The art of Batik still lives
Web Posted: 04/09/2008 10:09 PM CDT
This spring, DKNY has used African kente cloth for inspiration. Roberto Cavalli has Asian batik looks. Perry Ellis is showing Latin American-style guayaberas.With global/ethnic looks so hot this spring and showing up on the runways for fall, you could go for expensive designer looks or you could go for the real thing — whether it be guayaberas from Mexico or say, batik from Malaysia or Indonesia.
Personally, as a textile designer and collector, I prefer the real thing to get an authentic piece of art.
While batik is currently the rage and showing up in so many of the designers' collections, I've been a fan of it for more than 40 years. My love affair with batik began in high school, too many years ago to mention, when my art teacher, Mr. Marinaccio, placed a tjanting tool in my hand and showed me how to draw lines on white fabric with melted wax. I was hooked.
It's been an ongoing love affair since, inspiring me to travel the world to learn more about this ancient art form firsthand, meeting fascinating artists and visiting locales such as Bali, Japan, Malaysia and Micronesia to observe and work side by side with local textile artists as they share their batik secrets and techniques with me.
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In Bali, Pak, a member of the royal family, took me under his wing and invited me to spend the day in his studio in a remote village about 45 minutes from Ubud, the art and cultural center of Bali.
When middle-age workers were displaced from tourism-related jobs after the Bali bombings, Pak quit his corporate job as an accountant to establish a cottage industry to provide some income. Once he learned the batik basics, he set up a workshop and trained others.
Batik fabric has a soul and a spirit; it's a living piece of art that someone waxed, painted or dyed by hand. It's probably not going to be perfect, and that's OK. The mistakes just prove that a real person, not a machine, made it. It's also what makes batik so special and sought after. The "hand of the artist" is what textile collectors want and seek out.
Malaysia and Indonesia are reputed to be the birthplace of batik, which is deeply rooted and strongly woven into their culture. Villagers wear traditional batik sarongs depicting designs that are symbolic and even tell stories. Some motifs are used to protect the wearer from harm and evil. Batik is taken quite seriously in both countries, and there's sort of a rivalry between them. This "batik battle" is unnecessary since their batik styles vary greatly. Indonesian batik has more traditional and smaller patterns, while Malaysian batik is bolder, looser and more painterly.
The batik technique is basically the same. Batik is a resist process, where white cloth is either painted or block printed with hot wax. Dye will not penetrate the waxed areas thereby creating a design or pattern. Once finished, the wax is removed by boiling in jumbo cauldrons. In some areas, especially in Indonesia and Bali, natural dyes such as indigo and madder (a plant that's used to make red dye) are still used.
Batik is big business in Malaysia; the king and queen support it..
Every Friday, it is officially decreed that government office workers wear batik print clothes to work. There's even a two- and three-year batik curriculum and degree at Institut Kraf Negara, a government sponsored craft institute providing free tuition, supplies and stipend to nearly 600 students.
Most of the batik workshops and cottage industries are located on the eastern coast of Malaysia with the densest Moslem population. The majority of workers are young women in their teens and early 20s, usually working in pairs hovering above a 2-yard piece of white silk that is stretched onto a metal frame. One artist applies the hot wax with a tjanting tool (an implement with a bamboo handle and a small copper cup which keeps the wax hot), while the other artist quickly follows behind and paints the silk with textiles dyes. Shading and gradations are done while the dye is still wet. Men are responsible for the more labor-intensive tjap (block printing) and also responsible for wax removal.
Most of the Malaysian designs are large, loose floral prints in bright colors. The Muslim women prefer more conservative patterns, so roses, orchids and tropical foliage are fairly common to see. Bali and Malaysia's lush landscape provides endless artistic inspiration. The Indonesian patterns are smaller and more geometric and display finer detailed craftsmanship.
Noor Arfa is the largest commercial manufacturer and supplier of batik in Malaysia, and uses aggressive marketing methods. What started out as a small cottage industry has now evolved into a multimillion dollar empire. The company is aggressively marketing its batik products through television sales on Malaysia's shopping networks and licensing opportunities.
Scarves, sarongs and sundresses are good buys in Malaysia, Bali and Indonesia. Prices are the lowest in Indonesia and Bali. I picked up a matching batik sundress and shawl for $17 in Ubud. There are tons of batik scarves for $10 or less and some as little as only $3. Malaysian prices are higher, and there's a group of upscale contemporary designers with a royal following and deep pockets. It's not uncommon to see Malaysians at a formal event or party intentionally all wearing the same color palette. This is so they all blend and not clash for that special Kodak moment. It's fun to shop in the outdoor and local markets. Stacks of batik fabric are piled as high as the ceiling in every color imaginable. It's a good excuse to fly to Bali and do your Christmas shopping.Keyword: SALife
http://www.mysanantonio.com/salife/fashion/stories/MYSA041008.01P.batik.1642f02.html
The art of batik painting was introduced to East Africa in the 1960s from Indonesia. This involved the applying of simple outlines, light to dark dyes and using wax resist as the basis for separating colours. By the end of the 70s, however, a whole new look to this basic craft was emerging through the talents of two brothers. 
In 1976 at the height of Idi Amin’s regime; Kibuuka left Uganda to attend art schools in Nairobi, Kenya. One year later his older brother, Henry Lutalo Lumu,
by mere dipping the fabric in them, he controlled the gradual dilution of the same dyes and applied them to the fabric using paintbrushes. This revolutionary approach allowed Henry to create detailed, refined images with dramatically enhanced tonality, shading and depth. 
medium to yield control, detail and richness comparable to acrylic and water-colour painting. This modification has been called ‘Modern Batik Art Painting.’