For Myrna Munadi, the owner of the Taqilla bag brand, the adoption of new technologies is no reason for Indonesians to turn away from tradition.
Last year, the 40-year-old housewife and entrepreneur was presented with three Awards of Excellence for Handicrafts by Unesco, the UN’s cultural body, for some of her distinctive laptop bags and gadget cases, which use traditional handmade materials to create modern, globally competitive designs.
And judging from the crowds of buyers heading for her stall at the Jakarta International Handicraft Trade Fair (Inacraft) last month, many Indonesians agree that tradition still has a role to play in modern life.
Taqilla bags are made using high-quality handmade textiles, such as batik, woven lurik cloth and locally produced leather.
Myrna employs artisans from Majalaya in West Java and Magelang in Central Java to create the fabrics and transform them into carry bags for popular high-tech gadgets.
“The warmth of the traditional, handmade products should blend seamlessly with the cool, trendy gadgets,” she said.
Some of the textile production techniques have been modified to preserve the symbolism of the designs.
Intricate batik motifs, for example, can lose their meaning when the fabric is cut haphazardly to fit a pattern. To avoid this, Myrna has reversed the process. She starts by drawing the patterns for smartphone and tablet computer cases onto a piece of blank cloth, and then asks the artisans to fit their motifs to the available space.
Some of the stronger colors of the batik designs have also been changed to softer hues, to complement the clean look of the devices.
Myrna’s clever combinations of colors and attention to detail have made her products stand out in a market dominated by plain, unimaginative, corporate designs.
“They are products made with passion,” she said. “They’ve got soul. You can immediately notice the difference.”
Myrna has poured her heart and soul into creating the Taqilla brand, and it hasn’t been an easy journey.
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