Batiklopedia
Leaving Behind His Hometown of Batik Artisans to Build a Legacy Hundreds of Kilometers Away from Trusmi
He left the place where he was raised—an environment rich with batik artisans, far from Trusmi—to build his batik business elsewhere. He is Komarudin Kudiya, affectionately known as Haji Komar.
After being laid off due to the monetary crisis while working as a site manager at an IT company, Haji Komar pivoted to become the CEO of a rattan showroom and Cirebonese culinary shop owned by a friend. While managing that business, he also started selling his handmade batiks on a small scale. A sculptor and fine arts lecturer from ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) was impressed by his batik and encouraged him to enter a batik design competition if the opportunity arose.
In 1997, the Indonesian Batik Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, held an International Batik Shawl Design Competition in Yogyakarta. He submitted five of his designs. Two of them won top honors: first prize for the “Selendang Pittaloka” motif and first honorable mention for the “Selendang Jasuma.” These achievements fueled his determination to further develop his batik craft.
At the end of 1998, together with his wife Nuryanti Widya (known as Yeyen), he chose to pursue life as a batik artisan and entrepreneur, branding his products as Batik Komar. This path, once discouraged by his parents due to batik being seen as an unpromising livelihood at the time, became his calling.
He did not choose Trusmi, his hometown and a well-known batik center, as the location of his business. Instead, he chose Bandung, which was not known for batik. He preferred to be a small star rather than one among a constellation. While Trusmi was already crowded with renowned artisans, he made a name for himself in Bandung amidst a relative scarcity of batik artisans.
Bandung, as a fashion hub, offered a promising market—even for traditional products like batik. He had known the city since 1987, when he moved there to study at a computer course held by PIKSI ITB. Despite offering Cirebon-style batik, his business later became one of Bandung’s icons.
Komarudin Kudiya revolutionized the way traditional batik was marketed—from the conventional door-to-door selling system to a centralized model with a showroom and workshop. He transformed undocumented motifs into computerized designs. He also raised the wages of batik artisans, long known for being underpaid, making the profession more sustainable. To him, batik is a blend of artistic labor and marketable consumer goods.
While many artisans capitalized on traditional batik with vintage motifs and faded colors, he explored new, relevant patterns inspired by the landscapes and culture of Indonesia—particularly from West Java.
His most phenomenal achievement came in 2005, when he worked with the Indonesian Batik Foundation to launch the Longest Batik in the World. Measuring 446.5 meters, featuring 407 motifs from 32 Indonesian provinces, made with 112 colors over 1.5 years by 45 artisans, the work broke both MURI and Guinness World Records.
Together with Ir. Sendy Ramania Wurandari, wife of former West Java Deputy Governor Dede Yusuf, he also agreed to explore the diversity of West Javanese batik motifs under the West Java Batik Foundation (YBJB). He believes this effort is crucial, as the batik industry has the potential to elevate the dignity of the nation and boost the local economy across districts and cities in West Java through batik craftsmanship.
