it because artisans are still living from it.

So, in the end in October 2012, I coordinated the project, organised by Leiden University. We collaborated with the New York Craft Council and were supported by Dutch development funding agency called ICCO (A Dutch Funding Agency). We also have non-financial support, such as from Indonesian Heritage Trust (BPPI, Badan Pelestarian Pusaka Indonesia). I could not believe the enthusiasm and there were about 18 countries participating at that time.

We held the workshop in one island called Endau island, it is a part of the Rote regency. On that island, there are craftsmen who live on their craft, like in Bali. But they do it seasonally due to the living demand. If it is the rainy season, they are farming and at fishing time, they are fishing. But the women continue weaving. And interestingly, I do not know if this is an old-fashioned mindset that people think that weaving is not an economic activity. They consider it a job for idle women who do not have a job. They said cari kutu, which is you looking for your lice. Women are gossiping and cari kutu while weaving. So, there is this stereotype going on. There is a saying in the local language saying that women do nothing and only let men go to office. Until today, those women in Dao, they are the ones bringing economy through their ikat but you see how they have been portrayed otherwise.

We did the workshop and it was very successful. We brought all the artisans and we discussed what are actually the issues, surrounding collecting of natural dyes, lack of market, the need for discovery of variation to make new patterns and new designs. We also talk to the government to ask for their commitment, and how to put more budget to preserve ikat. And also, to strengthen the community. We also find that there are a few departments that are working with ikat, but there is a lack of coordination and hierarchy. So, I see that this is something that we need to work on.

After the workshop there is also a recommendation on how to work the sourcer and we get a commitment from the local government, to make sure that dyes and cotton should be tackled. In NTT, until today, they have to import yarns from India or China. By the time these yarns reach the artisans, the price is high and the politics of who can access them.

I think I have been moving around the world and somehow found a way to bring me back closer to home. That is how I started with ikat.

After the conference and the workshop, I maintained working with the government and we cannot deny the length of historical connection between Indonesia and the Netherlands. I tried to bring artisans to the Netherlands for the exposure.

I am a lawyer and I am passionate to empower these artisans. I was so passionate about looking at the copyright, how ikat artisans do not get money for their creations. I realised that I needed to do something independently. Then, my mind and my drive was unstoppable. I just want to go and go. I realised I needed something to do for, and by myself. That is how CCD-NL started.

I decided to start CCD-NL four years ago. Of course, building a new foundation is not easy because, firstly, funding and, secondly, staff. When you do not have funding, you cannot have full time staff. Thankfully, we have a lot of interns and volunteers who come to save the organisation.

Within four years, we have steadily moved forward. I believe in slow progress that provides quality rather than a massive, big one. I would like to find my way and myself in this. I struggle but I want to enjoy them, to find the true mission, thankfully, bigger partners are happy to cooperate. I am happy that it happened this way. I like to say to let me do my way and let me grow with it.

My primary intention was to empower the artisan and we needed a project or program that does have an impact. Then, the crisis started. We had an ikat platform that can help the artisans but we have yet to implement it. So we use it as a platform that was launched in July 2020 to empower the artisans and work directly with the artisans.

With the platform, we started with artisans whom we have been working with. We did that to build a certain trust with them and they feel good working with us. We are not working with three groups of artisans from Rote Ndao, Alor and Belu regency. We started with this online platform, giving them webinars, as a chance for knowledge exchange.

How many artisans are there?

In Rote-Ndao, there are six members. Rote Ndao is very unique because we did not find many young generations working on ikat. This is also a driver for why we started this project. In Rote Ndao, some youngsters do not even have the knowledge but they want to learn. We help the group to format themselves and there are now six members. We hope to grow but you have to do it one step at a time.

Alor has a bigger number. They had 75 members but, of course, the number of members declined because ikat cannot provide job opportunities, etc. I think there are only 40 active members now.

Decline because of pandemic?

The decline started before the pandemic. It has to do with the complexity around the ikat. When their products are not sold, they do not have money. The decline is due to economic necessity. They do not find ikat promising and have to find other jobs, such as fishing, etc.

