Masa Depan Batik and my upcoming journey

Hanging to dry after second colour 

and boiling out the wax from my self portrait 

It has only been 6 posts ago, that I was writing about my travels on Java and now I am preparing to go there again. In two weeks I will be back on Java. This time for my exhibition Masa depan Batik | Future of Batik at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta, Indonesia. I cannot believe it is almost happening, and although my to-do-list is longg and scary, I am super excited to go and enjoy it!

The last months were pretty busy, while I had the intention not to repeat 2022, it kinda happened again. So next to making all the preparations for the exhibition, I was also at the Tong Tong Fair at the beginning of this month. Next to the Batik Stand together with the Batik brands Guave and Istimewa, I had a program with Batik consultations & talks. 

It was fun people came to just talk batik at my consultations. A woman even asked me: Do I need to bring a Batik to talk with you? Of course not, we can talk batik with or without an actual Batik ;). Two of the Batik consultations I held together with Batik colleague Laurens Tan and what beauties we got to see again. Most we will revisit when I get back, so for sure more on that on a later date.

Laurens Tan showing one of the brought in Batik beauties

Talk '14 years journey to Batik' at TTF

I gave a talk in the first weekend highlighting my work and journey of the past 14 years. It was wonderful to share more on what my journey has been, what plans are still in the making and what the future of batik might look like. Including my upcoming exhibition!

Launching our project at TTF

Left on stage a kebaya and batik from Dido's collection, the base and start of our collab project

After our talk a white kebaya from the audience was shared with us

Together with autor Dido Michielsen we launched our research project The meaning of the white kebaya. Not only did people share great stories, ideas and photographs, but also actual kept white kebayas. It was also very nice to hear that people are pretty excited about this project. Without fully realising, the white kebaya is a much more person topic than the always talked about batik sarong. Not only did most foremothers ('voormoeders') in former Dutch East Indies wore this specific kebaya, it was also often a custom made piece. It seems that it is again a typically case of a handmade women history being overlooked throughout time. It confirmed the need for it and makes us extra happy to continue with it. 

If you want to read more about the project, please go to my website for information in Dutch. Will add an English version soon, because we want to research the phenomena of this "European" shorter, straight laced kebaya and her social status, meaning and personal story not just in the Netherlands, but also in Southeast Asia. 

Campaign photo for 'Masa depan batik' is made using actual batiks 

by the pembatiks who are featured in the exhibition. 

Koen de Wit made the photo for me

Green screen love, making tutorials, or beter, database manuals to research Dutch collections.

Come to the talk & workshop op 23 October at the library of Erasmus Huis in Jakarta or on 11 November at aNERDstore in Singapore!

Cooking out my Batik self portrait, 

photo was made during recording for Craftklas by Craft Council, 

coming soon...

Recording videos in my garden for 'Masa depan Batik'

The next couple of days & weeks will be filled with final edits, sewing and the actual buildup of the exhibition. This post might be a little short again, but during my upcoming travels I will regularly update on my exhibition, activities and what will be my 5th journey to Batik.

For now, please let me invite you all to my exhibition. 

If you are coming, please let me know, looking forward to meet or re-see you!

For those who cannot attend, I will post here of course and will make videos of the events!

Exhibition by Sabine Bolk

at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta, Indonesia from 21 October 2023 until 20 January 2024

Masa depan Batik is the latest exhibition by Dutch artist and batik researcher Sabine Bolk. Bolk’s Batik journey started in 2009 at the same moment that Batik became the official UNESCO intangible heritage of Indonesia. Now after 14 years Bolk reflects on her journey to Batik and the journey of Batik. The work of different batik makers and their perseverance to keep this craft alive and future proof is showcased in this exhibition next to Bolk’s own work in the field of art, research and in close collaborations with researchers, batikmakers and artists.

