A pile of natural dye collection by The Batik Library

Bernarda Antony, is the founder of The Batik Library. Bernarda was trained as fashion designer and she always incorporate Indonesian traditional textile in her design. She then realised that she needs to introduce all the beautiful patterns and The Batik Library is formed as a platform to share the story of the traditional batik motif available in the market.

In this episode of aNERDspective (our NERD talk show where we converse with amazing friends about their textile adventure and perspectives), we talked to Bernarda about her journey in starting up The Batik Library as a website with an easy directory and story about batik, primarily for people in North America.

Note: The transcript has been edited for reading format.

Tony Sugiarta: Welcome Bernarda to today’s session of aNERDspective. How is it there in Vancouver?

Bernarda Antony: It is pretty hot in here. I think it goes up to 32 degrees right now. Hotter than Jakarta probably.

We talked a little bit about our advocacy on batik and we met through all different groups. We now would like to find out more about your love for batik and how you want to promote it all the way in Canada.

First of all, thank you for having me. I always watch your videos and it is always inspiring. It is really nice to get all the information about batik.

Before we start and discuss further, maybe we can start with a little introduction about who you are, your background, and how you fell in love with batik.

My name is Bernarda, I am originally from Jakarta, Indonesia. I come from a fashion design background and in the past 10 years I always incorporate Indonesian traditional textile whenever I design clothes. Probably in 2015, I got back into school and was making another final collection. That is when I started to use songket and batik all together in one collection. That is how it started. From there, occasionally, I design clothes and it is a journey, discovering new wastra and all the various fabrics. It is so interesting whenever I go back and I always shop a lot of fabrics.

So, you actually studied fashion design in Canada?

Not really. I started fashion design in Jakarta in Lasalle College. After that, I moved to Japan and I went to a school called Sugino Fashion College.

In Japan?

Yes.

What made you land up in Vancouver now?

It is due to family circumstances that I have to move here. T

I see. So, your family is there as well?

Yes.

That is very nice, especially in this pandemic where travel is so restricted.

Yes, it is not bad at all. I have my niece here.

You started as a fashion designer and, now, started The Batik Library, which is a brand that obviously advocates in selling batik. But I believe that the start is not directly into batik. If you can take us along the  journey of building up The Batik Library.

The Batik Library is actually formed with a sole purpose of wanting to share the story of each traditional motif available in the market. For example, what is the story behind parang, kawung, mega mendung, and so on. I want it to be a directory when you go on the website, there is an easy directory where you can click on it and explain the story.

I also want it as a comparison between Jakarta fashion and fashion in Vancouver. It is really incredible how fast it is in Jakarta. Well, of course, it is because there are so many people in Jakarta and there is high fashion in Jakarta. At least, that is what I think. So, I wanna bring these people to North America, probably to sell and to show them that it is all pretty.

The Batik Library is actually formed with a sole purpose of wanting to share the story of each traditional motif available in the market.

Do you still do fashion or solely promote batik?

I want to do it but, in the meantime, because I am really busy building the background and the foundation of Batik Library, like the website and everything. I am not doing anything design-related at the moment.

We have been talking and I have mentioned that it is a huge undertaking to set up that library to be a comprehensive site. What is your game plan?

Game plan? That I approach Tony. (laugh)

That is one of them.

That is the start.

Tony also has a section on his website called Batikosophy, Batik Philosophy. So, basically the same as my idea. My plan now is to find like-minded people to be able to form and group together. Also, looking forward to artisans in each specific region.

Maybe you can take us to the process of how you work with artisans because I cannot imagine. I am in Singapore and I am working cross-border which is relatively nearer and you go all the way to Vancouver. How do you work with the artisans?

How do I find and work with them? My friend, Vony, has a really great Whatsapp group called The Sustainable Fashion Indonesia. That is where I found all the like-minded people, people who care about the sustainability of fashion, natural dyes, and everything.

Whether it is far or not, I would say it is just far to begin with. Even though I am in Jakarta and (if I were to) look for an artisan in Java, they are also far. Thanks to technology, it is probably just the time difference, but that doesn’t really matter at all. It is also just a matter of looking though Instagram. That is how I found everybody.

After you find them on Instagram, it is pretty much working with the time difference and then I guess the other one (problem) is maybe shipping if you do physical stuff.

Yes. Shipping for me, at the moment, I cannot really do much about it. For now, what I can work with is just a small package with an air freight. That is a lot of money. But if I want to go with cargo freight, I am not in that capacity yet because they work with a big volume and as you can see batik is all about hand-made. If you wanna send a big huge package, that becomes a big huge capital, so not yet.

