Batik Port Numbay was first initiated by West Papuan designer Jimmy Hendrick Afaar in 2007. His batik is different from its original Javanese one, because it presents different West Papuan cultures along with their own philosophy.
Jimmy’s Batik Papua Barat is now famous in Indonesia and abroad. He has promoted his masterpiece to countries like Australia, Netherlands, Italy, and America.
Let’s take a deeper look at its history and learn about the messages brought by Port Numbay Batik here.
A Brief History of Port Numbay Batik
UNESCO acknowledged batik, originally from Central Java, Indonesia, as an intangible cultural heritage in 2009. Batik itself is a technique of coloring fabric with natural colorant wax using a spouted tool called canting, called batik tulis.
Jimmy Afaar is a visionary because he dreams of making his own batik based on West Papuan’s diverse cultures. He decided to stay in Pekalongan, one of the batik centers in Central Java, due to his curiosity about batik. There, he learned how to make high-quality batik and apply the techniques to his native.
Starting the Port Numbay batik is not easy because Jimmy has to face many difficulties in establishing his business. He faced problems such as a lack of human resources and difficulty getting natural colorants, in addition to shipping all basic materials from Java and more.
He has to bring a batik instructor from Yogyakarta so his native people can learn how to make batik from the expert.
Eventually, his hard work paid off because he finally can make Batik Port Numbay famous. Thus, he can also elevate the economics of the local housewives who help him make the product.
Empowering the Local Housewives
Jimmy’s Port Numbay batik is a great business because it helps elevate many local housewives’ economics. Upon learning the batik techniques in Pekalongan, he had to find some local housewives who wanted to learn batik. This is the tricky part because his native people were unfamiliar with such a technique that required them to sit for hours doing the batik paintings.
However, starting with less than 20 people, he continued his dream of making his own batik based on West Papuan Culture. He let those housewives create their own patterns to innovate new patterns for his products. His next move was to find a potential market for his product by relying upon his connection with friends who work in the Governor’s office.
Currently, he can sell his Batik Papua modern for as low as Rp600.000,00 (USD 42) per two-meter product. The local housewives also admit their economy has significantly increased due to Port Numbay batik’s sales.
Message Brought by Port Numbay Batik
Jimmy created more motifs for his batik derived from West Papuan cultures such as farming utensils, marine resources, etc. He claimed that all patterns in his batik embodied cultural and social values, empowering peace and diversity from West Papuan native land.
The philosophy of each pattern distinguishes Port Numbay batik from other batik in Indonesia.
In 2015 the first lady of Indonesia, Ibu Iriana, asked Jimmy to create a batik pattern with West Papuan motif for President Jokowi for the upcoming state event. Jimmy made his best Port Numbay batik with his native distinctive motifs, i.e., Batik Papua Cendrawasih (bird of paradise).
He also made Papuan traditional boats and oars from Tobati and Enggros tribes in bright color for the president.
In 2021 Jimmy’s Papua batik became the trademark of the 20th Indonesian National Sport Week (Pekan Olahraga Nasional) held in Jayapura, West Papua.
Jimmy has brought his batik overseas, such as in New York, USA and Havana, Cuba, in September 2022. He is also invited to a fashion show in Milan, Italy, this February 2023. With his hard work, Jimmy can make his business thrive and elevate his native people’s economics.
However, he is able to display the diverse social and cultures of his native West Papuan through his Batik Port Numbay.