Grand opening 21 October at 19.30h

Come meet the pembatiks that made the batiks featured in the exhibition;

Mbak Nurul Maslahah (Batang)

Ibu Ramini of KUB Srikandi (desa Jeruk)

Ibu Umriyah (Batang)

Mbak Eka of Lumintu Batik (Lasem)

Ibu Siti (Batang)

Ibu Widianti Widjaja of Oey Soe Tjoen (Pekalongan)

Pasar Batik on 22 October from 10 am – 14pm with Batik Fashionshow

Talk & workshop research in Dutch databases by Sabine Bolk on 23 October at the Erasmus Huis library

Batikworkshop in collaboration with Museum Tekstil & Pembatik from the exhibition on 4 & 25 November

‘Paper sarong’ workshop for children by Sabine Bolk on 18 November

Artist Nidi Kusmaya will update the colours in our Natural Dye Lab in the exhibition – first blue on 21 October, other dates will be annouched soon

 

Batik & Kebaya at the Tong Tong Fair 2023

This year the Batik Stand is back again at the Tong Tong Fair, the biggest Pasar Malam held in the Netherlands from 31 August till 10 September 2023. 

In the Grand Pasar is you will find us with handmade Batik I brought back from me recent journey & sustainable batik fashion by the brands Guave and Atelier Istimewa.

Atelier Istimewa joined us the previous edition for one day, but this year you will find both brands at the stand every day.

Laurens Tan and I are looking at a Batik during an consultation during TTF 2022 

Photo by Hans Kleijn

Next to the Batik Stand, I will be holding Batik consultations on 2, 3, 5 & 6 September from 15h till 16h. Bring your batiks, max. 3 pieces per person, and lets explore together what more stories they hold. Laurens Tan who was also our guest on the Batik island, will join me on 5 & 6 September for the Batik consultation.

On Sunday 3 September at 18h I will give a talk sharing my journey to batik of the past 14 years. Looking forward to share more on my journey, research and future plans live on stage.

I will share more on my research on batik entrepreneur Carolina Josephina von Franquemont and her 'Prankemon green'.

With the help and expertise of Art Proaño Gaibor of Rijksdienst voor Cultureel Erfgoed the green (and other dye colours) found in batiks attributed to Von Franquemont could be put under a microscope. Pretty much exactly what we did. With just 2 mm of a thread many different things can be research; what dyes were used, synthetic or natural ingredients, what natural ingredients aka plants were used, traces of wax or oils can be found, metals & carbon traces.Which was also done by photographing the batiks in different light filters. 

The process was long.  In the making since I started my position as a Research Associate at Research Center for Material Culture (RCE) in 2019. To research and re-tell the story on batik entrepreneur Carolina Josephina von Franquemont, it was important to use all tools available to look into the myth & the legend, especially that of ‘Prankemon green’. It took me about 6 months to get approval to actually do the research, then more months passed before the actually samples were taken and then more months of processing the data before the report was done. But now it is officially here: Carolina Josephina von Franquemont (1817-1867) Prankemon green : research into the chemical composition of organic dyes in 19th century sarongs.

Via the link in bio; https://catalogus.cultureelerfgoed.nl/Details/reports/900004075 you can read a summery of the report & results.

If you cannot make it this Sunday, I recently gave a online talk 'Developments in Batik history in the 19th century, imitations and other influences from abroad'. My talk is in English and gets translated in Burmese during the talk. 

 

On 7 September me & author Dido Michielsen will launch our project ‘The meaning of the White Kebaya’. 

The Kebaya is nominated as Unesco intangible heritage from Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to research an interessant type of kebaya, the white one that was a typical type of dress in the former Dutch East Indies. It is never specifically researched in much depth. The white kebaya is in the sarong&kebaya duo a bit of an after thought, and we think it should be spotlighted. 

We are super excited to start this research-retelling-rethinking project. Please share with us any kept white kebaya you might have. Photos of wearers are very welcome also during the kebaya consultation. In the evening we will share more on the project on stage at 20.30h. 

Looking forward hearing your thoughts and ideas on the white kebaya, read our call, oproep, in Dutch here >>> Op zoek naar witte kebaya's

Hope to see you at TTF 2023!

Selamat membaca*

Enjoy reading/ Veel leesplezier!

Books 'Misleiden' by Fresco Sam-Sin (2022), 'Studies in Textiel, Leidse Weefsels' 

with article by Jantiene van Elk (2022), 

'De Voormoeders' by Suze Zijlstra (2021) and 'Engel en Kinnari' by Dido Michielsen (2022)

People often ask me: When are you publishing a book? Yes! There are some plans in the making for a publication, but I also learned this last year, you don’t have to write a book to be in one. 

My research made it into several publications, not only with articles by myself, but in other peoples research, in the footnotes and even inspired the title of a novel. 

