LOCAL PRIDE
Gaya Indonesia turns monthly meetups into action to promote and preserve indigenous cultures
The ladies behind Gaya Indonesia—a monthly arisan group that was created by Maya Ludy to discuss matters regarding Indonesia’s local produce and heritage— speak to Indonesia Tatler about their activities and how they make a difference
Created in 2012, Gaya Indonesia consists of a group of ladies including Maya Ludy, Inti Subagio, Tuti Roosdiono, Maya Ludy, Nina Ramschie, Any Tengker, Medy Meraxa, Ingrid Kansil, Dewi Abdi, Donna Latief, Terry Wijaya, and Magda Hutagalung. They meet up once a month to discuss local produce, art, and heritage that they might have in common or have just identified. They are also fond of creating small, intimate events to which they invite friends who share the same passions or those who are also involved in the business of using and creating from locally sourced goods.
“Just recently, we held an event to celebrate Peranakan cloth and invited Alexandra Tan, a dear friend of our circle and someone who is greatly associated with Peranakan,” Maya explains. “One of the reasons we love inviting friends from outside of our circle—but those who are passionate about Indonesian produce—is because we take pride in what our
country is able to produce and we want to be able to share this with the rest of the country and perhaps the world.”
The ladies make sure that the theme and topic of discussion are different every month. For instance, a city in Indonesia, Garut, is renowned for its woven cloth, locally referred to as tenun. And when they do meet up with this particular theme, they indulge in conversation on where to purchase the best cloth, or whether hand-stitching an item would be better than having it machine-stitched.
Apart from simply communicating, the ladies are obliged to wear locally made clothing at their monthly gatherings accompanied by local accessories and locally made handbags. They believe that if they are comfortable in wearing their local wear in Indonesia, they would be comfortable to wear it in any part of the world.
“There have been a number of times when I have been complimented for my clothes while abroad, and, believe it or not, every item I have been complimented about has been a
locally made or sourced piece of clothing,” says Maya.
It is indeed a pity that a majority of younger people seem to have lost a sense of national pride towards Indonesia, but with circles such as Gaya Indonesia, which help in promoting patriotism, there is hope that Indonesia will become better known as a country of rich resources, brilliant craftsmen, and top-quality products made using locally sourced items.
Food is also a big part of get-togethers among Indonesians and it is no different among the ladies of Gaya Indonesia. Depending on the theme of the day, the ladies bring local food relating to the particular area, town, or district their topic originates from and together they talk about it and share recipes.
To conclude our intellectual afternoon, we ask Maya for any advice she would like to convey to the readers of Indonesia
Tatler, and this is what she had to say: “Together, let’s promote the local produce of our nation’s children by wearing local clothes, consuming local and fresh food, and using products from local designers. This way we will be supporting literacy in the archipelago and by consuming domestically, we will be making a difference in the country by moving the economy forward and upward.”
With circles such as Gaya Indonesia, which help in promoting patriotism, there is hope that Indonesia will become better known as a country of rich resources, brilliant craftsmen, and top-quality products made using locally sourced items