What sort of items do you offer?

At the moment, we are offering bandana (check out the amazing bandana in the video on minutes 09:12)

Awesome.

I told one of the Ibu that I want to make something small and she replied that we can recreate kain panjang (long cloth) into a bandana. This is what she makes for me.

Nice.

When I see those old batik book, apparently there are also people who make square batik or what looks like a tablecloth.

What is the size?

60 x 60cm.

At first I was going to be selling clothes, but then I realised that I do not have a market yet. I do not have any customers, so I do not know what size ranges I should go to. So, this is how it became a bandana.

What is the response like?

No online sales yet, but I have got about five or six sales through an offline bazaar, like a pop-up market. I also want to say that it is also working very well because of the demographic where I did my pop-up. It might work better if I move to another place where I do my pop-up. For now, it has not been too bad.

What is the landscape like in terms of understanding batik over there?

Compared to people in Europe, people in North America know batik but they are not as comprehensive. They probably only see it as a beautiful thing, but they probably do not really like it. What happened when I did my pop-up last time, instead of just showcasing the fabric, I also put a canting and the wax on the table to better explain to them what batik is. It is mainly towards batik education, not solely selling batik. If it is solely selling batik, then I find it hard.

Because we need to give them a reason to buy.

I notice that you are showing us natural dye pieces. Do you work solely with natural dyes?

I try to, but for a comparison, out of 10, maybe I have 1 that is not natural dye. I try to promote natural dyes because it is more nature-friendly and that is better for the workers too.

I am not sure. Since you offer natural dyes at a particular price point, I am not sure if you offer synthetic dyes, I am just wondering what the response would be.

I think I would not bother if it is smaller pieces with a synthetic dye, it is not worth it. I do not want to be low-balling myself. For the synthetic dye, it is one that I don’t normally plan for. For example, sometimes, for a certain design, there are five items and they only have one of each and there is one that is pretty but made from synthetic dyes.

Oh, you do offer woven cloth as well?

Yes, in the future. I want it to be a place to find Indonesian fabrics too. So, I have artisans from East Sumba whom I work with.

I believe that you are into sustainability. How do you incorporate those values in your process?

It is more of a sustainability company check. Before I work with the person who I am going to work with, I check if they do certain things, such as if they are properly doing their waste treatment, how consistent they are with the natural dyes, how they are treating their workers – it is also shown in their Instagram. So, I will go on a project with them and then I will decide after a span of project, are we both comfortable? Are we both still aligned? I also virtually meet them and have a chit-chat to see their work area and so on.

Can I say that, because I cannot check (physically) to audit and check the papers, I guess, what you did was communicate with them and get a small trial project to assess how they work before you do a bigger production?

Yes, exactly.

How do you find the response of the artisans?

There are people who are not really open to natural dyes, there are people who are very open to natural dyes, there are also people who are really happy and have the same minded people who we want to keep on our environment and care about the environment.

For those who are not very keen on working with natural dyes, what are some of the responses that they give?

I found it really hard to even chat with them.

When I tell them what I am looking for, maybe 2 or 3 questions and she doesn’t even answer. I get a slower response on those specific questions.

“I love your quality, your design, and I would like to work with you, but can I know more?”

“How about the cotton? Do you know if it is local or is it imported? Is there any certification?”

”Are you currently doing synthetic dyes and natural dyes but can I do more with natural dyes?”

They are not open to these questions.

So, is it that they are not enthusiastic?

Yes, because probably for them, they are already very established businesses, compared to myself. Probably I am just a tiny shrimp. That could happen too.

We have our share of working with people who are more established than us and they are like, “Who are these people?”

It is more that they cannot even waste their time and are so busy.

Well, you grow to learn after a while that rejection is part of the process. You learn to take rejection after a while or you just go stubborn.

In terms of design itself, you mentioned that you have kain panjang (long cloth) and turn it into a bandana. If you can share a little bit more about your thought process in coming up with all these designs or modifying motifs. I saw your parang and you made it into a square and fill it with some little designs. How do you come up with that?

No, it is actually not me. It is from Ulur Wiji. She is the owner and she designed it for me. At that time, when I started to get connected with all artisans, I barely had time to do anything and then she designed my first collection.

So, you just specified the size?

Yes. I’m more into directing them, like what is good or not good and for tiny details. For example, I would specify on how they go with the motif, if it is made to some specific way, it will be weird. So, I just specify on how to implement the details, the final print, and more towards the quality checking. For example, checking both sides (left and right) needs to be the same. I need to make sure that they keep within the quality.