As a booklover I welcome every excuse to add more books to my collection. Finding my name in a thank you by the author (thank you Suze Zijlstra & Dido Michielsen!) and sources list is just amazing. 

As a creator it is great to find out that what you put out there continues, grows further and can inspire more people to wonder, ask questions and dive into it further! 

In this blogpost some recent publications which includes research by yours truly. Selamat membaca!

In October 2022 the new book 'Engel en Kinnari' by Dido Michielsen was published. When her first novel 'Lichter dan ik' came out, I contacted her to talk about the role Batik played in her book for the online webseries Batik Consultation. We stayed in touch, hoping we could work together on a project on the Batiks she owns. Her book 'Lichter dan ik' got made into a theaterplay in which the actors wore custom made outfits by Guave from Batik Lasem bought by me. The book got translated in Bahasa Indonesia with the title 'Lebih putih dariku'. 

When Dido started writing her latest book, the follow-up on 'Lichter dan ik', I shared some of my research with her on the batik industry in Pekalongan and imitation batik around 1900. In my article on the collection of Dr. Elie van Rijckevorsel kept at the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, I share about a batik that has angels (engel) on it, but that very well can be kinnari's, a half bird half human Hindu god. When Dido shared with me her suggested cover, I couldn't believe my eyes. In big letters it said 'Engel en Kinnari' on top of a photo of her mother and grandmother. I never thought my research would ever inspire parts in a book, let alone the actual title, amazing!

Page on Fake batik from the book 'Misleiden'

In April 2022 the book 'Misleiden' was published as a catalog of the exhibition with the same title (Misleading) that was held at De Lakenhal in Leiden. Things That Talk Fresco Sam-Sin curated the exhibition and wrote most of the book, apart from some short articles by researcher. In the book all the misleading objects from different collection in Leiden come together to share the story on deceiving, misguiding and deluding. My research on imitation batiks, or as I prefer fake batik fit right in there.  

In the book you can read about the fake batiks made by, in this case, De Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij (LKM). On Things That Talk you can read more about this also in my zone 'Fabric(s) of Leiden' in both Dutch and English. Cees de Jonge made great photos of my selected objects, two samplebooks and letters, that illustrate the book and the website of Thing Thats Talk very nicely!

Photographer Cees de Jonge making a picture of the 'Fabricage' book of L.A. Driessen 

in the library of the Textielmuseum in Tilburg

Jantiene van Elk of the library of the Textielmuseum in Tilburg reached out to me about the talk she would give about the Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij during the yearly Spring symposium of the Textielcommissie in April 2022. Unfortunately the timetable didn't allow us to do a duo talk and I eventually couldn't go to the day also. 

For the publication of the Textielcommissie 'Studies in Textiel' Jantiene made an article based on her talk 'De familie Driessen en de Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij, Reizen in de negentiende eeuw' and in it she refers to my research for Things That Talk (see also the previous book). So lovely! 

We are continuing with this interesting history of LKM and the Driessen family. For upcoming Thing That Talk stories me and Cees de Jonge went last week to the library to make photos of some related objects, so soon more online about that! And hopefully more, to be continued!

Article by Maarten Fornerod on 'the man in the batik pants'

in the January issue of Moesson 

Hot of the press, not a book, but never the less fitting in this blog. In this months Moesson the theme is Boekoe (Buku = books) and unrelated to the theme a part of my research made it into this number. During the Tong Tong Fair I reached out to Pasar Malam college Maarten Fornerod. Maarten is our Dutch expert for Indo-European and Dutch East Indies genealogy. Since I was wondering about a certain someone I found in photos in my research, I asked him to take a look. I found this man, always with moustache and in the exhibition in batikpants, in three photoalbums kept at the Tropenmuseum, but wasn't able to find his name. Already the same day, I believe, Maarten had found him. This story and discovery is shared in a nice article by Maarten himself, Jing Jing Detektif, in this month Moesson. 

The best wishes for 2023! Have a good year of the Rabbit!

Holding Batik closer to our heart

Presenting 'Demystifying Batik Belanda' at ACM in Singapore

Photo by Rossman Ithnain

Me in Utama pants by Baju by Oniatta in front of Utama pants 

in the exhibition 'Batik Kita' taken by the designer herself Oniatta Effendi

In the bus to Kuala Lumpur while writing this. The last few days or actually the last few months flew by. So a post reflecting on before my travels and this last week, depending how far we get during this busride.
After my trips to Vienna & Edinburgh, I stayed in the Netherlands, being busy with Batik, as always, I am so lucky I can truly call this my main job. 

