It’s an ancient textile art said to have originated in Egypt. But today, batik is most highly developed in Indonesia, more specifically the island of Java.
In October 2009, Unesco designated Indonesian batik a ‘Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. Indian batik too has several practitioners, and amongst the high-end designers are Anupama Dayal, Rajdeep Ranawat, Shalini James and Madhu Jain. The four reveal the new twists being given to the age-old craft.
The method
The process is laborious, time-consuming and expensive, so not many designers adopt it. The technique involves washing, soaking, and beating cloth with a large mallet. Then patterns are drawn with pencil and later redrawn using hot molten wax, which is made from a mixture of paraffin or beeswax. Sometimes the wax is mixed with plant resins, which function as a dye resistant. The wax is usually applied with a variety of tools; in most cases, it is a pen-like instrument called a canting.
Design talk
Though the dyeing technique is the same in almost every country, the patterns change with geography. Ms. Dayal learnt the technique from her mother, Manjula, a self-styled fashion expert who worked with primarily Cambodian batik and used techniques from other countries to create her own vocabulary on fabric.
Ms. Dayal says, “The knowledge of batik is like a family recipe. Fabric is dyed in organic colours made in-house. Once the fabric is dyed, it goes to the second stage, which involves printing. The age-old hand-block-printing technique is used, where I hand draw a motif, with which a wooden block is carved. The process starts with blocks getting dipped into colours, which is then hand-printed [on the fabric]. The fabric is then put into a steam and baked. Once that is done, it is washed and dried.” Although batik is essentially a wax-resist dyeing technique, Ms. Dayal has found a novel way around it. “I avoided wax completely as cracks are visible when this technique is applied.”
Ms. James, who uses Kutch batik in her designs, disagrees: “An interesting aspect of batik is that the trajectory of the wax cracks can never be predicted. This inherent suspense in the technique leads to interesting twists in the design, rendering each piece unique. As a textile craft, batik allows a great deal of artistic freedom as each design is drawn by hand individually onto the fabric.”
Drawing inspiration from Indonesian batik, Mr. Ranawat has designed high resolution prints on kurtas, kaftans, tops and palazzos. When in the island of Java, he visited temples to understand how their influence extends to the motifs used in Indonesian batik. He says, “To give it a twist, the tie-dye techniques of Shibori were superimposed with motifs inspired from temples and crafts of Bali to create a collection with layered silhouettes. Ideal for travel or casual outings, this range has been shaped by combining soft, fine-thread-count cottons with silk organza prints to get a formal look. Since Indonesian batik has Chinese influence, reflected through mythical creatures like phoenixes and dragons, I have combined them with local motifs of geometrical figures. Motifs in batik have the influence of the Mahabharata and Chinese traditional patterns. The challenge is that [Indonesian batik] is both beautiful and complex. So I’ve found a novel way out by combining various textures and effects of technique, engineering motifs on to western and diffusion patterns and silhouettes to highlight the beauty of batik. I scanned high resolution effects and created graphics by transferring them into clothes with the help of digital printing.”
Ms. Jain began her textile experiments over two decades ago, using Indian and Indonesian batik in her prêt collections. She says the Indian batik has an edge over the Indonesian.
“The Madhya Pradesh batik is fabulous. Transfers are unique, easy to make, more interesting than Indonesian batik. It allowed me to play with different motifs in a seamless manner. Colourful motifs of Buddha, Radha-Krishna, Ajanta and Ellora, and Mughal miniatures came out well defined on the fabric. Indian batik has huge potential and needs to be explored. Unfortunately, designers do not focus on it, as they are not aware how indigenous batik can be developed.”
Indian batik has huge potential. Unfortunately, designers do not focus on it as they are not aware how indigenous batik can be developed
Madhu Jain,designer
