West Nusa Tenggara combines profits with purpose

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Mataram (ANTARA) – When a tourist asked Nita Setiawati about yam beanShe used a technique called storehouse

Behind her, six pieces of woven cloth in various colors are displayed on a wooden hanger.

“Bhima weaving still uses this storehouse method, whereas other weaving methods already use machines,” she explains.

For the people of Bima, West Nusa Tenggara, it is not only women who must master weaving skills, but men as well.

Nita has been knitting since primary school and is now in her early thirties and a mother of two children.

She demonstrated her skills at the Lombok Sumbawa Weaving Festival held in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara on August 24-25, 2024.

The event, organized by Bank Indonesia, aims to preserve the weaving tradition amid mass-produced fast fashion.

Traditional weaving activities storehouse It is to preserve the traditions of the people of West Nusa Tenggara.

Voice Belida The wood is struck like a musical instrument, drifting to every corner and compacting the embroidery thread. Skilled hand movements are used Suri It is a symbol of perseverance forged with time and patience.

For the Bima people, who live in the eastern region of Sumbawa Island in West Nusa Tenggara, weaving is more than just a means to satisfy clothing needs, it also symbolizes the three powers of the human soul – creativity, feeling and will.

Each woven cloth reflects the soul of the artisan and the environmental conditions. That is why the woven patterns often depict flowers, plants and traditional houses.

A journal on the development of patterns in Bhima weaving fabrics by the Department of Industrial Technology at Ganesha Education University reveals that the cloths woven by artisans not only have utilitarian purposes or traditional aspects but are also based on social, aesthetic and economic considerations.

Nita, who has been engaged in the weaving industry for 20 years, said that it takes four to five days to weave a piece of Bhima cloth that is 60 cm wide and four meters long.

A piece of woven cloth costs 800,000 rupees, and if the pattern is complex and natural plant dyes are used, the price of a piece of woven cloth can reach millions of rupees.

Cloth is a work of art that carries a profound cultural heritage, and each piece of cloth tells a story about civilization and life.

From cotton to fabric

according to Indonesia Plantation Statistics Data released by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that cotton planting and production in West Nusa Tenggara province fluctuated between 2018 and 2020.

In 2018, the cotton planting area in West Nusa Tenggara Province was 945 hectares, the harvested area was 258 hectares, and only 46 tons of cotton were produced.

A year later, the cotton planting area was drastically reduced to 200 hectares, the harvested area was 395 hectares, and the cotton production at that time was 70 tons.

In 2020, cotton production in West Nusa Tenggara Province dropped to 68 tons, with both the planting and harvesting areas being 150 hectares.

The prospect of cotton cultivation has dimmed in the eyes of farmers as residential development and the expansion of public facilities and offices have led to a reduction in agricultural land, as well as the fact that cotton is less popular than growing food crops.

Cotton is an important part of textile industrialization. In 2019, cotton produced in West Nusa Tenggara Province, especially Lombok, was sold to Bali at low prices.

In Bali, the cotton is made into yarn, which is then bought by weavers in Lombok and Sumbawa for high prices.

The establishment of a garment factory in Giritambesi Village (a cotton village in West Lombok Regency) aims to promote the development of industrial-scale cotton cultivation in West Nusa Tenggara Province.

At present, all the processes from collecting cotton, spinning to weaving can be completed independently by local residents.

Sourcing raw materials directly from farmers is certainly cheaper and has a lower carbon footprint than using raw materials imported from outside the region (let alone abroad).

If textile industrialization continues to advance and expand without corresponding improvements in the upstream industries (cotton and yarn), there is a possibility of threatening the industrialization process because the production of raw materials will not be sufficient to meet the needs of the industry, thus necessitating the need to import raw materials from abroad.

Specific measures that must be taken now are to expand the cultivated area and increase cotton production to support the textile industrialization in West Nusa Tenggara Province.

Develop derivative products

Mataram University economist Mohammad Firmansia said weaving is an hereditary craft and now the public sees it as a business opportunity due to the uniqueness of the finished product.

From the perspective of comparative advantage, weaving already has an advantage due to its particularity, but due to its relatively high price, weaving does not yet have a competitive advantage.

In order for weaving to become a competitive product, production costs such as labor, processing time and raw material prices must be reduced as much as possible.

The localization of weaving is only reflected in the manufacturing process. Most of the raw materials such as yarn are still imported from China, India and other countries. This is why the unit price of woven cloth is not cheap and only the upper and middle classes can enjoy it.

In the business tree, market segmentation is very important so that traditional cloth products can reach all levels of consumers.

Even famous fashion brands that sell in millions of rupees are producing handkerchiefs that are sold for just tens of thousands of rupees. The textile industry must learn how to create a broad market at prices that are affordable to all groups.

In the diverse and dynamic competition of the fashion industry, the unique cultural value of woven fabrics is certainly not enough as capital for survival.

Through the creative space of designers, woven fabrics slowly began to spread into various derivative products such as clothes, pants, bags, souvenirs, etc.

Weaving is no longer limited to pieces of cloth or sarongs, but has become a much simpler way.

The slogan of “Proudly Made in Indonesia” has also strengthened the enthusiasm of designers and weavers to create various creative patterns that are full of cultural value and competitively priced.

Woven fabric manufacturers must be able to seize opportunities in the global fashion industry. Capitalizing on the woven fashion trend appeals to both the older and younger generations.

A complete piece of weaving, which originally cost millions of rupees and could only be purchased by a certain group of people, must also be enjoyed by the lower class through various derivative products.

The knitting market must expand and become more inclusive to accommodate the current massive growth of the fashion industry.

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