Transcript Batik in Indonesia

 Although
the process of decorating cloth
through the process of batik is found in
several regions in Africa or India and
even in some South East Asian countries,
the batik of Indonesia is unique and
unequalled. Indonesian Batik is made in
several regions, but the centre of the art
is Central Java, in cities like Yogyakarta,
Solo, Cirebon, Pekalongan and
Indramayu
 The
pride of Indonesians
to wear batik till the
present day has
preserve this art of
textile.
 The beauty of Batik is a
tribute to the patience,
creativity of the woman
of Java, the main island of
Indonesia. Credit should
be also given to men
who prepare the cloth
and handle the dyeing
and finishing process.
 Batik
is generally
thought of as the most
quintessentially
Indonesian textile.
Motifs of flowers,
twinning plants, leaves
buds, flowers, birds,
butterflies, fish, insects
and geometric forms
are rich in symbolic
association and
variety; there are
about three thousand
recorded batik
patterns.
 The
word Batik is originally an Idonesian-Malay
word and means to dot .This art of textile has
spread in the hindu and malay world, but Indonesia
is certainly the heart of the Batik.
 In
Indonesia, most
batik designs have
special meanings.
The patterns, are
regular repeat, with
geometric patterns
being native to
Indonesia.
 Free or random
patterns are based on
either Hindu or
Chinese designs.
Example of a
Chinese
Batik.
 The Chinese
contribution
to batik
design may
be seen in
the flower
and bird
motifs,
border
patterns, and
in use of
pink, yellow
and blue.

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The art of "batiking"
is similar to the one
of drawing or
painting on a piece of
cloth.

The main tool, the
'tjanting', is used
instead of a pencil or
brush.
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Finely detailed designs are first drawn freehand with a
pencil on the textile.
Then hot liquid wax is applied. applying wax to the pattern
patterns with a tjanting, a small copper container with a
long slender spout.
From time to time the artist blows on the tip of the tjanting to
secure an easy flow of the wax. Areas not selected for
colouring are filled with the wax.
The cloth is then passed through a vat of dye.
The parts that were covered by the wax did not absorb the
dye and thus remain white (or whatever colour the original
cloth was previously dyed). Since the wax behaves as a
resisting medium, this process is called resist-dye process.
Next, other areas are waxed over. this is repeated during
each phase of the colouring process, up to four or more
times, until the overall pattern and effect are achieved.
A
tjanting is more
than a spout (it can
have up to seven
different sizes) it is
used for patterns
with dot forms.
Basically, as an art,
batiking is painting.
The tjanting is used
to produce the
picture; it’s size
depending on the
type and degree of
fineness of the lines
or points desired

A traditional recipe for
batik wax is a mix of
beeswax and paraffin, about
60%/40%. Beeswax is soft,
pliable with no cracking.
Paraffin is more brittle, and
lets dye penetrate wherever
cracks form. Crackle is a
characteristic batik effect, a
scatter of thin dark wavy
lines, a batik hallmark.
Some dyers seek crackle,
freezing and crumpling the
cloth to make more. Others
avoid, if they can, any effect
that seems uncontrolled. For
more crackle, more paraffin

Usually lighter colour dyes are used with progressively
darker dyes used later - overdying the earlier colours.

Batik does not lend itself to straight lines and sharply defined
designs.
 The
Arab population has
generally favoured patterns
based on patola designs from
India (The designs, which may
comprise floral or animal motifs).
 They
also prefer designs
featuring green, a sacred colour
in the muslim world.
 Batik
was introduced to Europe
by the Dutch.