How do you work with that? One of our concerns here is quality control. We have no one in Indonesia that does QC for us. So, when goods are here in Singapore and we find something not right, it is so hard to rectify.

I think that comes again on who you are communicating. For me, luckily the one who I am connecting with is the owner herself, from Ulur Wiji. She has four or six members that are working under her. So, I tell her directly and making a techpack also helps. With this bandana, I will make a techpack. For example, it has to be 3cm from the sides. We work with the PDF and do the digital blueprint too. But for the biji-bijian (spices motif), according to her, Indonesia is very rich for the spices, so she makes spices on this fabric.

And what is heart-shaped like seeds?

It is like seeds and I think this one is a leaf. Really like this color.

Are those cotton?

Yes. Cotton was also a tricky one because I want to have local Indonesian cotton, but apparently local Indonesian cotton is not a thing.

How do you react to that when you learn about it?

I did not know about that. I remember probably like years ago my friend kept on telling me that because she works in the industry. She worked in a jeans factory. This is the problem with Indonesia, you cannot really grow cotton. But we found a local Indonesian cotton.

Where is it from?

The distributor is in Bali. Apparently if you want to find everything sustainable, there are a lot of companies that are based in Bali because, of course, they are more sustainable conscious there.

Yeah. I mean, I just got to learn recently about mafia benang, people that control the supplies and imports of threads and there are certain producers and artisans that have access to this and of course the smaller ones do not have better quality ones.

I could imagine that in Indonesia there are a lot of mafia.

Yeah with any industry, I guess there will be someone who controls something.

I did order a local Indonesian thread, but it is not cotton, I think that is rayon. I do not remember. But it is Indonesian cotton.

Also, making sure that the most of this stuff that they use is local to Indonesia like the dyes. For example, ketapang leaf and kayu jambal, they are everywhere. It is just like the indigo dyes, she also uses it locally.

Do you do your own batik there?

No, I was thinking of trying because I am on a holiday right now and I have a bit of time, but I have not touched it. I borrowed a set of batik from the local Consulate of Indonesia here. They do have them because sometimes they have a batik workshop. It is also part of promoting Indonesian culture.

I am surprised. How active is the workshop and the consulate’s activities regarding promoting (Indonesian culture)?

I think probably every year, they usually have a batik workshop. Every year, the Indonesian Community in Vancouver would have an Indonesian Festival. They usually have a corner and they would do it every hour to do batik bazar but because of COVID, there is none right now. I think they used to do it once a year or twice a year.

How big is the Indonesian community in Vancouver?

I would say probably about 5,000 people. It is not so big but it is big enough. There are quite a lot of Indonesian people here and there.

So you are targeting these 5,000 people, at very least, to introduce batik.

Yes. They are at the very least, to find people in Vancouver or in Canada. They are also excited about batik.

If you can share some of the challenges that you face while running up The Batik Library?

I am going through research and brand development. I realize how limited resources that I can get here and, therefore, I need to search for teammates to explain the motif and because of the limited resources. It ended up becoming like research instead of just a hobby. It is not that easy.

Yes, definitely this vacation is a good time for you to do all that.

If you can share with the listeners, what are you busy with?

I work in the film industry. In the film industry, people usually work ten months out of the year. Ten months means one season of filming.

TV series you mean?

Yes, TV series. The last show that I did was Superman and Lois, make sure to watch them. It was Superman and Lois season one and we finished shooting from October till July last month. So it went for ten months. It was shooting for fifteen episodes. Then, I am off for two months and then I am going to start working again in September.

How do you land up with film?

Oh, I landed up in film because I was probably a bit frustrated to find work here because I did not go to school here. So it is a little bit hard because I do not have many connections. Probably it is similar like in Jakarta and in Singapore, if you do not know people, it is really hard to find jobs.

When did you arrive in Canada?

I arrived in Canada in 2015. This is my sixth year.

So you are there when  you have already started working, right?

Yes. I came here and then I looked for work. I did not go to school. I just go to work straight.

Then after that you set up that Batik Library? When was it?

It is actually earlier in 2021. I just started this year.

But earlier you were running a fashion brand?

Yes, a fashion brand. I do it occasionally just to keep up to myself in the fashion industry, making a collection and then after that submitting it for competitions.

How easy is it to run your own business over there? Is it as easy as in Indonesia that you just ‘open PO’?

