A New Take on Batik



Somehow I was never all too keen about batik. I thought it is just a piece of fabric with blurred colours which is quite complicated to produce given the poor result. Even after I had bought on a whim of a batik summer dress in Penang, I didn't investigate further. 


                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Then I came upon an arts school in Yogyakarta dedicated to batik as a form of art. Their exhibits got me hooked. There was the volcano Mérapi among the rice paddies and the farmers working their fields. Some of Java's vulcanos are still active. They are as beautiful as they are dangerous. I witnessed the devastation caused by the latest outbreak of a vulcano near Jodjakarta. 



On the blue image people are going about their daily business on the market surrounding an elephant and passing a pagoda. These markets are no fairy tale that exists on cotton only. Hawkers bearing their merchandise on a yoke are daily features in Jogjakarta.
Masked dancers are populating a yellow cotton piece and a wonderfully soft silk fabric shows small figures wearing Chinese hats amongst the local fauna.  The manager showed us the whole process of making these imaginative pieces of handicraft.

The Batik Centre is not just a shop. Their main purpose is to preserve the cultural heritage and to create jobs.  I have had framed the dancers. The other pieces are waiting to be used. They seem too precious to me to have tailored them for cushions or scarfs.     













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