Very Much a Live

After devouring my roast duck on rice brunch at the local Pek Kio Market, I decided to take a brief stroll around the wet market side to pick up some greens.

A few moments later, my attention was caught by a distant fishmonger‘s chirping, in concert with her agile hands as she expertly showed off a 7 oz. handsome looking fish.

She articulately encouraged her viewers to lose no time to snap up her very last fresh fish for the day.

”It would be just perfect for the weekend family lunch”, she beamed.

Within minutes her LED ring light turns off. She closes with a satisfied smile. Begins cleaning up and putting away her trays for the day.

Bringing Communities Together

Hit hard by the pandemic, it has been both heart-warming and moving to see communities and families pulling together to find new ways of coping to the new life.

As wet market stalls struggled with lock down measures and little foot traffic seen even when lockdown eased, the stalls’ kids pitched in to set up their parents’ businesses on social media, doing photography, videos and live streams.

In retrospect, the forced digitalization of business has helped keep their heads above water, and even expanded their markets beyond their own neighbourhoods.

At the same time, the younger generations started to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for their parents’ businesses.

From Fisheries to Artisans and Everything in Between

I crossed the street and walked back to my apartment under the sunny yet breezy sky.

Unpacked and stowed away my purchases, I settled down for a cup of green tea.

I gazed at my shelf, where my folded flower-patterned batik fabric laid.

This piece of hand-drawn batik had been beautifully displayed and sold during an evening Instagram live-shopping session held last June by @Batiktulislasem_Kresnoaji - a batik business owned by a local couple who create original batik designs and works directly with batik artisans.

Please do check out their Instagram. It boasts a collection of exquisite hand-drawn batik in a wide range of colours. They will even customize and re-make sold out pieces based on customer requests. Plus they are super-friendly!

Streaming live all the way from old town Lasem in Central Java, wife assisted by sister moved with grace as they fanned the beautifully adorned fabrics and cheerfully explained the philosophy of each batik design, the waxing techniques as well as shared insights into the batik artisans behind each individual piece.

Ever mindful of customers’ eternal need for good deals, the enterprising husband-wife-sister team parrots their irresistible limited-time discount every few minutes.

The outgoing family also took turns to administer the steady flow of buyers’ orders, explain batik terminologies, pose as fashion models and respond to chat inquiries at the same time without missing a beat.

They confessed they had progressively learned from each of their early streaming experiences (including being temporarily banned by Instagram for unknowingly turning on some light background music to add some vibes to the Live session) and their Live streams were running much smoother nowadays.

Geographically on the northern Java coastline, Lasem was the first shore that Chinese ships harboured in the 15th. century. Lasem batik historically depicted these influences in the designs & colours.

New Experiences For Everyone

As it was my first time to participate in a live bid, I must admit there was a wee bit of adrenaline and excitement, especially when I spotted a piece I fancied only to notice questions streaming in from fellow interested buyers.

The fact that all the pieces were individually designed and hand drawn, therefore each piece was unique and one of a kind, made the situation all the more interesting.

While keeping an eye on the live session, I quickly typed away chats with my sister (who was the one to introduce me to it and was also watching).

We discussed which fabrics we liked, assessed whether we should wait for more pieces or take a risk at bidding for the pieces presented, while imagining how we would tailor our dresses.

It was a busy night.

Another piece we successfully snatched up ..har har..

By midnight the Trio had sold more than three-quarters of their displays.

My sister and I? We ended up with more batik fabrics than we had intended. And weeks of Pinterest hunts for tailoring ideas. Without remorse.

The workmanship was excellent, the designs unique, and the sellers admirable.

Oh and did I mention, they also slipped us a bonus of two free batik clutches? Very sweet.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/77e347_0f94876050a84abaa5bffc948973ddce/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Above: Batik Tulis Lasem Kresnoaji traces their original designed patterns onto cloths, ready for the batik artisans to wax on

Indeed it has been encouraging to know that in spite of challenging circumstances, we still witness people working earnestly, doing whatever they can, learning new skills and using new approaches.

Shaken but undeterred. Knocked down, not out. Daring to push boundaries into greater possibilities and boldly seek uncharted opportunities.

Batik Masters

When I look at these batiks and pit them against some of my more expensive pieces bought in the past, I have to be honest that there is a noticeable difference.

Don't get me wrong, not that there were any faults, defects or clumsiness. They were simply less delicate pieces with less complex designs.

It takes years and years of practice to get to advanced hand-waxing techniques and therefore a good delicate hand-drawn batik can easily fetch a few hundred dollars.

It is like reading an essay written by a college student versus a professional writer - nothing inherently wrong in grammar or language, just that years of experience and wealth of diction naturally generates more polished write-ups.

A Deserving Chance

So, I concluded that junior batik artisans need a fair chance.

They need practice and they need to earn a living. Only then, can they continue to develop to be masters of their trade, while leaving us an invaluable cultural legacy.

Thankfully going live has given them that opportunity.

To take an active part in supporting them, was nothing less than deserving.

COVID has absolutely not beaten us, nor halted us. If anything, it has made us realize that we are far from hopeless. We are far from our potential. And even further from helpless.

Instead the pandemic has reminded us that humans are capable of more compassion, more strength, more resolution and more resilience than we ever imagined.