title : Batik.
Batik.
Today’s lesson was all about Batik-making, one of Indonesia most highly developed art forms and a well-known and well-documented culture of Indonesian history. Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. I’ve taken some very useful information from:
http://www.expat.or.id/info/batik.html Copyright © 1997-2011, Expat Web Site Association Jakarta, Indonesia All rights reserved. For further information, please visit the website.
The whole session was pretty tedious and laborious, but it makes you appreciate the art and handmade batik all the more.
The word “batik” is of Javanese origin; the etymology may have come from the Javanese word “titik” ('dot' or 'point'). The word batik is thought to be derived from the word 'ambatik' which translated means 'a cloth with little dots'.
Creating batik is a very time consuming craft. You first have to draw the outline of the pattern with a pencil. After that, melted wax is then used to retrace over the pencil lines. The waxing on the pencil marks is exceedingly tedious, when wax is then applied, it has to be retraced over the pencil outline on the fabric on areas of the design that the artisan wishes to remain the original color of the cloth.
My "not-so-traditional" batik drawing, a
harimau (tiger) with a chinese "ying-yang" design!
Pining the cloth to the frame, ready for waxing.
Although the art form of batik is very intricate, the tools that are used are still very simple. The canting is a small thin wall spouted copper container that is connected to a short bamboo handle and comes in different sizes of spouts to achieve varied design effects. The spout can vary from 1 mm in diameter for very fine detailed work to wider spouts used to fill in large design areas.
The Wajan
The wax is heated in a wajan which is the container that holds the melted wax, and then the artisan then dips the canting into the wax to fill the bowl of the canting. It looks like a small wok placed on a small stove or a spirit burner called an 'anglo'. The wax is kept in a melted state throughout the whole duration.
Paraffin (white) used for "cracking effect" and normal beeswax (brown).
Different kinds and qualities of wax are used in batik. Common waxes used for batik consist of a mixture of beeswax, used for its malleability, and paraffin, used for its friability. The wax must be kept at the proper temperature. A wax that is too cool will clog the spout of the canting. A wax that is too hot will flow too quickly and be uncontrollable and it’s truly a skill to balance this as well as produce the intricate designs on the cloth. The stem of the canting is held with the right hand in a horizontal position to prevent any accidental spillage, which is disastrous especially if the design is complex and intricate as mistakes are very difficult to correct. If wax is accidentally spilt on the cloth, unwanted wax can be removed using a heated metal spoon to vaporize the beeswax.
Drying the dyed batik cloth.
fter the initial wax has been applied, the fabric is ready for the first dyeing. Traditional colours include blue, dark brown, and white, which represent the three major Hindu Gods (Brahmā, Visnu, and Śiva). This is related to the fact that natural dyes are most commonly available in blue and brown. In traditional batik, the second color applied was a brown color called soga (bark of the Soga tree), the color could range from light yellow to a dark brown. Another color that was traditionally used was a dark red color called mengkuda and comes from the leaves of the Morinda Citrifolia.
The waxed fabric is immersed in the dye bath of the first color. The amount of time it is left in the bath determines the hue of the color; darker colors require longer periods or numerous immersions, the final hue depended on how long the cloth was soaked in the dye bath and how often it was dipped. Skilled artisans can create many variations of these traditional colors. Aside from blue, green would be achieved by mixing blue with yellow; purple was obtained by mixing blue and red. Lighter blue was achieved by leaving the cloth in the dye bath for short periods of time. For darker colors, the cloth would be left in the dye bath for days and may have been submerged up to 8 - 10 times a day.
When the desired color has been achieved and the fabric has dried, wax is reapplied over the areas that the artisan wishes to maintain the first dye color or another color at a later stage in the dyeing process. When an area that has been covered with wax previously needs to be exposed so that it can be dyed, the area is then dipped into hot water before it is re-immersed in the subsequent dye bath. If a marble effect is desired, the wax is intentionally cracked before being placed in the dye bath. The dye seeps into the tiny cracks that create the fine lines that are characteristic of batik.
The number of colors in batik represents how many times it was immersed in the dye bath and how many times wax had to be applied and removed. A multicolored batik represents a lot more work and is infinitely more tedious and laborious that a single or two-color piece. Numerous dye processes are usually reflected in the price of the cloth.
Special Treatments to the Batik Cloth, for special occasions, batik was formerly decorated with gold thread. This cloth is known as Prada cloth.
Although there are thousands of different batik designs, particular designs have traditionally been associated with traditional festivals and specific religious ceremonies. Certain batik designs are reserved for brides and bridegrooms as well as their families. 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.
Central Javanese designs are influenced by traditional patterns and colors. Batik from the north coast of Java, near Pekalongan and Cirebon, have been greatly influenced by Chinese culture and effect brighter colors and more intricate flower and cloud designs.
Kawung is another very old design consisting of intersecting circles, known in Java since at least the thirteenth century. For many years, this pattern was reserved for the royal court of the Sultan of Jogjakarta.
Ceplok is a general name for a whole series of geometric designs based on squares, rhombs, circles, stars, etc. Although fundamentally geometric, ceplok can also represent abstractions and stylization of flowers, buds, seeds and even animals.
Parang was once used exclusively by the royal courts of Central Java. It has several suggested meanings such as 'rugged rock', 'knife pattern' or 'broken blade'. The Parang design consists of slanting rows of thick knife-like segments running in parallel diagonal bands. Parang usually alternated with narrower bands in a darker contrasting color. These darker bands contain another design element, a line of lozenge-shaped motifs call mlinjon. There are many variations of this basic striped pattern with its elegant sweeping lines, with over forty parang designs recorded. The most famous is the 'Parang Rusak' which in its most classical form consisting of rows of softly folded parang.
Now, not only is batik used for clothing, Batik techniques are now used by famous artists to create batik paintings and even included in household accessories. Batik is one of Indonesia very established cultures, as the fabric is truly unique to Indonesia; come to Yogyakarta (Malioboro street) to buy batik!
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