1
The Artisans
The story of any craft begins with its artisans, the ones who are sustaining the craft down through generations. Our first design depicts batik and mengkuang artisans at various stages of the batik-making and mengkuang-weaving process, including block-making, stamping, dyeing, weaving and sewing.
The design of the figures was inspired by figurative designs and illustrations seen on old batik cloths. For centuries now, geometric, floral, and arabesque motifs have been the norm in Malaysian batik design due to a perception in Islam that the decorative depiction of human figures and animals is a form of idolatry. This design is our way of celebrating the tukang who work with us and involving them in the results of their own creation. Due to the bleeding of the hot wax during the stamping process, some of the contours of the design were lost, resulting in forms that are more abstract and fluid (perhaps this helps to mitigate its transgressive nature!).
Material: Upcycled cotton
Dye: Natural indigo
2
Resist
“Resistance” is a loaded word with multiple meanings — most obviously as a political event, but it also describes the wax resist technique at the core of the batik-making process. What makes batik distinct from other forms of design is not its motifs, which can easily be replicated in other forms, but the technique of wax resistance. This ancient technique is what lends batik the weight of tradition and makes up the central labour of the process.
In an age of mechanical reproduction and digital instantaneousness, batik may be easy to discount, but the wax resistance technique is, in fact, a long process that requires multiple repetitions of the dyeing and wax applications. Just like the work of political resistance, batik is a slow process that sometimes requires months to show its results. The second piece in our Crafting Resistance batik series turns the word “Resist” into a typographic pattern inspired by calligraphic batik designs found on old specimens of kain limar.
Material: Upcycled cotton
Dye: Natural indigo, overdyed with Myrobalan (buah kadukkai)
3
Blocking
The block-printing method — also widely known as batik cap — is, until today, the primary technique utilised by the dwindling number of batik artisans in Terengganu and Kelantan who are our main collaborators. The role of the blockmaker is one of the most essential yet overlooked roles within the batik process. The innovation of the batik block around the 19th century allowed complex designs to be continuously produced with fewer flaws. The high technical skill required to manoeuvre and shape the metal into intricate patterns has made batik block-making a craft in itself.
Our third design in the series depicts the batik block in an isometric form, giving the pattern the illusion of three-dimensionality. This is a rather unconventional style in batik, where the designs are normally flat patterns or images.
Material: Upcycled cotton
Dye: Myrobalan (buah kadukkai) with iron
4
Pucuk Rebung
The pucuk rebung motif is one of the most common motifs used for the “kepala kain” of a sarong. A sarong is a form of bottom-wear common to Southeast Asia and the most common form that batik is applied to. The “kepala kain” (literally, “head of the cloth”) of a sarong is its central panel, and is therefore distinctly different from the rest of the sarong. The pucuk rebung design consists of two rows of isosceles triangles pointed towards each other; this shape is derived from the silhouette of bamboo shoots.Our take on the pucuk rebung is a lot simpler than the more intricate pucuk rebung motifs that you’ll find on traditional batik. And if you look closely, you’ll notice that a couple of the bamboo shoots actually appear crooked, as if straying from the order of this time-honoured motif.In Malay, there is a saying: melentur buluh biarlah dari rebungnya’; literally translating as, “shape a bamboo when it’s still a shoot”, but tonally similar to the English saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Scholars of batik have noted that the recurrence of pucuk rebung as a kepala kain motif is due to the association of bamboo shoots with ideas of youth, innocence, and possibility. Unlike more mature bamboo, bamboo shoots are still malleable in their youth, their growth an open-ended possibility. Our take on the pucuk rebung makes this central motif a little asymmetrical — our little nod to all those sprouts who stray away from the norm.
Material: Upcycled cotton
Dye: Mangrove bark
5
Burung Merak Kayangan
A majestic bird soars out of a forest, its wings and tail in elegant harmony with the curve of a leaf: these are nature’s golden proportions. The burung merak kayangan (literally translated into ‘the peacock of heaven’) is a frequently-used motif for decorating the badan kain (literally, “body of the cloth”) of a sarong.
The badan makes up approximately 60% of the sarong and is usually decorated in a contrasting pattern and colour scheme to the kepala. Our take on a sarong body, here, combines elements from various block batik motifs common to the 50s and 70s.
Material: Upcycled cotton
Dye: Natural indigo, overdyed with pomegranate skin