In Belu, at first they had seven members and were declining too. They only have four active members. We discovered that the other three moved to East Timor to find a job. So, you see the complexity.

These are the three groups that we worked with. Since 2019, when they joined the platform, we have organised three webinars for the three groups, talking with an Indonesian designer. They discussed the challenges and what they have to do. Interestingly, the attention from the webinar is quite promising and we managed to establish a few projects now.

What are some of the projects?

I can share one: Lab for Ikat. It is a project where we experiment with new dyes and new fibres. As cotton is very difficult to plant in NTT, due to the dry climate, cotton takes a long time to grow. So we worked with local artisans and experts on the possibilities to have more fibres based on local species that take a short time to grow in an environment that lacks water. Also, for the natural dyes, how to tackle the massive toxic waste.

Before I forget, one of our requirements for the artisans who want to work with us is that they have to commit to natural dyes. I am sorry to say that you are not part of us if we found that you do not do natural dyes.

Another project is to reuse and to recycle. We noticed that most artisans do not know what to do with leftover fabrics and yarns. We work with designers on how we can make use of that.

We also have a new project that is still in development where we try to tackle how ikat could be used for dementia patients. So, we use ikat as a tool for health. This is still in development and we have quite a significant interest from designers, healthcare professionals and practitioners who want to join the project.

We also have Train The Trainers. This is a continuous training program to strengthen their skills on how to make good natural dyes and how to create new motifs based on their heritage.

Of course, we have further studies and research about ikat. We are trying to build a consortium to bring experts from various fields to see how we can preserve the economy and cultures of ikat, including crisis management like now. How we can safeguard the art and culture for the artisans while surviving the pandemic. We would also like to catalog and document. These are continuous efforts as we discovered there are not so many cataloguing and documenting of ikat. These are part of research.

We also have a program with Japan and India. We started in 2019 on how to bring kasuri ikat to a wider audience through a series of webinars. If everything goes well, we are going to have the third webinar about pursuing it for future generations. We are still looking for funding but hopefully it will take place.

For Indian ikat, it is a bit difficult as it is newly established and the situation with the pandemic is very hard. This is a challenge for us on how we can make Japanese and Indian ikat sustainable. It is different with Indonesian ikat as we have worked on it for 10 years so it is understandable that there is much progress with the project. I must say that Japanese ikat is coming closer as we see more engagement of designers in and out of the Netherlands. We also see more organisations, like the Japanese embassy in the Netherlands, are coming to support the project.

How do you actually come up with the idea of involving Japanese kasuri?

When we did some historical research, we realised the connection of the Dutch with India and with Japan that affected ikat development. So we tried to work with them because we wanted the artisans to learn and sell from one another.

One thing that left an impression is when I did some comparison studies, one of our artisans and our partner in India came to Indonesia and was surprised that there is no co-operative that helps the artisans with yarns and dyes. In India, it is something that is commonly done as well as in Japan. So it is important to learn from one another.

At our website, we promote our artisans products while engaging them as they want to have new people to discover them. They offer both fabric and a variety of products. At the same time, we have to thoroughly study to ensure that any product or any activity that we do does not destroy the integrity of ikat and it is not easy.

We also bring in interdisciplinary POV, such as anthropologists, historians, economists to see how far can we go without destroying the ikat and whether the ikat has to stay as a fabric and belong to the museum. We would like to study, debate and put up a copyright. This is not easy and with our pilot study, we want to commit for at least 5 to 10 years to work closely with ikat. Not just the technique but a thorough study of all aspects, including cultural preservations and economy, crisis management, copyright, etc. Of course, we may not be able to tackle all but we can come up with conclusions and recommendations, especially how artisans can be empowered, to have their voice heard.

I like the fact that the learning portion is not just about a lot of collaborations or about combining two cultures into a product, but I like the discussions, such as the cooperative example in Indonesia. That is a learning point that we can take a second look at.

We continue to work together and to try to reach the government at every level, locally, nationally or provincially. Ikat is not easy to promote. When you go to a shop, you find two products that are similar, one expensive and one is cheap, maybe you go for the cheap. I do that myself and this is a challenge: how can we make people see the value of the product by giving a bit of money to a good product while learning about it.

