Batik Nyonyas and grandmothers blankets

This design was first done by Oeij Kok Sing, but made again by her daughter Jane Hendromartono, she included often tiny fish

First room in the exhibition ‘Batik Nyonyas’ highlighting batiks from the end of the 19th century, beginning 20th century made in Pekalongan

Build up of exhibition ‘TAMBAL’ at aNERDgallery

After a full week, I headed on 16 July to Singapore by bus for the weekend. Since I am making an small exhibition there that will open 22 August at aNERDgallery, I wanted to leave some of the stuff I already gathered & brought, there. Also to relax a little bit before going further and to finally see the Batik Nyonyas exhibition.

I arrived in after a quick busride and had a nice easy evening & morning. After some much needed social media updates, I headed out to aNERDgallery. Just to hang out and say hi. Also the artist Adel Ng was coming in to set-up the current exhibition, Tambal, inspired by the quilted blankets her grandmother made, the tambal motif in Batik & her own slow-fashion upcycle brand Muta Wear. She will be aNERDhost, while Tony is on Java, mostly with me. 

Adel Ng upcycle station at aNERDgallery 

Detail of quilted blanket of Adel Ng grandmother

In the early evening I headed to the Batik Nyonyas talk held at ACM, Modernity Unseen, The Free-Spirited Batiks of Nyonya

Oeij Soen King and Her Contemporaries from the North Coast of Java

I booked the bus a day earlier to catch this talk. When I found out the program, I knew I would be in my feelings. In my hurt feelings, but it was also very surprising!

The evening luckily also brought me to textile friends, which whom I had a nice dinner after with much to discuss on the talk & exhibition.

Peranakan Museum in Singapore

The fine mesh showing up on the photos,

 with a little creativity I was able to get okay photos

Next day I finally got to see the exhibition ‘Batik Nyonyas’. Made 800+ photos, normally it would be 100 or so, let’s say I felt really inspired. But also made so many because how it is displayed behind a very fine mesh makes it difficult to take pictures. Deliberate or to protect it, unclear, but I was pretty determined to get details. Who knows when these will be on display again and if I ever get acces to them.

The exhibition tells the story of three generations of batikproducers in Pekalongan on Java in Indonesia, Nyonya Oeij Soen King, her daughter-in-law Nyonya Oeij Kok Sing, and her granddaughter Jane Hendromartono. The first generation started at the end of the 19th century, while the third and last work until 1980’s. The batiks and other objects in the exhibition were kept by the three daughters of the last one. These daughters also provided extra information & stories, which is also shown in a video interview with them. This extra layer, with stories on production, preserverende and clear provenance makes this exhibition pretty unique. How wonderful I get to chance to actual visit. 

One of the earlier organized talks, was with them too. A much watch the video on Youtube ‘Three Nyonyas and an Esteemed Collaborator: Family Memories of Batik Making in Pekalongan’

The three daughters

Old photographs of the batikworkshop shared in the video

The first generation brings some confusion. The sisters say all were made by their greatgrandmother Nyonya Oeij Soen King, but she didn’t sign and all are very different (sounds familiar..). The choice, or belief, to present this pieces all by her, makes for a difficult story to tell. Previously research has been done on the cotton, colour & dye use to determine if one maker could be identified (and now..?). In the catalog was mentioned: 

“A common assumption is that an individual batik workshop would stick to a consistent dyeing practice that differed from other workshops. This was purported in a study by Proaño Gaibor et al., the first technical study of batiks, which concluded that Franquemont's batiks originated from different workshops because of the different dyes identified. However, the present study has shown otherwise.

By including signed batiks of different makers in comparison to Oeij's, the results revealed a wide range of cotton fabric and different dyestuffs for the reds of all four batik makers, without showing a systematic relationship to the maker.” 

Attributed to the first generation, Oeij Soen King

Photo-album gifted to Jasper with enlarged photograph of the ‘jaarmarkt’ exhibition behind it

Snowwhite batik detail, Batik signed by ‘L.Metz’

But my research was based on the specific story that the green used by Von Franquemont was her own unique invention, and therefor we researched all the colours including the green to find out they were all dyed differently, apart from the green that was done all the same in a not secret or special way, but with the oldest dye method known to create green in batik... (read full report here link ) So let’s say their conclusion on our study being wrong, and in fact we conclude the same, is so odd.

During the talk I attended the night before, the researchers explained they could not prove the batiks were made by one person or workshop. (Yes..). And did not claim they were all from the same maker. They also shared they misidentify their secret colour red and a new version of the catalog will be made. Hopefully they will rewrite their conclusion too, I hope.

Display on introduction of synthetic dyes to the batik industry

From Nyonya Oeij Kok Sin's album, 1940s-1950s

Sarongs by Nyonya Oeij Kok Sing and Jane Hendromartono, 

above signed by Jane in 1967, 

sarong below stamped by Oeij Kok Sing, 9 september 1941

For me the main question is, why go through all this afford to present these 18 batiks from one workshop? Wouldn’t it raise more interesting findings if the questions are, were are these batiks from? What are all the differences & what are the similarities? Was she indeed a batikmaker, or could some be her wardrobe or was she perhaps a reseller? I wonder right away, are there marks of wear, or details to link it to other pieces with a clear provenance. 

