BatikIllustrations of Globalized Malays?

How batik could be a signature Malay textile; reflective of the Malay

identity as a global citizen?

Objectives

• To examine Malay identity as embodied by the batik through its origins

• To analyse the movement and evolution as a commodity in order to tease out how batik participates in globalization

• To look at Malay’s aspirations of batik as a symbol of their identity

Overview

• What is Batik?

• How Batik came to being

• Commercialization of Batik

• The Batik Coma

• Batik Brings Sexy Back

• The Batik Battle

What is Batik?• comes from the Javanese word ‘Amba titik’

or ‘Ambatik’

• “a cloth which has been decorated by a wax resist technique” (Kerlogue, 2004)

• “batik is a resist-dyeing technique used to decorate finished fabrics” (Lee, 1991)

What is Batik?

How Batik came to being

When did it come to be?

• Javanese texts dating back to 12th Century has drawings of what seem like batik

• 13th Century Chinese records on the quality of batik

• Birth of batik was taken as simultaneous with the use of canting, dating back to late 13th Century Majapahit

• Earliest known written colonial reference to batik in 1642, in a Dutch bill of lading regarding a shipment from Batavia to Bengkulu

It came from India?• Batik must have came from India during the 6th or 7th century

because:

• Indian textileknown as Serasah or Sembagi, one-sided design, the chintz technique with mordants.

• Fine Cotton was brought by the Indian traders and Chinese traders in the 9th Century.

“Batik has custodians and producers of the finest tradition heritage in the world”

- G. P. Rouffaer, Dutch merchant with an interest in Javanese ‘antiquities’

“By-product of ‘Indonesian’ Culture”

• Use of candles was a common practice especially in areas where there was no common external influence

• The ‘canting’ is indigenous to the archipelago

What you’ll need

• the wax & canting, later developed into the tie-dye, the cap and the colet technique

• cotton, either imported from India & China or from inland Java

• dyes

• red, yellow brown is indigenous to the archipelago and India

• indigo and blue dye came in the form of dried cakes from the Song dynasty

• green, yellow, baby pink and other colors are chemical dyes which came from German much much later

Batik’s Evolution

• making batik required a servility & items from all over the world

• it started out as a clothing for the ruling class; batik kraton

• around 4,000 workers at the Mataram court producing batik for the royal family (van Goens, 1656)

• development of the bunga larangan (i.e the Parang rusak)

• makers of batik also made a batik for themselves, the batik petani

• Batik with calligraphy was then used for rituals and the more warak

Batik’s Evolution• The traders then wanted such a

cloth and made batik dagang

• through trade batik was given much publicity

• batik cina

• batik belanda

• batik Hokokai

By-product of a Globalized Culture?

“The foreigners who came to the Indonesian archipelago brought with them cultural influences from China, India, Persia, Egypt and the Near East, from the vast expanse of the pacific, and possibly even from South and Central America . Since textiles were an integral part of these influences, a stimulating cross-fertilization of techniques and ideas would have occured.”

-Bedrich Forman, 1988

By-product of a Globalized Culture?

The Early Batik Bloom

Commercialization of batik

• Manufacturers of batik

• no longer about producing them for clothing needs

• relied on local, experienced ‘batiksters’ (Veldhuisen, 1993)

• trapped them into debt via advances

Commercialization of batik

• motifs no longer mystical or had magical powers

• batik-making no longer a ritual

• use of chemical dyes

• drawn no longer according to adat but customer’s tastes

• batik Red Riding Hood by Mrs Metzelaar in 1900s

• Batik in the form of D.I.Y Handicraft Packets

Commercialization of batik• Chinese or Indo-Chinese

• Dutch or Indo-European

• cotton produced in Belgium; weaving factories set up in Twente (Holland)

• affected by the American Civil War

• shortage of supply of cotton

• increased price

• many batik enterprises went bankrupt

The Batik Coma

The Gradual Decline• Word War I: decline of cotton import from Netherlands;

increase batik prices

• World Economic Crises in 1923 killed the industry

• Imitation and D.I.Y. batik

• Succession problems of batik merchants & producers

• batik no longer prestigious or belonging to the Malays

• changing fashion trends (westernization), batik wear as uncouth

The Gradual Decline

“Capitalism is intrinsically global [...] , incorporating and discarding different parts of the globe at different times in accord with its own shifting interests”

- Chua Beng Huat (2000)

The Gradual Decline• Commercialisation of batik & specialisation in the batik-making

process impedes the mastery of batik-making

• Succession problems of batik merchants & producers

• Batik ‘instructors’ such as Piet Ducro and the Boeatan Foundation leads to the decline of the traditional batik-making role by the locals

