Batik Selfie, by me, 2023
at exhibition 'Verwevenheid' at Indonesia House Amsterdam
Digital collage to be part of the work of Philip Boas,
made by Nina Boas for her 'Healing Batik project'
Since I came back from my own Batik exhibition 'Masa depan Batik' in Jakarta, there were also several exhibitions featuring batiks in the Netherlands. Some have already past, some are still on view and even some are still upcoming. So time for a little overview on what you might have missed or can still catch.
I first wanted to share a little on unexpected batik I came across. I am not only going to exhibitions to see batik of course, but it is extra fun when I come across it by surprise. In the fall of last year we went to the Tegelmuseum (Tile Museum) in Otterlo (NL), right under the nature park Veluwe. There was a small exhibition on the use of tiles with Art Nouveau. No clear batik inspiration to be found there, while batik, and Indonesian culture were certainly a mayor source of inspiration. Way in the back of the museum in the permanent display we stumbled upon this beauty, a little tile tableaux of a moth surrounded with two different batik borders. The painted pattern in brown and blue was also finely decorated with gold. This work, 'Fantasy Moth', was made in 1991 by Canadian-Indonesian artist Judith Ryan-Edwards van Muijen (1933-1996).
'Fantasy Moth' by Judith Ryan-Edwards van Muijen (1933-1996), from 199.
Collection Tegelmuseum inOtterlo
Watercolour of Prins Diponegoro from around 1880.
Collection University Leiden
Another non-batik batik work that I like to share is an watercolour I saw in the exhibition 'Gordel van papier' (a wordplay on 'Gordel van smaragd' the nickname Multatuli gave to the Dutch East Indies) on the rise of the printed book in Indonesia. A great exhibition at Huis van het boek in Den Haag (NL) based on the book 'Met een drukpers de oceaan' Lisa Kuitert.
The exhibition started with a room on how texts were written down and recorded before printing became the main way. This watercolour shows Prins Diponegoro reading or studying or meditating with a religious text written in Malay. The watercolour was 'found' in Bandung in 1892 and is currently in the collection of the University Leiden. I right away was drown to the motifs, not only on the sarongs they are wearing, but also the borders. Don't know why their is a naked enslaved child in the middle, apart from that it is great artwork. The artist is not known unfortunately.
Tea cosy, batik on silk, by Ilse Stemmann, 1925-1930. Collection Textielmuseum Tilburg
In the exhibition 'Makers on materials' at Textielmuseum in Tilburg (NL), still on display till 3 November, is this tiny Batik Tea cosy cover from silk. A bit in the dark and behind "bars", this hidden gem totally sparked my (never really gone) interest in Dutch batikmakers.
This artist, Ilse Stemmann (1890-1981) was born in Germany, but grew up in the Netherlands. She studied Batik at the Arts and crafts school (now art academy) in Haarlem in 1912. Oh what a time, to study Batik at school here!. Anyway, she kept making batiks, mostly smaller objects for homedecor and artworks. She even wrote articles on Batik. Gave lessons in Batik, which she advertised with stating she taught in the 'Javanese way' . She was as far as known active with Batik till the 1930's. I find it so fascinating that we have this whole history of batik artists in the Netherlands, but since it is is mostly women, it never really became part of the Art world we learn about.
Textielmuseum has several pieces by Stemmann in their collection, you can see them online here: textielmuseum.nl/collectie/Stemmann
Textile display at 'De Grote Indonesië' exhibition at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam
When my own exhibition 'Masa depan Batik' opened on 21 October 2023, 'The big Indonesia exhibition' opened in De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam (NL). When I returned in December, it was the first things I went to see.
The exhibition was made after the idea of the big exhibition on Suriname in 2019. I thought that this exhibition did a great job of telling a multilayered story of all the communities that live in both Suriname and the Netherlands. So expectations for this exhibition were high. I was not involved in any of the making of the exhibition, but I knew a large amount of textiles were selected from the Wereldmusuem collections. When I was asked to give a quote on Batik to be added near the display of textiles, I asked for a list of objects. To my surprise another "influenced by" cliche selection was made with mainly textiles showing an European or Chinese influences. I started diving into many, from my side, very heated discussions on this lack of representations of what Batik is. I mean not even one tradition motif from Solo or Yogya was chosen. I don't know if this was the reason so little textile was eventually on display in the final exhibition and what was shown was crammed together in one display cabinet, but it was such a missed opportunity to not showcase Batik, or the rich textiles culture of Indonesia in a fuller, better, multilayered light.
