Hi Domsavians! Do you love wearing Batik? You have to! Batik is a well-known art form in the world. Moreover, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on October 2nd, 2009. As part of the acknowledgment, UNESCO also insisted that Indonesia preserve their heritage. Well, in this article we will talk about batik, its types, its design tools, and how to maintain it.
Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. It is one of the country's most highly developed art forms. The word batik is thought to be derived from the word 'ambatik' which translated means 'a cloth with little dots'. The suffix 'tik' means little dot, drop, point or to make dots. Batik may also originate from the Javanese word 'tritik' which describes a resist process for dying where the patterns are reserved on the textiles by tying and sewing areas prior to dying, similar to tie dye techniques. Another Javanese phase for the mystical experience of making batik is “mbatik manah” which means “drawing a batik design on the heart”.
There are some types and variations of Batik, such as Javanese Kraton Batik (Javanese Court Batik) and Pesisir Batik (Coastal Batik). Javanese Court Batik is the oldest batik tradition known in Java and also known as Batik Pedalaman (inland batik). Javanese traditional batik, especially from Yogyakarta and Surakarta, has special meanings rooted to the Javanese conceptualization of the universe. Traditional colours include indigo, dark brown, and white, which represent the three major Hindu Gods (Brahmâ, Visnu, and Úiva). This is related to the fact that natural dyes are most commonly available in indigo and brown. Certain patterns can only be worn by nobility; traditionally, wider stripes or wavy lines of greater width indicated higher rank. Consequently, during Javanese ceremonies, one could determine the royal lineage of a person by the cloth he or she was wearing.
Traditional Surakarta court batik is preserved and fostered by the Susuhunan and Mangkunegaran courts. The main areas that produce Solo batik are the Laweyan and Kauman districts of the city. Solo batik typically has sogan as the background color. Pasar Klewer near the Susuhunan palace is a retail trade center. Traditional Yogya batik is preserved and fostered by the Yogyakarta Sultanate and the Pakualaman court. Usually Yogya Batik has white as the background color. Fine batik is produced at Kampung Taman district. Beringharjo market near Malioboro street is well known as a retail batik trade center in Yogyakarta.
Other regions of Indonesia have their own unique patterns that normally take themes from everyday lives, incorporating patterns such as flowers, nature, animals, folklore or people. The colours of pesisir batik, from the coastal cities of northern Java, it absorbs influence from the Javanese, Arab, Chinese and Dutch culture. Pesisir batik is created and produced by several areas on the northern coast of Java and on Madura. As a consequence of maritime trading, the Pesisir batik tradition was more open to foreign influences in textile design, coloring, and motifs, in contrast to inland batik, which was relatively independent of outside influences. For example, Pekalongan Batik ( the buketan motifs were influenced by European flower bouquet), Cirebon Batik (megamendung-rain cloud motif shows Chinese influence), Lasem Batik (characterized by a bright red color called abang getih pithik-chicken blood red), Batik Lasem (heavily influenced by Chinese culture), Tuban Batik (or Batik gedog was created from handmade tenun (woven) fabrics), and Madura Batik (Madurese Batik displays vibrant colors, such as yellow, red, and green, for example pucuk tombak (spear tips) and various flora and fauna images).
What about batik design tools? Although the art form of batik is very intricate, the tools that are used are still very simple. They are as follows:
Canting is a small thin wall spouted copper container (sometimes called a wax pen) that is connected to a short bamboo handle used to draw the design on the cloth.
Wajan is the container that holds the melted wax. It looks like a small wok that is placed on a small brick charcoal stove called an 'anglo'.
Wax. Different kinds and qualities of wax are used in batik. Common waxes used for batik consist of a mixture of beeswax, resins (to increase adhesiveness), and animal fats (to create greater liquidity).
Cap. Creating batik is a very time consuming craft. To meet a higher volume demands of batik the cap (copper stamp) was developed. Today, batik quality is defined by cap or tulis, the second meaning hand-drawn designs which use a canting, or kombinasi, a combination of the two techniques.
Dyes. After the initial wax has been applied, the fabric is ready to be dipped into the dye bath as the finishing step.
Some people complain that the colours of batik fade. To maintain batik, both batik tulis and batik cap, you may apply the following rules:
- Hand wash, or best just soak the cloth
- Use very little detergent, best to use lerak fruit
which can be purchased at most traditional
markets. A bottled version of this detergent is also
Available at batik stores.
- Hang the batik directly, do not squeeze the cloth
- Do not hang in direct sunlight
- The iron should not directly touch the cloth, best to
use a steam iron
- Silk batik is best dry-cleaned
- Do not spray perfume onto the cloth directly
Hopefully through this article you will get deeper in batik and be proud to have batik as Indonesian art work. Moreover, let's preserve it as our heritage. Go batik go!
Adapted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik
http://www.expat.or.id/info/batik.html
http://www.batikdesigns.org/
( By Yohana Ika Harnita Sari / Cahaya )
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