Pattern Edition Batik Statement: Beras Wutah

Summertime is Batik time! I received some nice Batik Statements through Social Media, keep sharing that Batik love! Now time for a third Pattern Edition of my Batik Statements. With this series of 'statements' I try to explain the meaning of a pattern or motif. During my journey on Java last year, I noticed that every dot or line on a Batik has a name. Sometimes the Batik as a whole represents something, but also every individual detail has its own name and meaning. To learn a little more about Batiks and their story I thought it would be nice to capture their meaning in 'Batik Statements'.

Let me introduce: Beras Wutah
When I was making my Batik Buketan carpet for the Museum Batik in Pekalongan, people of the museum were joking it was so nice I even used a famous Batik motif for the background. They were referring to Beras Wutah. 
Beras Wutah gets translated as 'Graines of Rice', or sprinkled and spilled rice. The motif is used as an isen-isen; a background motif or so called filling motif. The traditional pattern looks like actual grains of rice are scattered over the textile.
In Jeruk during my last visit I discovered a new version of this motif. Ibu Maryati started making it bigger, which resulted in a modern looking polkadot kind of pattern. Only thing is that this new interpretation looks very much like the 'Broken Stone' motif, Krecakan, Watu Krecak or Watu Pecah, Lasem is famous for. The difference for me is that the 'Broken Stone' is a more triangle shaped dot and the 'Big grains of Rice' by Ibu Maryati are more oval dots.
And the difference is they told me which were what.

When thinking of how to show this motif, I thought of the Catholic tradition to sprinkle newlyweds with rice when they leave the church. A nice way of explaining this motif to people here. What, wait, why do we throw rice at newlyweds?
When I started googling I got all these things about how we started using rice because it was cheaper than corn...That it came from the Greeks...or ancient Romans...We apparently did copy a lot of Catholic wedding rituals from the Romans, like the veil and being carried over the threshold, but throwing food at the newlyweds is probably not one of them...

Rice is a major food staple and is eaten daily in most places on this planet, especially in Asia. Because its is such an important food source in almost all Asian countries, rice is also used in many rituals. Mostly the rice is put, sprinkled or spilled on the ground to protect or to invite spirits in (Lakshmi Puja), to let babies make their first steps (Tedak Siten) or for the bride to show she is going to bring abundance to her new family. This last one and more wedding related rituals include rice are popular in India and common in Hinduism. During the wedding ceremony rice is used as food, sacrifice, a combination of the two. They are sitting on it, walking on it, throwing it in boiling water, fire and on each other. Also, and here comes the Catholic tradition from, when the groom ties the thali, a kind of necklace, around the brides neck, which is similar to the putting rings on the finger-moment, they get showered by rice.

Rice is food and therefor it is life. Wishing for a good harvest, is wishing for a future. A better harvest equals a better life.
Rituals to honour the Goddess of Rice, which has different names in different countries, are not only just to get more rice. It is asking for a healthy and fruitful life, it is asking for fertility and nowadays also businessmen asking for money.
Using rice as a Batik motif is wishing for the same things. Maybe the big grains of rice are not so subtle, but they are very pretty!

In this Batik Statement I'm wearing a skirt that was custom made for me last year by The Aria Batik. This brand by my friend Jennifer Wanardi sells wonderful Batik Tulis & Cap. From Lasem, Jeruk, Yogyakarta and other places. She is all about supporting pembatiks, learning about the Art of Batik and you can order custom made clothing from amazing Batiks.
The Batik for the skirt and background are both made by Ibu Maryati in Jeruk. The background Batik has a similar motif with a different isen-isen. Koen is wearing a blouse I bought in Lasem with the famous Latohan motif on it, maybe for a next pattern edition more about that one.

Special thanks to Koen for throwing the rice!
Thanks to Jennifer Wanardi & Siti Alkomah for the right Batik motif names!

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of my Batik Statements I'm making a magazine! A magazine with all my 'Batik Statements' from 2012 - 2016. It will be limited edition and only €10,- if you pre-order at sabine{at}sabinebolk.nl !

