Batik Traces Through Time

The batik of Java has a special place in museum textile collections and aspects of the art of batik have been discussed at length in countless publications. This study, based on the batik collections of the Náprstek Museum, raises a number of questions which have been so far underexplored. How strong is the evidence for the early manufacture of batik in Java? How and when did batik-making become widely practised there? Was it made by village women for their own use? How and why did batik develop into an industry employing thousands of people, filling warehouses with stock to be distributed throughout the Indonesian archipelago? What was the effect of the introduction of wax printing and of aniline dyes? It is often asserted that batik carries deep meaning. To what extent is this really the case? When did batik depicting wayang or shadow puppet figures start to be made, and who for? What was the role of calligraphy batiks? And what was it that drew European collectors to batik in the early 20th century? What local circumstances governedtheir choices? In a series of essays, this volume explores these questions, drawing on contemporary sources and providing a wealth of new insights.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A comprehensive and richly illustrated survey of batik, a glorious textile art and popular Indonesian cloth.

Batik occupies a special place in Indonesian culture. Each fabric has a rich story to tell--as a reflection of the nation's religious beliefs, sophisticated court cultures and cosmopolitan history. The extraordinary textiles in this book are from the collections of Rudolf Smend and Donald Harper. Most date from the period 1880 to 1930 when the art of batik reached its apogee. Having collected historical batik for over thirty years and published two books on the subject, Rudolf Smend has invited his friend and fellow batik specialist Donald Harper to contribute his fine collection to this publication as well. None of the batik in this book have been published before. They represent an exquisite cross-section of the batik production of Java--the most important batik-producing region in the world. The cloths are complemented by vintage photographs from the first quarter of the 20th century demonstrating how the batik were worn at court and at home. Three are from museums in Dresden and Cologne, while three are from the private collection of Leo Haks. The others have been collected over the past 30 years from private sources in Java. The captions are by Maria Wronska-Friend, an ethnologist and batik expert who frequently visits Indonesian batik centers and has worked for many years as an anthropologist in Papua New Guinea. Her contributions provide fundamental knowledge for lovers of this art form while at the same time providing new insights for experts. Rudolf Smend has invited other batik aficionados of his generation to share their passion for batik in this book. Inger McCabe Elliott, author of the bestselling Batik: Fabled Cloth of Java has contributed her lifelong experience. Other authorities like Annegret Haake, Brigitte Khan Majlis and Jonathan Hope share their views and expertise in these pages. This book represents a labor of love and a lifetime of friendship for the two authors, who hope it will provide inspiration to a whole new generation of batik lovers.

Batik is one of the most prominent expressions of the cultural identity of the Malay world. It the most popular traditional type of textile in Indonesia and other parts of SE Asia. The decorative styles used bear testimony to a cultural history that spans over 2,000 years. This book traces the origins and development of the motifs and patterns used in the design of batik, illustrated with a large selection of masterpieces from some of the foremost textile collections in the world. Also includes a cultural history of the Malay world to put the subject into a broader perspective. Focuses on batik technique, the traditional use of batik textiles, and to its occasional incorporated into modern fashion design.

This book presents new ways of understanding heritage and heritage work. It addresses the ways physical processes of creation, maintenance and decay are entangled with cultural and political processes of management, access and care. The book analyzes a critical practice of heritage work oriented to recognizing and collaborating with diverse knowledge holders and their practices of caring for heritage. This requires rethinking accepted heritage concepts, such as heritage management, artifact, site and the definition of heritage itself. The book presents an engaging and applied approach to this task through examples that include Majapahit statues and temples in Indonesia, skating in London, an online heritage movement, building bivouacs in Australia, First Nations advocacy for Country and batik collections in the Netherlands. Offering a new model for collaborative heritage research and analysis, this book will be of interest to researchers, students and practitioners. Drawing from developments from the posthumanities, cultural geography and critical heritage studies, it presents a collaborative mode of scholarship and writing that considers how people care for and use the things history leaves them.