• this failed and they discontinued

The Gradual Decline• batik no longer serves a function to the Malays

• mass-produced batik; no longer a marker of the higher classes

• changing fashion trends (westernization), batik as uncouth

• Islamic Revivalism in the Malay Archipelago in 1970s

• decline in rituals requiring batik and the rituals involving batik-making

• Arabisation as a response to the ‘budaya kuning’ from the West

The Gradual Decline

“When a tradition loses its relevance

it will die a natural death”-Dr Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman, Malay Studies Department, NUS

Batik Brings Sexy Back

Revival of Silk Batik• 1960s

• Reintroduce batik as a status symbol

• Batik as the ‘in’ thing; increased conspicuous consumption & wearing of batik

• revival of batik ‘tulis’

• ideas of authenticity

• marker of Malayness; consumption seen as patronization of culture

Revival of Batik• Used in soft furnishings

• Development of fine arts

• tourist souvenir

• Malay ‘bohemian’ sub-culture among youths

• ‘Batik’ culture in Indonesian sinetrons

Revival of Batik

“Cultural elements, through the popularization of its

form, loses its substance.”-Dr Syed Muhammad Khairudin Aljunied,

Malay Studies Department, NUS.

Batik Haute Couture

Text

Batik Haute Couture

Revival of Batik

• as part of an identikit

• reconstruction of ethnicity & symbols

• revivalism of the colonised peoples’ identity, as separate or ‘free’ from imperialists’ cultures

• politicization of ‘Batik’ as a cultural symbol and heritage

“Malay identity work [...] is surely not a neutral activity, but rather a form of resistance to certain forms of domination”

-Derks, 1997

The Batik Battle

Batik as a Symbol of Nationalism

• Occurs when nationalism is based on ethnic identity; Bangsa Indonesia VS Bangsa Melayu

• Globalization has resorted in an increasingly blurred boundaries

• triggered a need to protect the sanctity of one’s culture and tradition, of one’s identity

Batik as a Symbol of Nationalism

• “To keep the country together the state needs Indonesians not members of hundreds of different ethnic groups”

• UNESCO pronounced batik as Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, as an Indonesian heritage

Batik as a Symbol of Nationalism

• In 2008, Malaysia made it compulsory for civil servants to wear batik to work on every Thursday

• Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang pushed as Malaysia’s Batik centre

Batik as a Symbol of Nationalism• Piala Seri Endon was incepted in 2003 by the late

Datin Sri Endon Mahmood

• Aim: “Malaysian Batik crafted for the world”

Batik as a Symbol of Nationalism

• The Singapore Girl

ReferencesChua Beng-Huat (2000). Postcolonial sites, global flows and fashion codes: A case-study of power cheongsams and other clothing

styles in modern Singapore. Postcolonial Studies. 3(3): 279-292

Derks, W. (1997). Malay Identity Work. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde. 153(4): 699-716.

Jabatan Muzium Malaysia, Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Malaysia (2008). Batik Serantau [Video Recording]. Malaysia: Jabatan Muzium Malaysia, Kementerian Kebudayaan, Kesenian dan Warisan Malaysia.

Kerlogue, Fiona (2004). The Book of Batik. Singapore: Archipelago Press.

Knight-Achjadi, J. & Asmoro Damais (2005). Butterflies and Phoenixes Chinese Inspirations in Indonesian Textile Arts. Indonesia: Mitra Museum.

Lee Chor Lin (1991). Batik Creating an Identity. Singapore: National Museum of Singapore.

Siti Zainon Ismail (1997). Malay Woven Textiles. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

The Star Online (2008). ‘Cool to wear batik’ says civil servants [Online article]. Available: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/1/18/nation/20045691&sec=nation. Accessed on October 11, 2010.

Veldhuisen, Harmen C. (1993). Batik Belanda 1840-1940 Dutch Influence in Batik from Java History and Stories. Jakarta: Gaya Favorit Press.

Yoga, S. S. (2008). Malaysia Batik Goes Global [Online article]. Available: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/11/27/lifearts/2635142&sec=lifearts. Accesed on October 29, 2010.

Zahara Ahmad Osman & Zaliha Shaari (1995). Inspirasi Pendekatan Kontemporari Reka Corak Tekstil Tradisional Melayu. Malaysia: Universiti Pertanian Malaysia & Institut Teknologi Mara

————— (1988). Indonesian Batik & Ikat. London: Hamlyn

Discussion