Anyway, the quote became a text and then became an audiotour fragment with one Batik. This batik was in the display show half and behind a yellow pants. If I had known, I might have done a different explanation or story. So for those who listened to my audiotour and had no idea what batik I was referring to or who got curious, I share the batik, RV-300-1317, with the text I made for the audiotour:
Batik Tulis, RV-300-1317, Collection Wereldmuseum Leiden
There is more to see in this batik than the textboard description would suggest. This fabric came from the collection of the WereldMuseum Leiden and was classified in 1914 as ‘batik with a visible Chinese influence’ by museum director Hendrik Herman Juynboll. But what did he base this on?Juynboll had just completed a long-term collaboration with researcher and self-proclaimed batik expert Gerret Pieter Rouffaer. Among other things, Rouffaer had written about the importance of red in batik made by the Peranakan Chinese community on Java, which is perhaps why Juynboll drew this conclusion. But what do we actually see on this batik?Juynboll talks about seahorses and people, but if we look closely, do we see George on a dragon?There are two other angel-like figures – one playing the harp, the other sitting on the dangerous beast. Maybe they are the Greek god Apollo, protector of the arts, although his weapon is a bow. And perhaps ‘George’ is instead his dragon-slaying predecessor, the Archangel Michael. That might make the others Gabriel and Raphael.Archangels appear in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The iconography of these figures has existed for centuries and you can always find several examples similar to the figure in the centre. Slaying dragons refers to the slaying of evil, even the devil. Could the playing cards depicted here and there be a subtle reference to gambling?The playing cards were another reason to classify the batik as Chinese. Gambling was often linked to the Peranakan Chinese population in the former Dutch East Indies. But to attribute this batik to this group for that reason would of course be stereotyping. In Java, gambling and card games appeared in all walks of life.The batik became part of the museum’s collection in 1878. It was probably made for the World Exhibition in Paris, to be exhibited rather than worn.That said, we don’t know for sure, nor do we know who made the batik in the first place. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the makers go unrecognised.Another batik from the collection of the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam may have been made by the same people. That would suggest they were well known, although no effort was made to record their names.Today, it is important to look at these collections critically. When and by whom was the collection recorded? Who made the Batik, and for what purpose?
'The Route' by Artist Elia Nurvista, 2024
at Wereldmuseum Amsterdam
In the Wereldmuseum in Amsterdam (former Tropenmuseum) is an additional exhibition made to the exhibition 'Our Colonial Inheritance'. In the small exhibition 'Imprints' three artists are invited to show work reflecting on our colonial past. Artist Elia Nurvista shows works about the palm oil industry. In the work ‘The Route’ made in batik the story is told of the history of migration and displacement between palm oil and Dutch wax prints (imitation Batik). I was surprised about the quality of the Batik, although thick lined, the red and yellow are so bright and even coloured. When I shared photos in my stories on instagram, the artist Nurvista replied. I asked her about the Batik and she explained it was made by batikmakers in Yogyakarta. I wished they were credited too in the exhibition...
'Imprints' is on display till 6 January 2025
Batik WM-2036 shown together with a photo of Raden Ayu Danudireja (ca 1840-1880) and Raden Saleh (1811-1880) in Wereldmuseum Rotterdam
In Rotterdam at the Wereldmuseum the temporary exhibition 'Colonialism and Rotterdam' on display till 3 November. The exhibition doesn't hold many batiks, only two, but one is very exciting. I came across it when researching Elie van Rijkevorsel (1845-1928).
Van Rijckevorsel donated a large amount of textiles from Indonesia that form one of the oldest collections of the museum. Because of it clear provenance, at least if we follow Van Rijckevorsel notes on it, the batik for me are an amazing insight in batik made around 1875. I saw several Batiks from his collection, but one was still on my wishlist, a batik (WM-2036) made by Raden Ayu Danudireja (ca 1840-1880), the wife of painter Raden Saleh (1811-1880). It is not known when Van Rijckevorsel got the batik, but he did visit Raden Saleh during his travels on Java. What I found most striking of this batik is that it is a great example of Batik from Jakarta. Although many books on batik will say Jakarta, or back then Batavia, did not have a Batik production, Van Rijckevorsel bought actually several pieces in Batavia. The only purchase in fact that he clearly mentions in his letters. I also came across other pieces stating to be from Batavia and all have the same, very specific use of colour. A very dark black with yellow, no white of the cotton is shown, combined with green, blue and red. Exactly like this piece.
I noticed that now I looked at the information I have on this batik, WM-2036, both Van Rijckevorsel and Rouffaer do not mention Raden Ayu Danudireja as the maker. They just say 'Raden Saleh, motif'. Which can mean several things, but not necessarily the wife of Raden Saleh made it. There were two batiks in another exhibition held in 1901 that are attributed to a 'Raden Ajoe Saleh'. The owner states they came from her batikworkshop. So now I am wondering who actually attributed the batik from the Van Rijckevorsel collection to Raden Ayu Danudireja, if it is noted anywhere else clearly...oeps...I should have double checked the sources, but neither did the museum..again.
