Songket Pandai Sikek Dealing with Uncertainty

Spinning The Yarn - Heru Joni Putra

Songket Pandai Sikek

Dealing with Uncertainty

The Minang people certainly remember when Suharto’s government in the 70s forced the form of a village to replace nagari, as the smallest system of government. What happened then? Habih tandeh, the term used by Minangkabau to refer to the destruction of various Minangkabau cultures, both traditional infrastructure

and the people’s mentality, because it was hit by the village system. A few months after the reform, the people of West Sumatra also urged the government to babaliak ka nagari, which means a return to nagari. Therefore, reformation through Act No. 22 of 1999 on Local Government is

expected to be the right momentum to improve everything that deserves to be improved. When the act was passed, and the practice of returning to nagari began to be tried in various ways, people slowly had to understand: they could never really go back to the “past” even though some insisted on bringing it back to the present day.

Minangkabau also has an old problem, even long before the New Order collapsed, related to songket as one of the cultural heritages. The destiny of songket “hidup segan, mati tak mau” was buffeted by economic crisis, colonial war, and political turmoil like a knife that stabbed this weaving culture to death for many times. Until the 2000s, there were only three songket centers that could still survive despite uncertainty, namely Silungkang, Pandai Sikek, and Kubang. A number that is too small compared to 100 or 50 years earlier when the songket center was still circulating in more nagari.

When babaliak ka nagari is encouraged, songket artists hope to extend the life of the weaving culture that they have maintained for generations. They hope to return to nagari for not more than just the elimination of the village system and its devices, but for the return of tigo tungku sajarangan (customary holders, theologians, and scholars) as nagari leaders replacing the hierarchical power of the village head. Tigo tungku sajarangan is not just a display but a collection of customary processions and all their derivatives in the cultural sense.

The quality of songket (both materially and philosophically) is the main tool to maintain the “marwah” of various customary processions. It is no longer just as a complement, entertainment, or bureaucratic storefront as in the

New Order era, where the material and philosophical qualities of the songkets were not important to be considered.

However, as mentioned earlier, the effort to “return Minangkabau” to the condition before it was shattered by the new order is incredibly impossible. Not all traditional infrastructures can be re-

established. What is clear, the practice of daily life is no longer completely related to the image of the idealized traditional ecosystem. In such conditions, songket cloth is still needed but tends not to carry its traditional role anymore.

Becoming a Rare Item

Benhard Bart, a Swiss architect, since

a few years before the reformation has noted the terrible conditions in the Minangkabau songket ecosystem. He confidently said that Minangkabau songket is the “smoothest and smartest” type of traditional cloth compared to those found in other Southeast Asian

regions. Nevertheless, the best example he saw at that time was a rare item. He

could only find it only in the museum or in an antique shop. On the contrary, the real condition in the field is actually too painful: in addition to the lack of songket

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craftsmen, the quality of widely circulated works is very much decreased. It’s a way off. The needs of the industry are also one of the main reasons, he concluded.

Because of the difficulty of finding a highquality traditional songket, Bart could only photograph the pattern. He has more than a thousand patterns. The photo is then transferred to the computer for redesign. Thanks to the help of his wife, Bart moves further with the Minangkabau artists and cultural practitioners. At the suggestion of one of the Minang cultural practitioners, they plan to revitalize songket. It starts with “regeneration”. The plan relied heavily on an elderly weaver, Hj Rohani, when she was almost 80 years old. It is located in Tanah Datar Regency. She was the only one who could be found and agreed with their plan. The grandmother had two grandchildren who did not continue their grandmother’s skills. However, they finally agreed to learn how to make a songket with their grandmother. Even with only limited personal funds, Bart and his friends created a simple facility to succeed their plans. “Useless” is a word that has reached the throat. Month after month, their

plans could be said to have not yielded satisfactory results. It was very difficult to create a high-quality songket. The difficulties that were always encountered were problems of materials, work tools, and time. The most obvious: the effort to

revive the songket had to compete with the survival efforts of its craftsmen.

Many potential successors do not choose to learn songket more deeply because the needs of daily life are more urgent. Nonetheless, it turns out that hard effort

and many sacrifices will never be in vain. A few years after it was first conducted, the results of their first trial made results.

In 2001, songket with basa itam motif was successfully remade, through the teachings given by Hj Rohani to her grandchild. The story of Bart and the Minangkabau cultural practitioner is just a little of the heartwarming story about the effort to extend the life of Minangkabau songket. Hj Rohani’s successors can be considered lucky because at least they had time to meet with Bart and friends. And vice versa. However,

of course, that success is a valuable

small example. Although at that time there was a strong hope that high-quality songkets would still be maintained and produced, the general condition of the songket in Minangkabau was clear as mentioned earlier: it could no longer move in the ideal shadow of the Minangkabau’s traditional ecosystem — which is indeed the main basis for the sustainability of high-quality songket.

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Industry for the Future

Therefore, at that time, the effort of

songket preservation could no longer be done by waiting for the ideal conditions dreamed of to be created when it was

already babaliak ka nagari. Inevitably, in turn, the direction of the dreams

changed, namely to the industry. When it comes to industry, the line between “high-quality” and “low-quality”, in the context of custom, is no longer useful. Bart’s sadness about the strong influence of the industry seems to have no solution.

With all its advantages and disadvantages, the industrial ecosystem now determines that the destiny of songket artisans can be called a little better in the last decade, although not stronger than the previous decade. The revival of what is referred to as

“local consciousness” complete with its industrial arena, of course in a higher hustle and bustle, contributes to the strengthening of the sale and purchase of traditional products. Silungkang, Pandai Sikek, and Kubang areas still become few of the areas that are still trying to survive and produce songket cloth.

Sentra Kubang can also be an example of how this weaving business tradition must survive between the foot of

culture and the foot of industry. For business continuity needs, they produce development motifs with quality levels that have their own consumer target. In this condition, we cannot fully speak of the sublimeness of motif’s philosophy, technical intelligence, and the like. However, at the same time, high-quality songkets are still produced for special requests, for example, for collections, exhibitions, and teachings.

Does this indicate a balance between the needs of industrial foot and cultural

foot? Most local producers will answer no. Many agree that this weaving culture just seems to run in balance. When viewed from afar, it does seem to run

in balance. However, up close, it is imbalanced. The foot of culture remains

the weakest, although the industrial foot is also not very sturdy. Unfortunately, lately, there has been a problem, namely dizziness. The cause: the legality of songket as a world cultural heritage is owned by neighboring countries. This is what is being worried about. This songket business is like walking imbalanced while having dizziness, afraid to stumble a little or even fall on its own.

(Heru Joni Putra, Writer)

One of the efforts of

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