Sunday, 11 October 2015

Batik? An unique traditional cloth....



 What is Batik?

Nelson Mandela is often seen wearing a patterned shirt in vibrant colors. Most people probably assume that's a tribal design with an ancient African method dyeing cloth. In fact, the shirts Mandela proudly sport originated halfway around the world, on the islands of the Malay Archipelago, where the substance as batik known. The tradition of making batik cloth was brought by Javanese workers forcibly by the Dutch East India Company transported to the Western Cape in South Africa. The Madiba shirt (named after Mandela's clan name) fits traditional batik with African colors and motifs and shows its versatility and high appeal.

               

Batik is probably to withstand the most famous of the methods for dyeing cloth. Resist dyeing involves applying a substance, the dye stops on reaching certain parts of the tissue to create a pattern. This method can wax (as in the Javanese batik), rice paste (Japanese tsutsugaki) use or tie a portion of the tissue ("Tie-Dye 'or Indian bandhani). In most parts of Southeast Asia, the wax is made possible with a copper spout the craftsmen to create intricate patterns and applied different width of the line. New areas of wax are applied and the fabric is usually cotton or silk, can be dyed again allowing for greater complexity in design and color. After the construction and coloring be ended, the wax is removed and the material is ready for use. These traditional methods for creating are batik extremely time consuming and require a high degree of skill as various labor-saving devices for process including brushes for the wax and copper temple that introduced to apply the wax. Each hand produced batik takes a long time and can be very costly; so much of modern batik cloth is indeed dying Batik print, keeping the patterns and colors of batik, but without using the wax technique.

There are batik traditions in many parts of South-East Asia, especially in Indonesia and Malaysia.  Each with different styles, colors and cultural influence perhaps the most famous and influential, however, is the Batik of Java and in particular that originating in the royal cities of Yogyakarta and Solo. This batik is often in the traditional colors of black, brown, indigo and dark yellow manufactured; used pattern is folklore, tradition and nature and is of great cultural significance for the Javanese. Batik cloth will be at weddings, funerals, worn to wear baby, and is an integral part of Javanese culture traditions such as dance and puppetry. The decisive influence Batik has on the cultural life in Indonesia was declared by UNESCO in 2009, the Indonesian batik has been recognized as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity: a vibrant, cultural tradition, which is closely connected with the local community. UNESCO recognizes Indonesian Batik as a craft "... with the cultural identity of the Indonesian people and the symbolic meaning of colors and designs intertwined, expresses their creativity and spirituality." (Source: http://www.unesco.org/culture)

              

In today's Indonesia, batik has become a stylish and popular part of cultural life, vital to the creative industries, a major attraction for tourists and a key aspect of national identity. The flight attendants for Indonesia's national airline Garuda wear batik printing to do as part of their uniform, as those national from Singapore and Malaysia Airlines. Young, fashion-conscious people are increasingly turning to Batik shirts, dresses and scarves for casual wear is Batik increasingly popular for a number of social events such as weddings, as well as retaining its importance for cultural ceremonies and batik making its way to the cat-walks and shops of international Top fashion designers. It is becoming increasingly popular around the world, and is for the furnishings, decorative purposes, tablecloths are used, and as a medium for painting and other art works.

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