Box with batikol tools from DIY brand 'Emulation,
WM-77454, Collection Wereldmuseum Rotterdam
Quirien A. A. Krinen (1883-1845) and his wife Nellie Krinen-Surie (1887-1965) were the owners of Emulation, based in Weltevreden (near the former Batavia, nowadays Jakarta, ID). They developed a batik-method for silk that everyone could practice at home. Batikol, Emulation's liquid wax-emulsion, replaced the traditional wax and prevented the dye from bleeding into each other. This form of batik-making became a huge trend. At its peak in the 1920s, 17 different companies existed. These boxes were shipped to customers all over the world.
The box is shown together with on a screen textile examples of "batiks" made with this DIY box that were already in the collection. It is a fascinating history and I am the lucky owner myself of several dyes, textiles and info book from Emulation too.
In the exhibition 'Kruispunt Rotterdam' is a room on Indonesian textiles with many batiks. The batiks have been on display since it opened, so they need to be changed. Hopefully soon we learn more on which batiks will be shown there.
Screen with example of textile made with the Emulation DIY box
Work by Philip Boas at SBK Amsterdam
Detail of work by Philip Boas at SBK Amsterdam
In June I got an invite from an artist. Her text and (re)search inspired me right away while also left me with many questions:
Artist Nina Boas will be in residence at SBK Amsterdam. During this period, she will delve into the work of her father, Philip Boas, a Dutch artist whose batik-inspired work was acquired by various prominent Dutch museum and corporate collections in the 1980s and 90s. With her project ‘Healing Batik,’ Nina Boas investigates how intergenerational trauma, which influences her artistic practice through her father's work, fits into the current time when the cultural field is working hard on the decolonization of visual art. Important institutions are reassessing their colonial past and collections, where her father's work often lies stored in depots. Nina Boas' research focuses on new ways to deal with cultural heritage and traumas. How do we handle our colonial past and its impact on contemporary art? How can we revive forgotten or neglected artworks and tell their stories? And how do trauma and cultural heritage affect new generations of artists?
Research by Nina Boas on Philip Boas
Detail on work Philip Boas
Nina Boas in her residence space at SBK Amsterdam
I knew the work from Philip Boas from (again) the Textielmuseum in Tilburg. Very bright, almost pulsating textile works combining different mediums. The two works at the SBK Amsterdam were different, darker and heavier. I wondered if this might added to Nina's questions.
I went to the last day of her residence to meet her and hear more about her journey and wishes. Her own quest as an artist, finding her own voice while also feeling connected to her father and his journey in Batik. I cannot do it justice here in a few words, but it interesting that it was all about Batik, yet Batik was just a vessel. In Philip Boas work the thick layers of paste that use to function as a resist were no longer removed, while Nina Boas made a digital collage in which you could be come part of the works surrounded by a canting, her father at work and batikmakers.
Looking forward how her 'Healing Batik' project continues.
Batik Papua design by Pak Victor
at exhibition 'Verwevenheid' in Amsterdam
Last past exhibition I like to share in this blog is the exhibition 'Verwevenheid' (Interwoven) curated by Herra Pahlasari and Aminudin Siregar at the Indonesia House in Amsterdam. They brought together 27 artists that work with textiles in this group exhibition.
Of course there were several batik works in this exhibition, but there were also several wannabe batiks. Under the technique 'Tamarind Batik technique' were several textiles. Tamarind paste or also 'malam dingin' (cold wax) should not be referred to as ‘Batik’ {only a hot wax resist can be called Batik}. I suggest calling it ‘Tamarind resist dye’. I wonder where this resist technique originates from. There are several types of pasted being used for resist dyeing, but never came across tamarind seeds before.
Anyway, in this blogpost I will therefor only share the batik pieces from the exhibition.
Batik design made by Pak Victor, made into batik by batikmakers on Java. The design are Pak Victors answer or solution to the printed motifs that now are seen as 'Batik papua'. Based on the food culture of Sentani, Papua where Pak Victor is from.
Detail of Pak Vistor's Batik Papua design
'Support Your local organic farmer!' by Nadin Wielinga Varsovia
Batik, hand dyeing, thrifting, sewing machine, hand sewing
For more from this exhibition, please check out the digital catalog that was made: VERWEVENHEID | PDF to Flipbook
Did you spot any batiks in The Netherlands that I missed? Or you want to highlight an upcoming exhibition that feature batik, please comment below!