At the end of June I was part of a symposium/workshop at the University Utrecht, first time and was surprised my paper got selected. The full program ‘Tapestry of Rules: Institutions and Cloth Industries in Global Comparative Perspective, 1750-2000’ mostly dove into the economic part of textile trade & production. Mainly graphs and numbers filled the slides. I was the only ‘artist’ on the program and my slides were all filled with images. Presented the zone ‘Fabric(s) of Leiden’ I created for Things That Talk on the Leidse cotton-printing company Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij. The feedback was really great, “you get to see the actual textiles”and everyone said that my photos were wonderful. So although this event wasn't strictly my field, my talk was welcomed with open arms. There were some great speakers & hope I can be part of this program by Textilelab in the near future again.

Paper Sarong workshop at MUZEE, looking together at the end results

Photo by Muzee Scheveningen/Sarah van Soldt

July was mostly filled with meet-up, preparing for Tong Tong Fair and meeting everyone before my filled August and being away in September. 
In August I gave three workshops, one Batik workshop at the beautiful Katoendrukkerij in Amersfoort and two workshops for the 15 August 1945 commemoration. Honoured to be asked to make a creative output for this, both in the form of a DIY and two workshops. I worked out the Paper Sarong concept I already did before, were people work together to make patterns, focussing more on the stories and don’t need to struggle with the difficult technique of Batik. 
The first I gave was at the cute museum MUZEE, 10 minutes from the sea in Scheveningen. It was a very hot day, but the workshop was still fully booked. After my introductions people started with trying out the oilpastel & watercolour on paper, before forming groups to make the sarong. Such nice pieces were made and more lovely, so many stories were shared. 
I gave the workshop again on 15 August at National Theater in Den Haag/The Hague, a bit more nervous, since the day is a heavy one for many. But the participants were really happy having this alternative, creating way to commemorate that day and it was such a lovely experience.

Paper Sarong workshop at Nationaal Theater, reflecting on the work will still painting

From 1 till 11 September the Tong Tong Fair was finally taking place again in Den Haag/The Hague. After May 2019, we were planned to be back with our Batik Stand; me, Romée Mulder and Myrthe Groot of Guave. But it was postponed 3 times. 
The concept of our Batik Stand was the same, only it would be bigger, better and more prominent. Our Batik Island as it was called by the organization was the first thing you see when entering! We couldn’t be more prominent. It was such a surprise, a dream come true. The main reason for organizing the Batik Stand was to bring real Batik back, to give it a stage again, and back it was!
The Batik Island was made up as half a circle, designed by Sabrina Luthjens with on the outside the exhibition ‘Batik makes the man’ which I curated together with Florine Koning after the concept of Leslie Boon. In the exhibition the development of batik worn by men from sarong to pants, and from pants to shirt was shown. With the question, or statement “The batik sleeping pants was an Indo-European invention worn strictly at home”, I started researching. I soon found out the Batik pants could be also found outside of the house, worn by European men while going on a picknick or at work. I also started finding photos of other local men wearing the pants. The pandemic time I spend going through archives and whenever I spotted a patterned trouser on a black and white photo I would save it. 
At the Tong Tong Fair we shared the first findings. What other questions they raise and that still need to be explored. But very happy that we could share this new perspective, or wider perspective on this history.
The open structure of the exhibition made people walk right in our shop, small expo on what Batik is and I had a chest with many batikbooks. We were there daily from 10am till 10pm. Almost every day we had a special guest like batikmaker, researcher, recently graduated students working with batik and even a chef. People could come to me with Batik they owned for consultation and bring a clothing item to the upcycle atelier by Guave. Both were used a lot, I saw so many lovely batiks and I will follow up for sure soon after my travels. Guave got more items to add Batik on then they had time for to do, amazing that we can bring this subtitle sustainable way of thinking about clothing in such a nice form. Also have to add credits to Ayla Pijman here to, the new member of Guave, who spend hours putting patches over stains and holes and adding pockets to often Fast Fashion items. 
I want to thank everyone who dropped by, for asking about Batik, browsing the books, make me sell out of my batik stock (amazing!), brought there precious batiks, the special guest; Sandra Niessen, Dido Michielsen, Yulia Pattopang, Pris Roos, Shuen-Li Spirit, Suzanne Liem/Batik Patron Ambarawa, Laurens Tan, Arlene Dwiasti, Maureen Tan and thank you to my dream team, the Guave ladies, up to the next adventure!