Anyway, the first section of the exhibition had for me very wonderful signed batiks including one with Snowwhite. It also has an album I would love to get my hands on, a photo-album gifted to Jasper in 1923 to celebrate his annual fair activities. Peter Lee shared some images during his talk and luckily some were used enlarged in the exhibition. Fascinating!

Two hangings with a depiction of Mai Langfang, a Chinese Peking opera artist playing the role of Tiannu Sanhua doing the sleeve dance, left batik by Jane, right by Oeij Kok Sing

Batik by Jane Hendromartono from early 1950's

Batik left signed by J. Jans, 1900's, Batik right signed 'Nj. Oeij Kok Sing P.K.L.' and stamped

In the ‘Batik Nyonyas’ exhibition I connected most to the Batiks from the 19th century, probably because my research is focussed on this period in batik history, but felt another kind of strong connection to Jane Hendromartono story.

Sketch by Jane Hendromartono

Display of the cap items Jane Hendromartono produced

Batik by Jane Hendromartono with little fish detail

The story of Jane Hendromartono is probably the most detailed, since her daughters could re-tell, and certainly the most artistic. Jane experimented a lot, to keep up with fashion trends, market demands and her own interests. 

It was nice that in this part we really get to know the maker, with early drawings, a childhood dairy in Dutch(!!), all kind of business items like stationary, cards. Jane also started producing cap next to her Batik Tulis pieces. The little cap that says ‘100% batik tulis’ took me out, technically the batik tulis would be 99,99% Batik Tulis if this tiny cap is used.

If her grandmother did make the variety the museum is claiming, Jane is indeed a testament to that story. 

I especially liked the 70’s ready to wear section, with maxi skirts & belts, I want all! Especially the skirt in aquagreen!

The exhibition is an amazing celebration of these three generations and a reflection on the history they were part of. A must see, open till 31 August in Singapore!

Read more here on the exhibition: Interview with Peter Lee | “Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship" — Art of The Ancestors | 

Island Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Global Tribal Art News

Hafiz showing his newly bought newly made chintz, including wax resist

Hafiz at aNERDstore heading out with his storytelling stuff

Hafiz Rashid's talk at One Punngolo

On Saturday I enjoyed a talk by Hafiz Rashid at One Punggolo about batik used as a medium for storytelling. Hafiz who is always dressed for the part of historical, fairytale & legends storyteller gave a presentation on the telling on stories to the writing down of stories. How in early books the text are highlighting to read out-loud. He used batiks from his own collection to invite the audience to do some storytelling themselves. It was really interesting to hear how they interpreted the batiks.

Currently I am on Java, I will update my blog & social media whenever I can & wifi allows me ;) ~ thank you for following my journey to Batik

On display in Hanoi

Photograph at the Women's Museum in Hanoi

Hmong skirts at the ethnographic museum in Hanoi

Hmong batik display at the ethnographic museum in Hanoi

Before spending the last part of my journey with my family in Ho Chi Minh, I spend an extra day in Hanoi in Vietnam. I also was in Hanoi before heading to Sapa. Spend a full day at the ethnographic museum, Bảo tàng Dân tộc học Việt Nam. The museum is basically like any ethnographic museum in Europe, and when learning later that it was a project financed by the French, it made more that sense. The museum focussed on the non-dominant ethnographic communities. Showing their homes, traditional wear and more. The houses are actually re-build original houses in an outside park around the museum. For me it was a useful introduction to all the different groups living within Vietnam that I also came across in Laos and Thailand and also live in Cambodia. 

What I noticed most in the museum was that all photographs, which show people in their amazing wear, were all about 20+ years old. Same in the Women’s Museum, more about that later in this post. So my question was right away, do these communities still wear it, or is this museum showing a blast from a not too far away past? 

Rebuild Hmong home in 1999 from 1984 at the ethnographic museum in Hanoi

Inside the Hmong house

Display in the ethnographic museum of Hmong textile makers

I know now that indeed most communities adapted to a more modern, or rather fast fashion way of dress. With trying to keep traditions, the strictness of this often leads to younger generations letting go of it completely. There is no room to evolve, modernise the dress. The same happened here in the Netherland, where after the second world war hardly anyone returned to their traditional wear, only the more religious communities did and partly still do. Usually a traditional wear is lost before it is refound by later generations. With my visit to Kilomet 109 I learned from designer Thảo Vũ that young designers, mostly based in cities, do draw inspiration from & collaborate with communities to create new visions. But this doesn’t translate yet to a new practical wear for themselves yet. Thảo Vũ does make her designs also available for the communities she work with. I met her during the pre-trip of the symposium during which she was wearing great Hmong batik pieces from her own brand. Her design process starts with finding out what the traditional wear is, consist of and where it is lacking in for the current use. For example from the Hmong guides in Sapa I understood that in the past cotton was difficult to dry, but with the weather changing the thick hemp is often too hot to wear. With their many skills in textiles; growing the crops, making the thread, weaving the cloth, dyeing, embroidery, batik, patchwork, tailoring etcetra, you would imagine there are tons of ways to change their clothing fitting to the changes in life. But the biggest change is that they mostly produce products for commercial use. Read more about that in my previous posts. With Kilomet 109 Thảo Vũ uses traditional made textiles, mostly natural dyed and creates with them high quality tailored pieces. The silhouettes are a combination of traditional costumes with clever alterations in shape making it classic yet modern. To my happy surprise the sizes are going up to L and the L is how L fits me back home. So got myself a fully handdrawn Hmong batik 3D skirt that I cannot wait to show off!

