Surabaya, November 8 – The new Maritime Batik Surabaya motif is poised to become an iconic souvenir, leveraging a strong "storynomic" appeal that highlights the city’s maritime legacy. This creative initiative, introduced at a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) on November 8 hosted by Pelindo Marine Service (Pelindo Group), is part of a broader effort to empower local batik artisans in the former red-light district, Gang Dolly, enabling them to build sustainable small businesses through storytelling-driven products.
The FGD brought together city officials, fashion and graphic designers, journalists, and Pelindo representatives, establishing a platform to discuss the motif’s potential in tourism. Farah Andita Ramdhani, Head of Tourism at Surabaya’s Culture and Tourism Office, explained that the motif enhances Surabaya's city branding. "This will be a very interesting creative economy product because it sells the narrative of Surabaya as a maritime city through batik. In the context of tourism, this is a form of 'storynomic'—or selling the city through a narrative. It shows that Surabaya is not just about malls. Hopefully, this will bring more people to Surabaya," she explained.
Surabaya’s lack of a historic batik tradition gives artisans the freedom to explore contemporary themes, like the Wonorejo mangroves, the tracks at Pasar Turi train station, and semanggi (clover/Marsilea crenata) salad sellers. Artisan Pengky, considered an early artist behind the Maritime Batik Surabaya motif, studied the Majapahit Kingdom's maritime influence and incorporated modern maritime elements. "The unique thing now with the Maritime Batik Surabaya motif is that, since there is the modern Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, the ship image that appears is not a traditional one. Instead, it’s a classic tugboat with its characteristic row of tires encircling the hull. Then, it is decorated with semanggi leaves, which are also used in Surabaya’s traditional salad dish, and the leaf shape resembles a tugboat’s propeller,” he said.
Pelindo’s Corporate Secretary, Ardhy Wahyu Basuki, emphasized the importance of profitability, urging artisans to consider market trends alongside creative storytelling. “However, batik artisans as SMEs must also remember, ‘at the end of the day, it’s about money’—in other words, they must ensure that their batik business remains profitable. First, the product must be able to meet market demand. For this, Pelindo has Maritimepreneur and Gedor Ekspor, export boost programs to help Indonesian SMEs level up and enter the global market. Second, the product must also have its own character, like the Maritime Batik Surabaya motif, which romanticizes the exoticism of the city’s maritime side while also educating the public about maritime culture. Indonesia’s maritime potential is huge,” he advised.
Fabio Ricardo Toreh, designer and Ciputra University lecturer, highlighted the need for market research to maintain competitiveness in the batik industry. “I’m very glad that Pelindo Marine facilitated this FGD. As fashion designers, we can directly align visions with artisans, as well as with the government and corporations as supporting stakeholders,” he said, expressing hope that this dialogue would continue as a support network for artisans developing story-rich, modern batik products.