Your Batik Island hosts; me, Alya, Myrthe & Romée

Batik Consultation in the Batik Stand 

Amazing how many people used this service, thinking of doing it again in a separate event

Right after Tong Tong Fair, I was heading to Singapore. Feeling overwhelmed and unprepared I manage still to get everything done as good as I could, since my talks would be right after I arrived on Friday in the weekend. 
Was invited by Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) to give a talk as a continuation of getting my research ‘Re-telling the history of the (Indo-)European influence on Batik’ out there. After my talk for the Facebook group ‘Batik Sayang’, I was lucky enough to share part of my research in Vienna & Edinburgh already. 
* People asking me where to read more of my research, or watch related talks. Please feel free to contact me & I can send previous articles by email to you. More articles are coming out/up, so I keep you updates on that too.

Presenting 'Demystifying Batik Belanda' at ACM in Singapore

Photo by Rossman Ithnain

Coastal batiks / Pesisiran in 'Batik Kita' at ACM

'Batik Kita' at ACM with view on Batik from Cirebon

After a direct flight, I arrived in the early evening. The next day was my talk at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore. I went a little earlier so I could see the exhibition ‘Batik Kita’, were my talk ‘Demystifying Batik Belanda' was part of. After seeing briefly the wonderful museum, I headed toward the basement to give my talk. A little nervous at first, but so glad with all the familiar faces that turned up, I share some of the finding from my recent research ‘Re-telling the history of the (Indo-)European influence on Batik’. After my talk there was some time for questions, and there were so many, so great and diverse. Someone asked if I used a computer program to make my matches of batiks on wearers. If someone invented it, please let me know. But I had to explains it is just hours going through digitale databases. Someone asked about how to recognized if a Batik has been worn and many questions on how we should deal with other mistakes that might be in Batik literature. Very happy to meet the new generation that is ready to dive into this history too. 

'Kawan Kita' at Galeri Toko Kita with host Tony Sugiarta

On Sunday I was the guest at Galeri Toko Kita to talk among Batik friends in the Kawan Kita talk series organised by Oniatta Effendi & Tony Sugiarta by aNERDgallery. In the beautiful shop, which is a truly a love letter to Batik, I got to tell more behind the scenes/screens on my journey to Batik. We got so wrapped up in a discussion on Fake Batik and why we all love Batik, I didn’t even share all my slides. I also finally got to shop a Baju by Oniatta piece, my own pair of Utama pants. Which I wore right away to ACM again on Wednesday when I got to see ‘Batik Kita’ and the rest of the museum. 
It was great to have two such different presentations, and so wonderful that people came to both. Feeling like am welcomed by a new Batik family here, I feel so lucky and honoured. Thank you al for coming, supporting my journey and for loving Batik. As Oniatta says it perfectly: “Jauh Dikenang Dekat Disayang. Holding batik closer to our hearts.”

Showing my Batik relate Art works during 'Kawan Kita' at Galeri Toko Kita

After the weekend filled with talks, I was lucky to spend the other days meeting friends, being a tourist and trying out all local foods. Singapore is really amazing, all the colourful houses, had to photograph every single one. The murals in the Chinese neighborhood to explain its history. The Museums, just saw the National Gallery and ACM collection, but they are already so good. Cannot wait to return and visit the others. 
How lucky I am being guided around this interesting city ~ Monday started of with a visit to the National Gallery together with Tony. I went a little earlier and found myself in the rooms showing works from the collection in a decolonized space. First display I saw was on Batik and the influence Dutch colonial rule had on it. Next room had several paintings by Raden Saleh. Being eye to eye with the tigers that in the past were eye to eye with our royal family! Another stunning piece of horseman, made me think of a bamboo hat I got to see from the Tropenmuseum collection to write a blogpost for Modemuze. Wonder the hat in the collection can actually be a noblemen hat…

Painting 'Six Horsemen Chasing Deer' by Raden Saleh from 1860

At National Gallery Singapore

Raden Sarah's 'Boschbrand (Forest Fire)' from 1849

At National Gallery Singapore

The exhibition I had to see was on Aboriginal Art, ‘Ever Present: First people Art of Australia’. I knew it included Batiks from Batik Utopia, but it had also paintings and batik by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, such an inspiration (see previous blogpost 'London Baby'). A great show, a must visit if you can. It shows the development of Aboriginal Art in 4 spaces, from early acrylic painting to more political statement pieces. 
On Monday evening Eunice organised an amazing dinner to meet Batik friends with amazing Indian food.