Can you imagine for a piece of ikat, an artisan takes at least months to finish a piece of ikat and it does not give them allowance in between, if they are not sold.

We need to learn and I am not saying that we are experts. We, as an organisation, want to bridge these issues and that’s how we involve experts from other disciplines. I am learning everyday and enjoying it. Even from new interns or new staff, I am learning from them too.

As an organisation, we want to bridge these issues and that’s how we involve experts from other disciplines

How is the perception of ikat by the people in the Netherlands?

At the beginning, not so many knew about ikat because batik is more known in the Netherlands and around the world. To be honest, when I started with ikat, there were many other experts who were doing it. I call myself a project director or project manager as that is my expertise.

Despite all the other projects, the response is quite eye-opening. We can see more partners who want to work with us. We can also see more designers and makers of ikat. One of our partner designers mentioned that there is a growing trend of ikat in Europe and around the world. So we can see the rise in interest, also from the feedback and how our newsletter and blogs about ikat are increasing in readership.

Yes, I enjoy the articles and the videos.

Wonderful, good to know.

I saw an episode on creating heritage patterns. It was a very interesting session to have designers work with the artisans but that was through Zoom, how was that experience?

It was very difficult. You cannot believe it. Thanks to our intern, the new millennial youngsters, without them honestly we cannot do anything. We had many mishaps like the electricity got cut-out. We got used to it and were more prepared. Through Zoom, artisans can also learn about how to use technology and media. It is not easy, we are all learning and they enjoy it. They realise that with Zoom, they can reach the outside world digitally. This is our aim to enlarge their network and discovery. There were many issues, but it was manageable.

As you mentioned, it opens up opportunities through Zoom and social media. How is the reach, in terms of getting the attention of a new audience for their craft?

We find that people are interested in ikat, especially the beautiful patterns of Alor and Rote. In the pandemic, we opened an e-commerce site to sell their products but, unfortunately, it is not selling so much at the moment. It is not that people do not like it, just that many are losing their jobs. We continue to make an effort to make sure that their fabrics are sold as it is their living. It is not a good feeling that we want them to continue but at the same time, you see that does not bring economic returns for them.

The world is struggling right now and the pandemic makes things harder because the yarns and dyes are not easily accessible and there are no tourists. Before the pandemic, they do direct selling and it is a struggle for them to work digitally, so we provide training for them. We help them to create a social media account and to register on different platforms. We have an intern in Indonesia and he helps to open up to the local market.

We try many ways and we hope that all the effort that we provide will be useful for them. They have quite an exposure now and I just recently met with our social media team and they said that the clicks to our site increased by 80%. This is good. We hope that they will buy some too. Of course, you cannot force people to buy but the exposure is there.

Probably that is next in the customer journey or digital marketing.

How is the selling in Singapore? How is the market for ethnic stuff like this in Singapore?

Similarly, batik is more popular because of the connection. Ikat is coming up. It is a very niche market such as collectors, or someone who is into textiles.

Yes, that is why we try to look at the possibilities of bringing ikat into a variety of products that can enlarge their market to bring artisans and designers to co-create a product together. This is the project that I am talking about, about Reuse and Recycling. We want these products to be unique in a way of justice, environment, high-end functionality and aesthetics. Maybe this could create some reactions, particularly from a history or anthropology point of view. We need to discuss that heritage is not something that is only created in the past, it is also something that you create today.

We want these products to be unique in a way of justice, environment, high-end functionality and aesthetics.

I have always been in a discussion because people tend to value all cloth as vintage or collector’s pieces. I think we are not acknowledging the new creation and, for example, you mentioned that they are learning to come up with their own designs, which I thought that story is not as equally represented to value their creative mind and effort as well as, of course, the physical labour to make an ikat that requires a very long time. So, it is definitely an ongoing discussion.

Yes, that is an ongoing discussion on how their creativity is being valued and being seen as a kind of culture or heritage. We are a culture and development organisation so development is part of our activities. All our projects are based on that.