I think it is not that easy because first of all our concern was the amount of humans that live around here. I mean in Vancouver there are a lot of people here, but compared with the population of Canada itself, or compared to Indonesia, is smaller. Probably that was the main concern. Also, this year all I do is mainly sewing and designing, I am not really a marketing person or anything like that. So definitely it is an art in itself of doing marketing strategy.

Do you know about the ecosystem itself? Are more people having their own business, or are they doing office jobs?

I think most people like to stick with a full-time job because it gives them stability. I find there are not many entrepreneurs because I think there are a lot of regulations around it and there is a lot of tax.

To open a business?

No, just in general, all the sales tax, the business permits, the insurance and so on. I think I am not doing the insurance because I am not producing it myself here. If I am producing it myself here then it is towards the worker rights and I have to ensure that for my workers then. That’s what gets expensive I think. We have not gone through it, but that is what I heard. Apparently there are a lot of people that want to start a business, especially after COVID, so maybe it will change.

You mentioned difficulty in getting the resources for research, what else do you find difficult there?

I think it is more towards market research, like what do people want to buy, or not. I think that it is not necessary to buy it at the moment because we are still in the pandemic. I do not know, maybe there is more. I think I need to do budgeting.

Back to the research and you look for people, for collaborators. Who have you worked with and what do you look for in collaborators, content-wise?

I think content-wise the first one that I reached was Nidiya Kusmaya. She is a natural dye researcher. The next one I talked with Mas Fikroh from Hamparan Rintik.

What do I expect? It is for me and that collaborator to work hand on hand, for example, on an article. I would like to use most of the research that they already have, adding more to it and then put it on The Batik Library. I am putting their credentials in the posts under The Batik Library.

To add a local perspective, probably, for people around Vancouver or North America.

Yeah, probably or making it more established as a directory or making it easier for the general public to read.

So what are you working on in the near future? You mentioned market research and budgeting, I guess that is homework for the next two months during vacation?

Yeah, I think so, but the upcoming project that I will be having are samples of shirts and short sleeve shirts.

Also, a bigger bandana that I work on with a bandana enthusiast in Japan. We are currently working on that. It is more like I am connecting him to the artisans in Java. If you look into it, his brand is One Ear Brand. He is a blogger and he has been collecting vintage bandana and he also collaborated with the local artists.

The potential is huge. Even with Ulur Wiji’s product right now. She sells hijab and her designs are really pretty and I also want to get natural dyed hijab for all the people that wear hijab in Canada. I would love to even promote hijab in Canada too. Just that we have to work on better packaging. It cannot be just: here I sell this. It all has to be planned out.

Yes, definitely that is part of the (market) research that you will be doing, right? Some thoughts that I have in mind are one on the exploration for the application. So essentially you can do anything with textiles, right? We do fashion, we do home decor as well, cushion covers, table runners, and also repurposing hijab. We do have a hijab size, but we just call it not exactly for hijab. It is a square shawl that you can use as a top or as a regular shawl so it is not just restricted to the hijab market.

You are doing a men’s shirt as well?

Yes. My main idea is to have a unisex clothing line. So it is because long time ago, probably three years or four years ago, my friend told me that it will be cool if we do a unisex batik.

It is very interesting and I think there is a parallel journey to what you are doing right now with us. Maybe we should set up a branch in Canada and North America.

Yeah, definitely! One of the things that I ordered out By Kelir came up to be super pretty and it is very detailed and I feel that this is more of an artwork that is worth to be displayed in the museum. That is also one of my plans that I want to reach out to local museums here, who might be interested in showcasing.

Other than batik as the motif itself, how is the reception towards natural dyes or sustainability in general in Canada?

Most of the comments say that that is good and they said they can see the difference. They also know whether it is indigo because if you compare it side-by-side, it is just a vibrant color and a more toned-down color.

In general, not just at The Batik Library, how is the awareness for sustainability?

There are a lot of people that are a fan of natural dyes and become more sustainability conscious. They are more keen on buying locally recently.

Before we close off our conversation today, do you have a closing statement to sum up our conversation today that you might want to share?

There will be an upcoming release. That is the batik from Ciwaringin and Pekalongan that are different. Also, our first batch of clothing lines. So stay tuned for that and my hopes are to meet like-minded people, the ones who want to promote Indonesian wastra to a broader audience.

Awesome. Thank you so much Bernarda for sparing some time today.

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  The Batik Library’s Instagram for the latest collection.

Photo credit: The Batik Library, unless stated otherwise.