Beautiful Batik

Last week, I posted about some batik fabric I recently took to the tailor. And a little while ago, I discussed how teachers often wear batik to school.

Batik fabric is everywhere here on Java. Slings of batik are used to carry babies and small children. People wear batik to work, school, and special occasions. Squares of batik are spread decoratively across tables. Sometimes, batik fabric is even used to shroud the recently deceased.

But what is batik? How is it made? And where does it come from?

A batik store in Madiun.

The term “batik” is thrown around rather loosely in Indonesia today, and can include any fabric with a batik-like pattern. Real batik, however, is an intricate process in which hot, dye-resistant wax is drawn or pressed in various patterns across a length of fabric which is then dyed, washed, re-waxed, and dyed again until the correct artistic effect is achieved.

A student from my school creating a wax-pattern – the first step in the batik-making process.

Batik is so central to Indonesian heritage and culture that, in 2009, UNESCO named it a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The art of creating batik is often passed down through families, and each region has its own design features showcasing important symbols and influences from the area.

Two women using sponges to carefully add dye to the batik fabric.

While some regions (such as inland Central Java) tend towards earthy colors and smaller, tighter patterns, others (especially coastal regions) use brighter colors and larger imagery. A centuries old hub of trade and export, the patterns of batik have been influenced by Arabic, European, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and even Persian motifs. In the modern age, styles continue to influence and change one another, sometimes borrowing from other regions and sometimes creating something unique and new.

This pattern prominently features “kris” – daggers believed to hold supernatural power, and symbols of heroism and authority, especially in Central Java.

This past week I visited a batik studio in Madiun, a city famous for its nasi pecel. A rice dish served with leafy greens, green beans, bean sprouts, long beans, and tempeh – all doused in a healthy serving of spicy peanut sauce – its ingredients featured prominently on the unique batik fabrics made by the studio.

On this nasi pecel themed batik you can see papaya leaves, chilis, peanuts, bean sprouts, and long beans.

Batik is a centuries old tradition woven, quite literally, into the fabric of every-day Indonesian life. It is a display of heritage and history, culture and color, native artistry and adopted aesthetic.