Exploring Batik Batang

View from Museum Batik in Pekalongan

Drying Rice on the sidewalk

The journey to Batik is not really a journey if it doesn't include traveling. Arriving Friday 23 September late at "home" from Solo, I got up extra early to leave again for Pekalongan.

Next to meeting people from Museum Batik in Pekalongan, I had the great privilege of joining Pak Kwan Hwie Liong to visit some of the Pembatiks in the Batang region (region next to Pekalongan).

For me a great opportunity to see what I want to film there and also to spend quality time with Pak William Kwan. 

After meeting only once in 2009, we shared many Batik thoughts over the internet and sharing in person is just wonderful. If it is combined with looking at lovely handmade Batik pieces; old, new, traditional, modern, finished, unfinished, it is a perfect way of spending time. It was quite the tour William prepared for me. And I have seen so many Batiks and met so many wonderful Batik makers that I still am processing it all.

Assistant Tanja, me, Ibu Miftahutin and her sons & Pak Kwan Hwie Liong

Signed by Ibu Miftahutin

I love Pak William's enthusiasm and his practical way of inspiring Pembatiks to re-invent their Batik Tulis without losing their style or the heritage.

He has a great way of showing you progress or making you connect the dots without pointing them out.

The first place we visited in Batang region was of Ibu Miftahutin. She is the spokes person for the Pembatik in Batang and on 5 October she will give a talk at Museum Nasional in Jakarta for Hari Batik (Batik Day).

Ibu Miftahutin showed us some "older" pieces from the 90s. They are not for sale, but are being kept to make a kind of database of motifs & designs that are being used frequently  in Batang.

When everyone is sharing about Batik motifs in Bahasa with much ease, it is difficult the keep track, but diving in the language of the cloth again like this is a wonderful experience.

As I mentioned before, William has a great way of sharing his research and making discoveries with you. With the "older collection" in mind we headed to the other makers in the region and I started spotting designs or symbols I saw before in Ibu Miftahutin collection.

Sharing stories with Batik makers in Batang region

'Windroses' and Tampal motif on Batik from Batang

A motif popular in the Batang region is a 'windrose', swastika kind of symbol that is used in many forms. As an edge for the 'tampal' design or placed between flowers and big sea shells. When you start recognizing a certain symbol, you start spotting it more and more. I already have a thing for 'windroses', so seeing this one in Batang made me very happy!

Body of a bird found on Batik from Batang

Another specific thing in Batiks from

Batang is how the body of the bird is drawn. In almost all Batik you will find birds; Gelatiks, quails, pheasants, peacocks, Phoenix, Garuda or Chicken. Even if you think there is no bird, there will be at least a part chicken been hidden somewhere in the design.

The body of the bird in Batang is drawn with its wing on his side. The wing is liver shaped and surrounded by little symbols. 

Sketch on cloth, some Batik makers make the design directly on the cloth

During my time spend with William, he showed me the many aspects that comes to researching Batik from a specific area properly. 

To gather the right information a combination is made between research in books and research in the field. For the field work, first the Batik makers need to be found. First thing is then to examining the general motif or design of the cloth that is being made now and in the past, same with the use of colour. Second is the names for motifs, symbols and 'isen-isen' (filling up patterns) which may be named different by different makers from different regions even different in different villages. The knowledge of how a pattern is created, how a motif can be drawn in wax and if the Batik makers still can make it, is of great importance to see if a motif maybe originally come from a certain area, or at least has been made there for some time in the Batik history. The influence of religion and politics made Pembatiks alter their design and also changed the demand on Batiks for certain styles. With trends in Batik motifs disappear from Batik designs or were replaced by "easier" or "quicker" motifs. 

Many interesting things to research and still a lot of work to be done.

  

Asking about motifs and what they mean

Next week I return to Pekalongan for the Batik Weeks. This time I won't meet William there because he will be in Jakarta for the Hari Batik event at Museum Nasional, but I hope I can meet some of the Batikmakers of the Batang region again! And I hope to meet William again soon as well!