Detail of Batik by Emily Kame Kngwarreye

in the exhibition ‘Ever Present: First people Art of Australia'

At National Gallery Singapore

Batik on cloth 'Mother and Child' by Chuah Then Teng, c. 1950s,

At National Gallery Singapore

Tuesday I got a tour of city by the perfect tourguide Eeling. We met in Utrecht, when I gave her and Eunice a tour. Was so happy we got to spend the day to explore the Chinese, Indian & Peranakan Chinese neighborhood and all the yummy food that goes with it. Saw so many houses I would love to live in, so colourful and stunning. 

Mural in Chinese neighbourhood

Writing a letter to Koen 

Photo by Eeling Koh

Colourful houses of Singapore

On Wednesday I could join the tour with Oniatta through Batik Kita with nice stories by our tourguide Hafiz Rashid. The exhibition is stunning. The batiks are displayed in full length, 3 above each other. It made it a little hard to see details on the pieces on top, but it was very nice how the different styles/areas/times were shown three pieces at a time. Next to the full batiks, there was much room for batik fashion. A section showed wearers from Singapore, from the flight attendance uniforms in the past, to nowadays well known batik wearers. The other ‘stages’ showed different designers, which included the Utama pants by Oniatta. So great to own & wear a piece that is on display! 
There is a catalog in the making, so keep you posted when it is out!

Next to Batik Kita, got invited to lunch by Jackie Yoong and she showed me the Fashion and Textiles space at ACM ~ A recently acquired 18th century English traditional dress made from painted cotton from India was the highlight in the room, next to sarong from three generations of the Nio family paired with kebaya ~  of which one was from the former Museum Nusantara collection. 
After lunch I walked around ACM again to see the Batik Besurek in the Islamic Art. I used this object in my talk since it is actually an imitation, most likely made in the Netherlands. It therefor is a real ‘Batik Belanda’ { > read/hear more about how Batik Belanda was the local name on Java for imitations from Europe in the 19th & 20th century in this story/YouTube video/instagram post}
We bumped into Chor Lin Lee, curator of Batik Kita at ACM, who was the one inviting me for the talk ~ happy I could finally meet Chor Lin in person, the author of the first Batik book I bought and cannot wait for the next one.

Thursday I got to meet textile collector, curator and writer Peter Lee. It is so amazing to meet so many people during this trip that I admired from afar for so long. Got to see some extraordinary pieces from Peter’s collection and an open invite to browse through more when I return to Singapore.  

Will return to Singapore for sure, still many people to meet & many to revisit. 

Thank you all for the warm welcome & looking forward seeing you online, 

in person or somewhere in the world!

Colourful house in Little India

in Singapore

Selamat tinggal 2021

A little late with my last post of 2021, but since everything goes a little different these past two years, better late than never.

So Goodbye 2021 and Welcome 2022. 

After my last post in October, I worked non-stop, I think my busiest yet, but I am definitely not complaining. I was really happy I had all these amazing projects I could work on and can keep on working on throughout 2022, with wonderful & inspiring people! A very welcome distraction in 2021 and it’s so rewarding to be able to make batik my fulltime job! Only wish for 2022 is a little less fulltime, so it leaves more room for the unexpected and my creativity. 

In this post I am looking back at some of the projects and activities of the past months, ayo & enjoy!

Me & a Batik by Maria Paulina Carp

Storytelling 

‘Little Red Riding Hood’ 

A5 card 

printed on partly recycled paper

‘When I started my journey to Batik in 2009, I wasn’t aware of the rich knowledge that was available in the Netherlands. My first journey brought me to Central Java where I searched for batikmakers to learn more about the technique and meaning behind the motifs. During this journey I was of course confronted with our colonial history, but in a different way than I expected. 

During a visit to the Batikmuseum Danar Hadi in Solo, after looking at rooms filled with dark-brown coloured royal batiks, I was standing in front of a brightcoloured batik with Little Red Riding Hood on it. The guide laughed, saying something like “You will like this one, it is Dutch Batik”.