Store of the brand Kilomet 109 in Hanoi, Vietnam

Batik tools and dyes at Kilomet 109

The campaign image of the 3D Batik skirt by Kilomet 109

Back to the ethnographic museum. Next to the permanent, perhaps a bit dated part of the museum, there is a temporary exhibition ‘Art of Decorative Patterns of the Tai in Nghệ An’ that is open till 17 January 2025.

A collection of 190 textile quilts (nà pha) some nearly a century old. The exhibition, The Art of Decorative Patterns of the Tai in Nghệ An, was organised by the Trúc Lâm Handmade One Member Company. The collection, owned by Trúc Lâm Company, consists of 190 quilts (nà pha), of which 101 quilts (nà pha) was collected in the 1990s from the White Tai (Tày Mường group) in the west of Nghệ An Province. (…) Nà pha is used as a blanket cover, a dowry for the bride as a gift when returning to her husband's house, a robe to keep children warm in the winter and as a decoration for Tết (Lunar New Year). Through sophisticated weaving and embroidery techniques and harmonious colour combinations with natural materials, nà pha represents the aesthetic characteristics of textile products of the Tai in Nghệ An.

Source: article 'Exhibition showcases 190 precious quilts of the Tai in Nghệ An' on Viet Nam News, 

19 October 2024

Exhibition ‘Art of Decorative Patterns of the Tai in Nghệ An

Goat motif, 1950

Exhibition ‘Art of Decorative Patterns of the Tai in Nghệ An

The exhibition was beyond stunning and I loved every piece. The blankets are very colourful and have something so comforting in their motifs. They are filled with elephants, tigers, nagas, goats, deer & butterflies. Most pieces are dated between 1940 and 1970. I saw similar pieces in a vintage store in Vientiane in Laos, but didn’t know then what they were. Wonder if they are still actively made ~ and used? In the exhibition also videos are shown with weavers explaining the steps needed from silkworm to woven cloth. It seemed the makers are still out there.

Batik display at the ethnographic museum

Hmong skirt next to Batik sarong from Java

The museum has a separate building for objects from Southeast Asia. The first room on ‘diversity and unity’ showed overlap in textile techniques. Batik was represented with 3 pieces from Java, a Hmong skirt and a Yunnan jacket together with photos and Batik tools from Malaysia. 

Photograph at the Women's Museum in Hanoi

War poster at the Women's Museum

Photographs of crafts including Batik at the Women's Museum in Hanoi

On my return to Hanoi on 19 November, I had some hours to spend before I could check-in. I went to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum. I thought how cool, when I spotted it before from the car, a museum for women. Well technically it is, but it is also really not great nor cool... The first floor is fully on marriage & childbirth, the second floor on “women’s work”, which basically is household stuff, agriculture and crafts. The craft display is the tiniest I have seen and very surprising considering how cliche the rest of the museum is. Luckily the floors on ‘Women in history’ & ‘Women’s fashion’ are better. The history is only covering the wartimes, but it gives an insight in the roles women played. It is interesting to read the stories of these mostly very young resistance fighters and how many spend years and years in prison and died young. Of course this is from one perspective of this history.

Display of traditional wear, with Hmong Hao left and in the center

Detail of printed imitation batik and embroidery on Hmong Hao dress from 2000's

Detail of batik, embroidery and appliqué on Hmong Hao dress from 1950's

The floor on fashion had some great outfits. The information was not much, but seeing traditional wear from 2000’s, next to that of the 1950’s gave some insights on how it changed and is disappearing. On the platform are the newer pieces with in glass display cases older ones. The Hmong dress from the Hao and Den was shown left and right in glass display cases, with in the middle on the platform the most modern one from the Hmong Hao from Lào Cai. The 'modern one' made from machine cotton, still hand embroidered but with machine-printed imitation batik, is what is still being worn now during special occasions. One the left the older version, is a day and night difference in skill, class and beauty. The Hmong Den one on the right is so striking in colour, an ochre brown and Indigo blue on black. The colours come back in the batik, embroidery & appliqué. So stylish, just stunning!

Hmong Den dress from 1950's

Detail of batik and appliqué

Although my visit to Hanoi and Sapa were very short, it was great to learn more on Batik & all the other wonderful textile traditions. Looking forward to continue my conversation with Thảo Vũ, it is always great to meet likeminded creatives and her work with the artisans of different communities is very inspiring. Thanks dear readers for following this journey to Batik! To be continued!