Thank you Pak William Kwan for the great tour of Batik Batang and looking forward to our next meet!

Monodia

Temporary carpets on unexpected places part II, ECM cover 'Monodia'

Koen de Wit, clarinetist I'm engaged with :), is working hard towards his release of 'Narziß und Goldmund' (Read more about it in "The making of Narziß und Goldmund"). For finding the right paper for his album-cover, some ECM covers are laying next to his computer. I ask him if he chose that one on purpose, but he had not yet noticed the bare foot in the temporary carpet, like I did.

"The light touch of foot-soles as a woman dances at the centre of the ritual maze, a fragile flower with petals of chalk, a propitiatory choreography traced each morning on the ground.  As if in echo, the faint coughing of a white tiger from the zoo nearby. Rustlings, variations, in persistent notes that extend through the air and disappear into the night. Silences and erasures. A few magical movements will make both the pattern and the music reappear on the doorstep at dawn to greet the ephemeral beauty of the new day. Black the dress, black as as a monsoon cloud suspended over those white furrows, alreadyworked, henceforth fertile: Monodia..."
- Muriel Olesen (photographer of ECM cover 'Monodia')

In my previous post 'Harmonious co-existence' I shared some beautiful pictures (scans from my rice-bible 'The Art of Rice') of Alpana.
Alpana is a sacred art in India, in which drawing are made using rice powder on floors in front of houses and around altars. It is known under different names, in different areas of India, most common 'Rangoli', 'Kolam' and 'Jhoti'. The word Alpana is derived from the Sanskrit "alimpana", which means "to plaster" or "to coat with".

* A compulsory aspect of Lakshmipuja (**is performed during Diwali, the festival of lights. Diwali marks the end of the harvest season in most of India) is the alpana drawn by women...These paintings are made with rice powder mixed with water (**for special occasions limestone and red brick powder for contrast are also used. Modern interpretations have accommodated chalk, and ready-made rangolis of wood, plastic templates and vinyl stickers). There are several motifs that are drawn on the floor around the deity's altar. The motifs are stylized in characteristic ways and incorporate certain patterns associated with Lakshmi such as the lotus, Lakshmi's feet, Lakshmi's companion owl, **the sun, a ladder, a plough, a fish, betel (the leaf of a vine belonging to the Piperaceae family, which includes pepper and Kava), shankhalata (a snake) and sheaves of rice. The alpana represent the world of the goddess and brings good fortune to the home.

** Lakshmi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), fortune, and the embodiment of beauty. She is the consort of the god Vishnu. Also called Mahalakshmi, she is said to bring good luck and is believed to protect her devotees from all kinds of misery and money-related sorrows.
In Bengal, Lakshmi is worshiped in autumn when the moon is full, the brightest night of the year. It is believed that she showers wealth on this night. She, along with her mount, the great white owl, descends to Earth and takes away the darkness of poverty, stagnation, anger, and laziness from our lives. Her vahana owl represents royalties, penetrating sight and intelligence.

Making alpana is considered an important part of the spiritual process. * Not everybody can do alpana, those who can are considered special and admired for their artistic quality. There are rules to be followed making rangoli or kolam. In front of houses the patterns made should be closing, so that evil spirits can't enter. It is best to make the drawing without pausing or lifting your hand to far from the ground. In some places the kolams are made everyday, in other places only during special occasions like marriages and rituals.
** It represents a philosophy of life that enthusiastically celebrates the impermanence of knowing and devotes itself to a constant wish to live in the present.

Worshipping Lakshmi isn't just about doing rituals, it's about making a nice home for your family and guests, being creative and fulfilled with what you got. This will bring you happiness and therefore fortune.
Just to be sure I made a little owl with a swastika and sun/moon behind it in my ricecarpet yesterday.

