The Sekar Kawung Foundation Showcases the Beauty of East Sumba Ikat Woven Fabric

Jakarta (Greeners) – Sekar Kawung embraces villagers who wisely transform local biodiversity into clothing. With a deep love for the rich biodiversity and culture of their homeland, this community brings local creations from across the archipelago to the world of contemporary sustainable fashion.

In a world notorious for its reputation as one of the world's largest polluters, Sekar Kawung sees traditional fabrics, entirely handmade from local materials, as a solution.

This initiative to develop a sustainable ecosystem in fashion stems from the journey of Chandra Kirana Prijosusilo. She is a woman who believes that Indonesia can develop a resilient, sustainable economy. Her belief is based on the importance of preserving biodiversity and nurturing local cultures so they can continue to thrive.

Sekar Kawung was founded in 2015 and began focusing on biodiversity preservation through woven fabrics in Lambanapu village, East Sumba, and Sungai Utik hamlet, West Kalimantan. Both produce naturally dyed fabrics. However, East Sumba's weaving is far more colorful. Sekar Kawung learned that although much of East Sumba consists of arid savannah, its weaving villages tend to be lush, like green oases. This lushness is due to the weaving villages' care for the vast number of plants needed for their natural dyes.

Learning and Growing to Preserve Nature
Sekar Kawung believes that the diversity of clothing motifs reflects the influence of biodiversity. For example, woven fabrics from West Kalimantan often feature fern tendrils that grow in the forest. Furthermore, some threads are made from the fibers of the ulap doyo leaf, a local forest plant. In contrast, traditional woven fabrics in East Sumba feature motifs of the bitter melon flower, a plant that grows in their natural environment. Meanwhile, in Tuban villages, motifs include teak flowers, cotton flower petals, and the srigunting bird. All are part of the local biodiversity there. In East Sumba, Sekar Kawung collaborates with artisan weavers. They work together to restore land with natural dye plants, while simultaneously developing a village economy based on weaving culture.

The process involved all levels of society. From children participating in a photovoice program to learn about weaving culture and the surrounding environment, to elders still understanding the meaning of the symbols painted on their fabrics. "Essentially, Sekar Kawung is trying to strengthen Lambanapu Village to become a weaving cultural tourism destination managed by the villagers," Chandra told Greeners. Chandra learned many important lessons from the mentoring process in Lambanapu. He now understands that preserving the biodiversity needed for weaving also requires sensitivity in caring for and promoting biodiversity, which is used in other aspects of culture.

Getting to Know the Cotton Plant

From collaborating with artisan weavers in Lambanapu, Sekar Kawung became even more convinced that biodiversity conservation could be achieved through strengthening culture and sustainable economic development in villages. However, at the same time, Chandra began to realize that Indonesia's traditional weaving sector faced significant challenges. "Almost all the yarn in Lambanapu weaving comes from shop yarn, which is of course made from imported cotton, considering that Indonesia does not yet produce its own cotton," she added.

The production process for this imported cotton unfortunately damages natural resources, consumes large amounts of water, and uses pesticides. This is unfortunate because even though each piece of fabric undergoes a natural dyeing process and is handmade, the fabrics cannot be claimed to be sustainable. Chandra also realized that fashion is one of the largest polluting industries. Approximately 9% of total global emissions come from fashion.

The yarn and fabric production process is the largest part of the polluting supply chain. They eventually discovered a unique and extraordinary village in Tuban. There, artisans still weave cloth from yarn they themselves make. They use cotton grown on their own land as their primary raw material. Tuban cotton, with its natural brown and white hues, is an annual crop that can be harvested in about five months. The results of each piece of cloth are not only rich in meaning but also in sustainability.

Innovation for Cotton Independence

In Chandra's view, the cotton independence of Tuban artisans reflects profound local wisdom. In Tuban's arid soil, farmers use intercropping methods to grow cotton alongside other crops. They do this in their yards or along fences separating their fields, without reducing the land allocated for food crops. This cotton complements the raw material for local weavers and batik makers, creating high-quality, entirely handmade "slow fashion" products. These products cannot be mass-produced and have a high selling value, but can only be made by highly skilled gedog weaving maestros. Sekar Kawung is also innovating to increase cotton yields to produce manufactured yarn.

In 2021, they planted cotton on 3,500 square meters of land, combined with corn and mung beans. As a result, they harvested 496 kg of cotton, yielding approximately 230 kg of pure fiber after separating it from the seeds. They then sent this cotton to a mill to be turned into finer and stronger yarn, which they could weave using a Non-Machine Weaving Machine (ATBM).

This ATBM technology, although still hand-woven, is more efficient and can produce up to 100 meters of fabric at a time. Sekar Kawung collaborated with ATBM weavers in Klaten, Yogyakarta, and Pekalongan to weave the yarn into fabric. Designers then picked up the fabric or sent it back to Tuban to be made into batik by local youth. After this journey, Sekar Kawung eventually assisted cotton farmers, yarn spinners, weavers, and batik makers. They also collaborated with designers and fashion brands to purchase, develop, and market products made from fabrics created by Sekar Kawung's artisans.

Forging Collaboration

Sekar Kawung believes that sustainable fashion must essentially fulfill three principles of circularity. First, materials must be natural and biodegradable. Second, creative ideas and cultural exchange must continue to occur among all actors along the value chain. Third, financial benefits must flow in a circular and equitable manner. With this belief, in 2022, Sekar Kawung collaborated with the Lemari Lila brand to launch the Mulih collection, which means "returning home."

Sekar Kawung also collaborated with Studio Sejauh, owned by Chitra Subyakto, fashion designer and owner of the Sejauh Mata Memandang brand. In this collaboration, Sekar Kawung provided fabrics made by artisanal woven fabrics and batik from Tuban.

Furthermore, Sekar Kawung supplied yarn from Tuban's natural resources. Then, Sejauh Mata Memandang further processed the yarn and fabric.

Chandra stated that Sekar Kawung strives to raise awareness that sustainable fashion is truly a product of the earth that is creatively processed. This is also in line with local Indonesian culture, to create shared economic blessings for all actors along the value chain.

*This article is reported by Greeners.co https://www.greeners.co/sosok-komunitas/sekar-kawung-merawat-biodiversitas-dan-budaya-lewat-sandang/ and originally written in Bahasa Indonesia.