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| Batik Cloth Fabric Sample |
Batik is a technique of manual wax-resist dyeing applied to whole
cloth, or cloth made using this technique. Batik is made either by drawing dots
and lines of the resist with a spouted tool called a canting, or by printing
the resist with a copper stamp called a cap. The applied wax resists
dyes and therefore allows the artisan to color selectively by soaking the cloth
in one color, removing the wax with boiling water, and repeating if multiple
colors are desired.
A tradition of making batik is found in various countries, including
Nigeria, China, India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka; the batik of Indonesia,
however, is the most well-known. Indonesian batik made in the island of Java
has a long history of acculturation, with diverse patterns influenced by a
variety of cultures, and is the most developed in terms of pattern, technique,
and the quality of workmanship. On October 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian
batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
HISTORY OF BATIK
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| An Indonesian Batik Cloth Fabric Sample |
Wax
resist dyeing of fabric is an ancient art form. It already existed in Egypt in
the 4th century BC, where it was used to wrap mummies; linen was soaked in wax,
and scratched using a stylus. In Asia, the technique was practiced in China
during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), and in India and
Japan during the Nara Period (645-794 AD). In Africa it was
originally practiced by the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria, Soninke
and Wolof
in Senegal. These African version however, uses cassava
starch or rice paste, or mud as a resist instead of beeswax.
The art of batik is most highly developed in the island of Java in Indonesia. In Java, all the materials for the process are readily available — cotton and beeswax and plants from which different vegetable dyes are made. Indonesian batik predates written records: G. P. Rouffaer argues that the technique might have been introduced during the 6th or 7th century from India or Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the Dutch archaeologist J.L.A. Brandes and the Indonesian archaeologist F.A. Sutjipto believe Indonesian batik is a native tradition, since regions such as Toraja, Flores, Halmahera, and Papua, which were not directly influenced by Hinduism, have an age-old tradition of batik making.
The art of batik is most highly developed in the island of Java in Indonesia. In Java, all the materials for the process are readily available — cotton and beeswax and plants from which different vegetable dyes are made. Indonesian batik predates written records: G. P. Rouffaer argues that the technique might have been introduced during the 6th or 7th century from India or Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the Dutch archaeologist J.L.A. Brandes and the Indonesian archaeologist F.A. Sutjipto believe Indonesian batik is a native tradition, since regions such as Toraja, Flores, Halmahera, and Papua, which were not directly influenced by Hinduism, have an age-old tradition of batik making.
Rouffaer
reported that the gringsing pattern was already known by the 12th
century in Kediri, East Java.
He concluded that this delicate pattern could only be created using the canting,
an etching tool that holds a small reservoir of hot wax, and proposed that the canting
was invented in Java around that time. The carving details of clothes worn by
East Javanese Prajnaparamita statues from around the 13th
century show intricate floral patterns within rounded margins, similar to
today's traditional Javanese jlamprang or ceplok batik motif. The
motif is thought to represent the lotus,
a sacred flower in Hindu-Buddhist beliefs. This evidence suggests that
intricate batik fabric patterns applied with the canting existed in 13th
century Java or even earlier.
In Europe, the technique was described for the first time in the History of Java, published in London in 1817 by Stamford Raffles, who had been a British governor for the island. In 1873 the Dutch merchant Van Rijckevorsel gave the pieces he collected during a trip to Indonesia to the ethnographic museum in Rotterdam. Today the Tropenmuseum houses the biggest collection of Indonesian batik in the Netherlands. The Dutch and Chinese colonists were active in developing batik, particularly coastal batik, in the late colonial era. They introduced new patterns as well as the use of the cap (copper block stamps) to mass-produce batiks. Displayed at the Exposition Universelle at Paris in 1900, the Indonesian batik impressed the public and artists.
In the 1920s, Javanese batik makers migrating to Malaya (now Malaysia) introduced the use of wax and copper blocks to its east coast.
In Subsaharan
Africa, Javanese batik was introduced in the 19th century by Dutch
and English traders. The local people there adapted the Javanese batik, making
larger motifs with thicker lines and more colors. In the 1970s, batik was
introduced to Australia, where aboriginal artists at Erna Bella and Utopia have
developed it as their own craft.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batik
The City of Zamboanga, Philippines is situated near the boarders of Malaysia which resulted in a strong barter trade relationship between the two. Products from chocolates, food items, clothing are among the many goods being traded upon. Colorful Malaysian Batik Cloth Fabrics which are sold at very affordable prices are found in Zamboanga City. These fabrics are used for making clothes, home decors, bags and more. TATAKLOKAL.PH (local Filipino brand of bag) uses batik cloth fabrics made from Malaysia. Although made outside, the manner as to how it was crafted presents touches of Zamboanga's rich cultural ties between Malaysia.
For more details on TATAKLOKAL.PH visit and like their page at www.fb.com/tataklokal.ph
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| www.fb.com/tataklolak.ph |