“Batik Belanda” I learned a few days later, when a friend handed me a book with the same title. These North-coast batiks from Java are filled with fairytales, flowers and even war scenes. 

This was the start of a quest that brought me in museumdepots, to researchers and even descendants of batikmakers. All in the Netherlands. Because here I could find a lot on Batikhistory. Maybe even more is kept here than in Indonesia…’

I made this illustration to go with an article that got published in the magazine BATIK! More about that later in this blogpost. The intro here above is from the article too. 

The last 2,5 years I have been doing research on batiks made between 1840 & 1890 kept in Dutch collections that are described as having an (Indo-)European influence. A journey that brought amazing batiks & findings on my path! I will be working this year on getting more of the results of this research out in different ways while continuing my research. In my follow-up research I will focus more on the wearers and finding out more on batikmakers, as I shared in my previous post ‘Pukul Terus’

I had it printed as a thank you card, but it is also for sale. To order the card send an email to at sabine@sabinebolk.nl.

Shishani & Sisterhood

This year we got to perform the ’Shishani & Sisterhood’ show three times. All three were amazing experiences that brought me out of my comfort-zone completely, but into a great group of creative souls. I am so thankful for this, thank you Shishani for bringing us together and letting us create this great show. 

The third show was live streamed from De Melkweg for the SIPA festival. Still can believe I was on stage at PAARD and Melkweg, wow! You can rewatch it here. 

Zine 'The Penguin & The Batik'

Making of the zine

Photo by Michael van Kekem

This last year I have been thinking a lot about my Art practice and how what I do mostly is storytelling. The medium in which I tell the story usually comes after the idea for a story to tell/share. Will I write a lot of articles, there are some stories that need a little more, or better said something different. I was very happy I could explore so many different ways of storytelling this year. Through publications, online talks, many social media post. Through videos on Youtube, on stage, even in batiks. And in my first ever Zine! 

It realised I hadn’t shared it here yet. The Zine was already in the making a longtime, but the final full Riso printed version was ready in March 2021. 

The Zine is on one of those Batik story that I wanted to tell for a long time already & a little Zine in Riso turned out to be the perfect match for this strange tale: ‘The Penguin & The Batik’. 

In 20 pages the story from the moment I discover a penguin on a Batik. A visual story that is not looking to answer questions, but more a way of understanding the quest.

I made the Zine with the great guidance & support of Michael van Kekem at his studio in Rotterdam (NL). I hope to create a new Zine this year!

Zine 'The Penguin & The Batik'

Full Riso print

20 pages 

Only 4 left in stock

Send me an email to order at sabine@sabinebolk.nl

Magazine BATIK!

After we, me, Romée Mulder and Myrthe Groot, hosted the Batik Stand in 2019, the Stichting Tong Tong invited us to collaborate to make Batik the theme for the next TTF. Unfortunately the TTF couldn’t take place in 2020, so we hosted an online Batik Stand instead. 

From beginning of this year till about July I was working, together with Florine Koning & Leslie Boon, on this magazine. Again the TTF couldn’t take place in September, but the idea was to publish the magazine either way. With a lot of things going on behind the scenes, the magazine was published end of November 2021. 

The magazine all about batik has several articles by my hand, interviews with Guave, Batikmaker Miss Nurul & batikscholar Renske Heringa. A lovely illustrated tutorial how to wrap a Batik by Jeroen Krul, great to have made this together. A wonderful step by step Batik DIY by Shuen-Li Spirit. Two of our Online Batik Stand guests return, showing the Batik kept & passed on in their family, Rachel de Vries & Cindy Smits, and we find two more to share their precious heirloom. Spread throughout the magazine are Batik wannahave items by different batikbrands. 

You can order the magazine BATIK! online at Stichting Tong Tong or ask for it at your local bookstore. The magazine is in Dutch.

Story on Fake Batik for Misleiden

Felix Driessen letters to home and samplebook

Kept at Erfgoed Leiden

When I was going through the letters Felix Driessen wrote during his travels in 1878 kept at Erfgoed Leiden, I would never had thought 3 years later I will show them in an exhibition.

The exhibition Misleiden opened right before we entered our latest lockdown, so I haven’t been able to see it myself, but luckily the exhibition is also held online.

