“gedog” refers to a style of handspun cotton batik produced in the Tuban district of east java.Batik production in java is robust howeverelse will you find hand drawn batik on a handspunfield.This is the only area where you will find textiles produced on a traditional backstraploom and the onlyplace in java where women still spin thread.
Two variatiesof cotton are still grown for use in these unique textile. The white cotton dominates whit a small amount of natural brown cotton is used for specific types of textiles. Natural indigo dye is widely used and to a lesser extent sogan, a yellow/brown dye produced from the bark of treethat is no longer abundant in the neighborhood.
This batik gedog from the hand women villages has a hanspun cotton field with hand painted motif, “Nggajian” and “manukan” natural indigo dye.The natural indigo blue in this textile is very deep,requiring somewhere between 30 to 40 dippings and rinsings to achieve this level of dark blue back.
The format is that of “sayud” used as a sling for carrying babies or large baskets of wares to the market. size between 56cm x 256cm or 22″x102″
gedog.blogspot.com
May 21st, 2007
The Japanese government may provide soft loans of up to 1 trillion rupiah (110 million U.S. dollars) to Indonesia to help the country stop mudflow from a punctured gas well in East Java that has been gushing since last May.
The loans were proposed following a presentation to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week, in which Japanese scientists offered possible solutions to stop the mudflow, Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said.
One solution involves the construction of a “double-cover dam” to contain the mud, until it reaches a sufficient volume whereby it will serve as a counterweight to the flowing mud, said the minister, quoted by English daily The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. The scientists said they had successfully carried out a similar project in the Philippines.
“The terms and conditions of the loan have not been finalized, but there will be another Cabinet meeting to discuss this issue within the next two weeks,” Purnomo told reporters.
The proposed dam would be 120 meters in diameter and 40 meters in height.
The government has pledged to set aside at least 2.5 trillion rupiah (275 million dollars) from the state budget to fix infrastructure facilities damaged by the mudflow in the town of Sidoarjo.
More than 13,000 homes, schools and factories have been inundated by the mud.
Source: Xinhua
May 21st, 2007