* information from my rice-bible, the book 'The Art of Rice' by Roy W. Hamilton
** information from Wikipedia

Harmonious co-existence

Sandcarpet, Drenthe, The Netherlands **

I don't want to say to much about these images, because I just don't know enough about the making of temporary carpets yet. And I think these images show how strongly this tradition is connected globally. It doesn't mean it has to be influenced by each other. I started working myself in a tradition with making my ricecarpets without realizing or looking at examples. The choices I made went natural, working with this material it logical to work from the center outwards. The symbols that I use have to be in harmony, so naturally a pattern occurs. At first I based my ricecarpets on real carpets, including tassels of lentils (see ricecarpets from 2007 on www.sabinebolk.nl).
I still love to look and read about tradition carpets. I recently bought this really lovely book "Early Decorative Textiles". The textiles, mostly carpets used for wall decoration from the 3th till 11th century, already have this structure of a bigger images in the center (in a circle) surrounded by abstract symbols forming a pattern.

Tonight I'm going to make a ricecarpet that will form the base of a soundpiece by Husc. To prepare for it I'm looking at carpets. The old ones in my new purchased book, designs by Theo Colebrander (1841 - 1930), only the designs are published in the book, which gives it a really abstract, surreal appearance and oriental carpets. The last one, 'Oosterse tapijten', I own a couple of year now and I used some of the patterns in my ricecarpets, but I never read the intro before yesterday. The book from 1968 tells about how the tradition of making oriental carpets is getting lost and with it the knowledge and craftsmanship. Is there a tradition not on the verge of extinction? Or has the world of carpet making improved much since the 70's?
Thinking about how to make music with my temporary carpet, I came across this sentence in 'Oosterse Tapijten': "The workshop foreman dictated which colours wool yarn his craftsmen had to knot one by one by singing a melopee (monotonous chant)."
I'm reading and learning more every day about the traditions that fascinate, inspire and makes me the artist I am today. I hope I can honor these traditions and continue my work with respect for all use of temporary carpets, without loosing my own natural way of making my ricecarpets.

"In olden days, kolams used to be drawn in coarse rice flour, so that the ants don't have to work that much for to long for a meal. The rice powder is said to invite birds and other small critters to eat it, thus inviting other beings into one's home and everyday life: a daily tribute to harmonious co-existence. It is a sign of invitation to welcome all into the home, not the least of whom is Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity."
- From Wikipedia

For the Tamil festival of Pongal, when the first of the new crop of rice is offered to the Sun God, Surya, elaborate drawings (kolam) made of rice flour are created in front of village houses. Tamil Nadu, India, 2000 *

Sandcarpet by Zwaantje Hans in Schoonebeek, The Netherlands ***

A complete domestic altar of Lakshmi for seasonal Lakshmipuja, the floor is decorated with alpana (rice powder mixed in water), Calcutta, 2001 *

Zwaantje Hans making sandcarpet, 1946 **

Kolam drawing, Tamil Nadu, India, 2000 *

* Scans and information from the book 'The Art of Rice' by Roy W. Hamilton
** Scans from Nederlands Openluchtmuseum Balie BiDoc
*** Scan from the book 'volkskunst der lage landen 1'

Temporary carpets on unexpected places

For this post temporary carpets I didn't find while visiting museums, but by watching TV. The Indian sandcarpet is from episode 1 'The Blessing Way' of The X-Files season 3. Mulder has a near death experience in the dessert and they save him with this Navajo ceremony.

"Through your actions you have the power to shape your own future"

- Kencho

This ricecarpet is from Bruce Parry's Going Tribal episode Journey to the Clouds: Bhutan. "Bruce treks for ten days into the high mountains in the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan where he stays for a month with the isolated Layap people. They are devout Buddhists and yak herders, cut off from the outside world for half the year by deep snow." His host Kencho, who was trained to become a monk, shows him the principles of the Tibetan version of Buddhism mixed with animistic beliefs. He makes a "Wheel of Existence" with rice, explaining that your deeds determine on which side of the wheel you will end.

Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of understanding

"Without Place–Without Time–Without Body" by Wolfgang Laib, 2007

I'm celebrating my 5 year anniversary of my ricecarpets this year. Next to writing posts about Temporary art with the focus on temporary carpets, I would like to make some special projects with my ricecarpets this year. Writing and working on that, I like to start this post with a work by Wolfgang Laib. I never really understood his work until recently. I remember seeing this square on the floor of a museum made of yellow pollen. In the next room a movie was projected showing Wolfgang Laib walking in a field of yellow flowers collecting the pollen by hand. I was only thinking: 'man, what a lot of work for such a small square of pollen".

