Squabbles between nations these days are not only over matters such as boundary lines, offshore islands with rich natural resources, or air rights space. A new kind of debate springs where countries are claiming a particular cultural heritage as theirs. With ardent passion, signs of such tempers sometimes flare among citizens of both nations and leaders on both (or more) sides have to cool the crowd and defend their interests.
Can you guess which countries are in the whose’ controversy when it comes to batik? Yes, neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia. Both parties have their claims basis as their defence strategies. Shall we briefly listen to their views?
Indonesia: Batik has been long associated with the islands of Java where the batik tradition is rich, continuous, alive and still widely used till today. They claim to be the seat of batik legacy, with a refined tradition from the royal courts to the common folk. The best refined pieces of batik has always been traditionally attributed to the Indonesian region.
They claim that Malaysia has a relatively new tradition of batik borrowed from cousin Indonesia.
Malaysia: The people of Malaysia, like Indonesia have always worn batik as their attire and this is also seen in the batiks worn by the immigrant societies of early Malaya. Malaysia too, has an active batik industry mainly in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu and the capital Kuala Lumpur. Besides, the “Malay World” or the Nusantara region (rantau) has a shared tradition and roots over many cultural traits such as the lingua franca of Malay (called Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Melayu), similarities in many other aspects such as food, religious beliefs, etc. In modern countries, the former lines of boundaries between ancient kingdoms, human migration patterns, cultural exchange and diaspora always do not share a clear and defined cultural border.
Sibling rivalry over a piece of cloth? If good must come out of this, it is perhaps this: that not any piece of cloth is worth arguing over, we are talking about batik 
We welcome you to post your comments and thoughts in a, yes, diplomatic and politically correct, manner, please.
Filed under: Batik Discussion | Tagged: batik, batik indonesia, batik malaysia, batik politics, cultural border, java
I appreciate the Batik of both countries. They both have different patterns and inspirations drawn in their Batiks. I have lived in Indonesia, where I grew up with Batik from Java and other parts of Indonesia. I am not biased, but since I came from Java, I have witnessed the history, the passion, the craftmanship of Batik processing in the region. However, the claims of who started it, does not really matter or should it be an argument. This is because, like I said, they do have their differences in terms of patterns, styles and designs. So, I believe that this matter should not be of any disturbance to both countries.
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I like Batik
Alasan memakai batik
http://blog.aldohas.com/archives/batik/
Malaysia is 50 years old and Indonesia is 61 this year. What is the age of this beautiful art? It has been around far before the idea of a country was conceived in this region, far before they even had flags. It belongs to the people of this archipelago, we call it “Kepulauan Melayu”. So I don’t see why anyone country should calim the art to be theirs.
Batik is the artistic expression of the people of their surroundings and nature. Malaysia nor Indonesia can claim the rights of this wonderful art for their own. It belongs to the peaceful people of Kepulauan Melayu.
What is Kepulauan Melayu? Our teacher never told about this terminology. You guys who made that terms aren’t you?
Have you see this 2 book? Indonesia 500 early postcards & Malaya 500 early postcards. This pictorial book will show you where batik originally come from
peace lah
Have you see this 2 pictorial books?
Indonesia 500 early postcards & Malaya 500 early postcards.
Those 2 books will show you where batik originally come from, and batik is from Javanese language, not Malay language.
Referring to wikipedia, batik is a javanese word. And i believe that is the root of the problem. it is a little bit strange for javanese to hear that malayan people claim ‘batik’ as their cultural heritage (considering ‘batik’ is a javanese word). Maybe malayan people should find another name for their ‘batik’. Instead of calling it ‘Malaysian batik’, why not call it something else that is more melayu instead. After all it is still ‘batik’ in substance. As a native javanese I hate to see Indonesia and Malaysia arguing over this, because I always believe that Malaysians are my brothers and sisters.
I am a native javanese, and as far as i knew, batik is a javanese word. it does not make sense that people of melayu claimed and patented batik as theirs. why dont they use another name???? we wouldn’t mind if malaysians use another name !
It not easy to narrow down or trace since a few version about the origin of batik in Malaysia but what did I found out is the Malaysian batik origin is from Indonesia (Proven by earlier Malaysian batik design of sarong were very much influenced with Indonesian inspired designs) spread to Tanah Melayu in 1920s with technique is also known as ‘batik chop’ or “batik terap”-(using stamp to produced batik) and being start produced in east coast Kelantan .In earlier 1930s batik producer in Kelantan still using the wooden blocks and using natural color but in 1950s copper blocks and tin blocks are been introduced.
‘Batik tulis’ or “batik lukis” or hand drawn batik in Malaysia were introduced ,firmly believed by Master or “Sifu” of batik Wan Nong Ahmad in year 1970s in Kuala Lumpur .The first batch of apprentice under Wan Nong Ahmad to learn and produced hand drawn batik in Malaysia -Azman,Md.Noor and Salleh and the second batch –Hishamudin Ahmad, Khalid Shamsuddin Arshad and Rahman Rani.In the year 1970s also the using of batik stretcher or frame adopting from Japanese Kimono dyeing techniques. It different from Indonesian hand drawn batik, the dyeing process without using stretcher or frame.
In year 1980s in hand drawn batik was introduced by “Overlap” technique of coloring or dyeing which mean more than one layer of wax and color are using compare to previous technique where just a layer of wax with few color are used. Who’s the first batik artist to create “Overlap” technique? I have no idea about that cause many batik artist blaming that they are the first in the market.
Nowadays Malaysian batik has developed its own particular aesthetic, recognizable by it distinguishes pattern and vivid colors.