Looking forward to that.

It is a very exciting project but, of course, it will depend on the funding also. We are applying for funding. It has not always been easy, especially during the pandemic now. We have to change the challenges into opportunities by having a creative mind or activities. That is what we are driven to do.

What are some of the challenges, other than the pandemic, the long distance, as well as funding?

The other challenge that we at CCD-NL experience is that, until now, we are unable to hire a full-time staff. We mostly depend on our interns and volunteers and they are with us for a short time. That is a big challenge to ensure sustainability of our projects. We are learning from that.

It is interesting that CCD-NL has a lot of people applying to help as a volunteer, an intern or as a researcher. We sometimes receive numerous applications. We use that as an opportunity for us to help them further understand what our work is and to train themselves and to learn from them. We recruit new interns or volunteer before the current ones finish their term so as to ensure the continuity of activities.

Funding and not having full-time staff are two main challenges. Gladly, I have one colleague, Julita Oetojo, who is a lecturer at Bond University. She is busy with her own activities but we are both in the front line to run this organisation, receiving help from interns and volunteers. They have unbelievable commitment and passion for their work. I myself, sometimes, could not believe how CCD-NL grew to that level and maintained a new project. There are many people who are willing to help with certain causes, especially on things that aim to help the community, empower people and to protect and preserve culture. There are many people out there and for that we are grateful.

What are some of the ongoing projects or what is up coming from CCD-NL?

An ongoing project is the webinar on Japanese kasuri on 2 September. I hope that it will take place as planned. We would like to have the Indian ikat webinar close to the end of the year but unfortunately due to some organisation matters and funding, we might not be able to. Those are the ongoing projects.

Another one that this may be too early to say is that we manage to establish an online museum. We are planning to launch the first exhibition in the Spring next year about Indonesian ikat. Exhibition of not only on the product but also a virtual visit to see the life of the artisans. That is an online exhibition that we are hoping to launch.

Also ongoing are the cataloguing, documenting and researching.

I am very curious how you do that. So do you have production and bring it to the Netherlands or how do you record it?

That is something with the technology that you can bring people from all the different corners in the world and you will feel like you are in a small village together. This is ongoing and we hope to launch the online museum really soon about Indonesian ikat in the past, present and future. The pandemic should not stop us from being creative.

We have nothing to do except to think and be creative.

Yes, and it gives you more time to sit down and to think.

Thank you so much again for dropping by today.

Before we close our conversation, do you have any final concluding remarks for the future of CCD-NL or heritage textiles in general?

For a concluding remark, I do not have one yet because I am still learning and studying. I hope CCD-NL grows one step at a time to learn and to sharpen our focus to benefit the artisans at large. My hope is for everyone, cultural enthusiasts and textile experts to continue working in this area, not only for ikat but for textile in general. It is not something that only belongs in the past but also for the future.

How we can empower the younger generation to join in this effort. Of course, how ikat can bring employment. This is something that we needed to look at. Although economy is not the only thing but without economy, these sorts of things are hard to preserve. Of course, to build and maintain partnerships, how we can come together and have some discussion and voice it together. How can we work together to help empower the artisans to preserve the culture at the same time.

I don’t know how to make a conclusion yet because I believe that I am still on the way.

It is an ongoing learning journey.

Every day I learn new things but I am trying to stick to my mission and vision, so I am not going far away from that.

Thank you so much again Yetty for dropping by today. I had a fun time listening to you and the fact that you are so far away from your hometown, but in the end textile and ikat bring you back and you are working with that.

It keeps me connected to my roots and these roots will bring you back. I do not know how long I can work with ikat but at least I see myself, from not till 10 years later, we are still on that effort. Perhaps, I am not at the top but I hope to have a new generation to take part. I would like to continue on this journey for a little while.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of aNERDspective. Check out the previous episode on IGTV and our gallery and store if you would like a piece of Indonesia for your home or wardrobe. You may also check out  CCD-NL’s Instagram and website for the latest collection.

Photo credit: CCD-NL, unless stated otherwise.