Fresco Sam-Sin of Things That Talk who curated the exhibition gathered great misleading objects, all from Leidse organisations, and their stories for this exhibition. When Fresco told me about the exhibition plan for Misleiden we totally agreed that imitation batik, or ‘Fake Batik’, should be definitely included.

I am already working behind the screens with Things That Talk on a zone for their website, Fabric(s) of Leiden, all about the Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij, which we will share online this year. So excited to share! Great stories are being made by students of University Leiden to unravel the history of the Leidsche Katoenmaatschappij, sharing great objects kept in many different locations in the Netherlands. 

The story I made for Misleiden is in a way a preview of that zone. 

Go visit thingsthattalk.net or go to the website of De Lakenhal to read all about fakes in Art & Science including my story of Fake Batik!

Placing the samplebook & letters for the photos

Photo by Erfgoed Leiden

Photographer Cees de Jonge makes photos 

for the online Misleiden exhibition

at Erfgoed Leiden

Talks

Next to writing, I was invited to give several talks. Mostly online, but also my first two talks for public again. It was in the short window it was allowed and my upcoming talks will be behind my computer again.

You can watch two talks back online. One for Jakarta Fashionweek. I am still so honoured I could share about Batik during such an event! Never thought I would be part of something like this. Especially after being at the JFW myself in 2016.

The other talk was for Batik Sayang in which I share more on my research.

Future of Batik

“Batik is a masterpiece, a national treasure, an identity. Sadly, it is suffering a slow death. It's no easy task to keep it alive amid changing times and taste. Some, understandably, gave up halfway, daunted by the challenge. So how do we make this traditional art appealing to the younger generation? To produce and to wear. Can we truly succeed in merging traditional values with modern lifestyle?”

Fashion Conversation hosted by JakartaFashionWeek in collab with Erasmushuis Jakarta. Featuring moi, Ibu Sita, Mas Direz of Bluesville and host Tony Sugriata of aNERDgallery. Video statements by pembatiks Ibu Ramini of KUB Srikandi, Miss Nurul, Miss Dewi and Ibu Widianti Widjaja of Oey Soe Tjoen.

What are your thought on this topic? And how do you think we can take Batik with us to the future? Let me know in the comments!

Talk 'Re-telling the history of the (Indo-)European influence '

This online talk was given for the Facebook group ‘Batik Sayang’ to share my researchproject ‘Re-telling the history of the (Indo-)European influence on Batik between 1840 and 1890’. 

Collecting Stories

In my previous post ‘Pukul Terus’, I already shared a little on stories I would like to explore further and on histories that need telling.

A story that is part of this and has been part of my re-telling journey for a long time now, is the story about Maria Paulina Carp. In many ways my research on Indo-European influenced batiks started with this lady. 

For my last visit of the Tropenmuseum depot of 2021, I was joined by the direct descendent of Maria Paulina Rapilla-Carp (1860-1916).

I saw Maria Carp's batiks in 2011, and they marked a turning point in my ‘journey to Batik',  read all about it in my previous posts from 2011 ‘Made by Carp’ & ‘Give honor to whom it’s due’.

History, or better Herstory, became the focus point, I wanted to learn all about the makers, both current and historical ones {and the wearers & collectors} of Batik.

In September 2021 I finally met up again with Rob, great grandson of Maria Carp, who made the batiks shown in this post. I met Rob’s mother in 2010 and she told me her grandmother the batikmaker. To surprise Rob’s mother during a talk I was plannend to give, I made an appointment to photograph the 4 Batiks she donated and hadn’t seen since. 

I stayed in contact with Rob through the years. Since Rob hadn’t seen the Batiks for a long time, I arranged we could see the together with some Batiks by her fellow batikentrepreneurs. I made a selection to compare; all signed, from the same time and all from Pekalongan. The selection made from pretty bad quality photos turned out great. 

This was in many ways a full circle moment. It was great to share the experience of looking at beautiful batiks together, especially with such special guests. I feel so lucky Maria Carp came on my path & guided me through my ‘journey to Batik’!

After 2,5 years as a Research Associate at RCMC researching the NMvW collection this moment in November marked a symbolic ending and at the same time marked a new beginning. 

I am finishing up my current research and this year I hope to continue with the story of Maria Carp, and Mary Herrmann, and others.

Maju terus, thank you for keep on following my stories and I promise to keep on sharing them!