"Wolfgang Laib studied medicine in the 1970s in Tübingen. From early on he had been interested in art, foreign cultures and eastern philosophies such as Zen Buddhism and Taoism, but also for the mystics of the European middle ages.
His work may be grouped with Land Art and he shows influences of Minimalism. He employs natural materials, such as beeswax and rice. Most notable is his use of large quantities of intense, yellow pollen that he collects by hand, then spreads over large areas of floor or piles to conical heaps...
Laib considers nature as something to be experienced through the senses, but not the goal of his work; it is rather a space for activity and contemplation to point towards larger contexts."
- From Wikipedia

I know better now, and I really like this work, and what a great, strong title, "Without Place–Without Time–Without Body". And I'm just a sucker for works with rice!

In 2007 I made my first ricecarpet called "Ricebird'. I woke up one morning with the idea of feeding the birds in my garden on a way that it would also look good for me. So instead of throwing a hand full of rice on the grass I used a template and made flowers. Monday I made a new "Ricebird" to celebrate that 5 years ago, when the Forsythia was blossoming, I had the idea for my first ricecarpet. Lucky me I have a garden now with a Forsythia and my new neighbors also think I'm a bit crazy.

In 2007 my nextdoor neighbors only bother to open the window upstairs and point her finger towards her forehead. At that moment I thought it was very odd she did that, not realizing I was the one creating flowers of rice in my backyard. Later in 2007 someone throw a raw egg towards my ricecarpet. The people living there told me that the neighbors didn't like people nosing around and that they were angry that they joined this art-route. I can't understand why people get so upset about something so peaceful.
The response of the neighbors now was a little better, more curious than upset or angry, or better said more nosey.

When I first saw Wolfgang Laib's work my response wasn't any better. But it left an impression on me. I'm happy that no matter what my neighbors might think, I learned to create what is in my head and heart. And I'm happy that I have been doing so for the last 5 years!

"Ricebird", 2007

"Ricebird #2", 2007

"Ricebird #3", 2012


More about Wolfgang Laib's 'Without Place–Without Time–Without Body' on www.artknowledgenews.com

Water lilies & table linen

Water lily in my pond

Running terribly behind with al my blogposts. I'm visiting a lot of exhibitions, getting inspired by new things I see & read every day. Every blogpost turns into a little project. I'm still looking up information about this flower carpet they make in Asselt (nearby Roermond). I found a old blackandwhite photo in a book. Apparently during the Procession, the priest walked over the flowers towards the church...Does it ring a bell?
The Gods Walk on rice in Selat on Bali...How remarkable is it that two traditions involve a temporary material (rice & flowers) which they make a carpet of and then the priest walks over it...two total different parts of the world. Apparently they also have a similar kind of tradition in Brazil with salt. So a lot to discover about this subject & I have a new idea for a work with this theme/tradition, soooo I will keep you posted. (And already some about it in this post!)
Yesterday I interviewed the assistant curator of the Museum Nusantara in Delft. Great interview and also a suprize closet full of Batiks! My mother is going to translate it for me, so soon an interview in perfect English here on De reis naar Batik.
Also I continued my quest for Delftware in Delft without visiting the standard tourist places. Which is quite a challenge. So that one is on the to-do-list as well (see blogpost A quest in Delft II) .
Last but not least I visited the Miffy in fashion exhibition & the Museum of contemporary Aboriginal Art in Utrecht. The last one really gave me a lot of ideas, MORE?! Yes even more. And seeing this short film by Lucas Grogan, I know I have to explore some Australian territory.

But before I do all of the above, Water lilies & table linen. In August I visited the Textiel Museum & De Pont in Tilburg with Susan van Uden. In the Textiel Museum they had two exhibitions, Lilies and thistles (till 6 november) & The Making Of, Projects From The TextielLab (see blogpost "Lichens & birds made out of fabric)". In this post I focus on the lilies, the TextielLab projects I save for later.

