The unique & exotic Tenun Gedog Tuban

Do you know that in Tuban, in East Java, uniquely have what we called Batik Tenun, which in one traditional cloth they use both Tenun and Batik process. They first make the cloth with Tenun equipment then they do Batik on top of it, therefore the material feel much thicker than Batik found in other area in Java.

This art is also known as "Tenun Gedog", which name came from the sound of the loom when they do the weaving process “dog…dog…dog..” This loom is very modest and require lots of commitment to use it. 

To make a piece of Tenun Gedog, require around days of preparation, and the process of weaving and Batik afterward will take a full month. It started with handpick only the best of Kapuk Lawa, a kapok tree near Tuban to be used as raw material for thread. Moreover for a natural-color dye Tenun, it takes much longer time to make it since they need to extract the colour from plant first like violet or indigo are derived from indigo leaves (indogofera tinctoria) and brown from the bark of soga wood (peltophorum pterocarpum)
The perfect blend of Kapuk Lawa, traditional looms, and the use of natural dyeing in the making of Tenun Gedog brings special character to this cloth, thicker and heavier compared to other kinds of cloth.

It's a pity that Tenun Gedog has slowly left behind and only found in rural areas 20s km of Tuban like in villages like Margorejo, Gaji, and Karangrejo - mostly only elders are still produce them, as the youngers generation prefer to do Batik rather than weaving (Tenun) because the process is much faster and less complicated. On top of that,  works say in rice field are found to be more profitable than weaving.

Nowadays you may find more and more Batik Tuban rather than Tenun Gedog Tuban, faster to  produce and also much cheaper compared to a piece of Tenun Gedog.