Table linen


"An exhibition with a central role for floral motifs in table damask.
Roses, carnations, lilies, thistles and violets have been a favorite motif on table damask for centuries. The way they are displayed varies over time and frequently follows prevailing art styles.

The exhibition shows damask table linen as well as designs, samples and pattern books from the last quarter of the 19th century, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and the post-war period. Linen with floral patterns of contemporary designers such as Jurgen Bey and Chris Meindertsma is also shown.

Traditionally hunting- and flower patterns where used in Damask table linen. A common pattern is the "gesayde bloemen". Researchers say this pattern goes back to an old tradition. People use to sprinkle flowers around in their house as table decoration and on the ground. Still during processions flowers are used to cover the street like a colorful carpet."

I totally read over that last bit the first time..it's almost creepy..enough about people making temporary traditional carpets, continuing with the lilies.

Design "water lilly" by A. Louwers, 1900

Design "Water plant" by Albert Maurice Lejeune, 1912-1915, watercolour on paper


When I saw the sketch for the table linen design with Water lilies, it reminded me immediately of Batik. They simplify the flowers without making it abstract. The pattern "Water plant" looks much like the Batik pattern Kawung. The batik motif "Kawung" is a very ancient motif as can be seen in the carved stones of some Hindu and Buddhist temples in Java island built since 7th century.
The red curl is almost like a garuda from Batik Lasem.

Water lilies

Me at the entrance of the Indian water lilies

The design of the water lilly inspired me and I had this feeling I have to do something with it (and still have). A water lilies has a exotic, sunny feeling to it like a Sunflower, but more mysteriously. I went looking for a connection between Water lilies, Damask, Batik & my interest for it. Haven't found a water lily pattern in Batik from Indonesia yet, but found a lot of related things.

The synchronicity starts with my love for the Indonesian/Indian Water lilies from the Efteling ( a theme park full of fairy tailes). This attraction tells the story of these beautiful fairies who love to dance. One night 7 of them didn't stop dancing, the moon goddess called them to turn back in to stars, but they wouldn't listen. A witch had them under her spell, and let them dance ever since when the moon reaches the sky, poor little fairies.

Cover of book "Dewi Sri". written by Ruud Greve

Page from book "Dewi Sri" with the story about Dewi Nawang Wulan

The story is loosely based on a Indonesian folktale about Dewi Nawang Wulan. This Dewi Nawang Wulan is also know as Dewi Sri. In August I also visited the Museum Nusantara and I bought this wonderful book about Dewi Sri there. The book written by Ruud Greve is full of traditions, stories & legends about the goddess of rice and one of the stories is the story about the 7 bathing nymphs ("hemelnimfen"), the legend of Dewi Nawang Wulan. On the cover of the book Dewi Sri is walking in a Sawah filled with, yes, Water lilies.

As I mentioned before I didn't found a Indonesian Batik with Water lilies, but I found something else. Apparently the national flower or symbol of Sri Lanka is a water lily, and "drumroffle" they make Batik in Sri Lanka. A friend of mine is going to Sri Lanka and she promised me to look for Water lily covered Batiks, so the story continues!

Now maybe your thinking what's all this talk about Water lilies. so I like to end my longest blogpost ever (at least the most hours spend on one blogpost) with a picture made by my grandfather that hangs in my studio & if you have time and no plans this weekend, go to the exhibition "Made by Vlisco" at the Gemeentemuseum Helmond. It ends 23 October (if you go, let me know, I would love to hitch a ride!)

Dia put to photo by my grandfather Aad van Toor

Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam

Offering cup decorated with red coral

Wednesday me and Koen visited the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam. It's not allowed to make pictures, but they have all these beautiful, inspiring things and we had a Iphone. They told us on every floor we weren't allowed, but I had to share these with you!

A (glued) Tibetan sand mandala

It's very nice to see one up-close, but it's also strange. It's not meant to survive. It stands for the temporary of life and if you then go and glue it to a board..t's just a typical Western thing to do. A lot of people ask me if my ricecarpet are glued or why I don't glue it. I always say that the idea behind it is that it's temporary. And if a ricecarpet was not from rice, beans and lentils, but a real carpet no one will look at it that long or intensely. And that maybe now they will look better or longer to the things they own, the things they use, the things that are common ("vanzelfsprekend") because they are just as temporary.

The Batiks were a bit hidden, but I noticed this way of displaying Batiks also in Amsterdam & Leiden. Maybe it has to do with the fragility of the fabrics. In Amsterdam the conservator told me that they never exhibit the Batiks in their collection (only with theme exhibitions) because they don't have the manpower to change the Batiks every 6 months and that then the risk of the colours fading is too high. But they also had a lot of Ikats at the Wereldmuseum and they were fully displayed.
One Batik I was really happy to see. It's called Simbut, a cloth painted with a pattern using Darih, a thick paste made of Oryza glutinosa (flour of sticky rice) instead of wax. The Darih is applied with sticks or by hand. Therefore the pattern are more rough, then the Batiks made with canting. The Batiks (in Dutch called "Kleefrijstbatiks") are made during a ritual. The abstract symbols on the cloth are mostly compasses ("windroos", shaped like a clover) and Swatika (Sunlike symbols). The cloth is used for protection and sometimes they hang a Simbut it the top of a new building for good luck and as a protection against bad spirits.

I know this Batik from the book "Bloemen van het heelal" by A. Veldhuizen-Djajasoebrata (see image above). I think it's a really inspiring Batik. The pattern is very simple, but very strong. I used the patterns in my ricecarpets. See the posts about Dance in a ricecarpet "Goddess of Rice?" and Making of Dance in a Ricecarpet in Etten-Leur .
The symbols stand for the cycle of life (the turning Sun, the directions of the wind) and the temporay of life.
I think it's the same Batik, too bad it wasn't displayed fully..

If you are in Rotterdam do visit the Wereldmuseum. The building is beautiful and they have 3 floors filled with special objects from all over the world (Africa, Asia, Oceania, America, Islamic culture)!

The Gods Walk on Rice in Selat, Bali

When I find the time & peace to read, I take my rice-bible and flip through it and read bits & pieces in it. I'm looking for inspiration, but even more conformation. My ricecarpets get a different response in the Netherlands then they did in Indonesia. Here they always refer to the fact that it is food and that it is a pity to use it like that, although they like to look at it (and touch it!) . For me I see it as a material, a beautiful, colourful material and the fact that it is also food comes on the second place. It makes it a stronger piece of Art because it rice and therefore temporary, but it still makes itl difficult sometimes to fight the contradiction.

For me it feels really logical to use rice and at first I used it as a work that had to be eaten by birds. But with the Dance in a ricecarpet, the rice is no longer food. It became so much more, it added richness, made layers, gives it depth, sound, movement...
When I found the book The Art of Rice I was overwhelmed. The book is devoted to rice, but not as food, but as part of rituals, as Folk-Art and other parts of culture. It is shown as a subject, but mostly as a material; the rice grain, rice dough, grain, the plant.




On Friday 15th of April I'm invited to show the Dance in a ricecarpet one more time. When I came across the images, posted here, I knew I was on the right track. I know it is not the same, but I know we will create a rare moment in time, the audience will experience something new and special.

The images in this posts from the book The Art of Rice are taking during the rice festival in Selat, Bali. During a procession, The Gods Walk on Rice, offers are carried across a pathway made with (un)cooked, yellow or white rice. It stretched up to 350 meters. The book published in 2003 mentions the last procession was held in 1998. The 'festival' is held when year ends with an 0 according to the Saka. In 1998 the Saka year was 1920.
I really would like to see this in real life, but I asked many people, but no one hear of it...If you know more about this rice festival and when & where The Gods Walk of Rice takes place, let me know!




*All photos are from the book "The Art of Rice", my so called rice-bible
**In 2009 I found another inspiring image involving rice, read more in RiceFish from Borneo