Splendours of Malay World Textiles and more in KL

Batiks in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles'

Together with John Ang, the new Vlisco wax print I brought in the display on Batik Besurek

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles'

Writing this from my hotel room in Jakarta where the jazz played in the hallway mixed with constant buzz from the AC in the room upstairs. Almost a week has passed since I had my last full day in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before traveling to Jakarta. 

On Thursday it is the Batik Friday of Malaysia. Huh what? Friday’s in Indonesia are known as Batik Friday. The day everyone, mostly government employee have to, wear batik. The idea behind batik Friday’s was that more people had to wear batik, so more batik would be bought and therefor better protected. However most people do not wear Batik on Friday but go for the cheap mass-produced printed textiles, unfortunately…In Malaysia this day is on Thursday. I don’t know if people here were more real Batik or not, but we celebrated it by wearing batik and seeing Batik!

One of the domes in the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

Curator Marina of Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia 

gave us a tour though of the textiles in the museum

Textiles on display

at Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia 

Detail of Batik and Telepuk

Textiles on display

at Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia 

We started our day with a visit to the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia. We had a meeting with Curator Siti Marina Modh Maidin. Up on arrival the building is already spectacular and inside even more, with decorated domes and marble floors. Marina started with saying there wasn’t much Batik in their collection, to continue showing us all Batiks on display, which included amazing Batik Besurek pieces!

New ones have been collected and will be added in the exhibition they are working on behind the scenes for 2024.

The museum show Art, Crafts and Fashion from the Islamic world in all it diversity, beauty and development. It was refreshing and stunning to see how everything was displayed without pushing an agenda. We only saw part of this private run museum, but I definitely will revisit next time I am in KL!

 

'Conference of the birds'

A Besurek Batik...

with Gelatik, rice bird motif, what a dream!

On display at Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia

Our next visit was to the exhibition ‘Splendours of Malay World Textiles’. Finally! The exhibition made by my dear friend John Ang. It was one of the main reasons for me to go to Malaysia. The talk in Singapore allowed me to travel here first, before continueing to Java, where I am now. 

I saw my friend John Ang last in person in 2019. We stayed a weekend in Bangkok together, enjoying the exhibition of the batiks collected by the king, good food and many laughs.

Of course we were in contact regularly after through WA. Mostly discussing certain things John read somewhere, a textile he found or when I posted a recent find online. Whatsapp is nowadays the letters scholars use to send back in the day to each other ~ I do wonder how anyone can retrace our steps later with our messages through WA, Instagram DM’s, Messenger, the occasional email and phone call, on top of the many conversations in person…

First wall in in John Ang's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles'

John telling us about the categories and the time it took to collect all the pieces

Woodblock prints and Batik Cap in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles'

Telepuk, gold pattern on top of woven checkered fabric 

Batik Tulis, Woodblock prints and Batik Cap 

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles

More woven checkered fabrics with stunning details

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles

All the pieces are stunningly paired to make complete stories AND outfits!

Throughout the pandemic John was working day and night to make his exhibition. From his extensive collection he selected, I believe it is, 500 pieces to show in 12 categories the splendour of Malay textiles. 

With zoom meetings John shared with us the different categories and the places these textiles are from. There are different opinions of what places and countries are part of the Malay world and there is even some controversy on the use of ‘Malay’ as a way of grouping the ‘Nusantara’, which I cannot explain in much depth, but lets say unity in diversity is a difficult concept to realise. 

When the selection was made and the grouping in photo collages was done, a team of people build up the exhibition spending weeks ironing, hanging and pinning the carefully selected pieces. A labour of love!

Although I saw many photos during the process and from when it was opened in July, seeing the exhibition myself and getting to see the textiles up-close was an amazing experience. It is rear so many textiles are displayed, and these textiles are not behind glass, so you get to see all the details.

John invited us to join a tour he was giving to a group. Turned out it was for the Islamic Arts Museum we just went to. 

Tour by John

British prints that found there way onto the Malay market

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles

Detail of Kain Lamar with calligraphy motif

 (please correct me if I am wrong)

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles

Tour by John

Patola's; originals woven in India, blocked printed ones 

and a copy from The Netherlands made by De Kralingsche Katoenmaatschappij

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles

More colourful prints

Batik Tulis, Woodblock prints and Batik Cap 

in John's exhibition 'Splendours of Malay World Textiles

I was so happy that we could join a tour by John himself. The stories he shares on why certain pieces are grouped, the history they reveal and personal anecdotes make the exhibition come alive even more. You can book tours, so certainly do when you go to see the exhibition

Johns story, the marvelous display and all historical details really make me look forward to the book, the catalog, that will follow this exhibition even more! 

When the group of the museum had to leave, and John called me “Sabine, we need you here”, for the last room of his exhibition. To my surprise the Vlisco imitation Besurek I got for John in the Summer of 2019 when he was in the Netherlands was featured here. John told how I told him how I found out Dutch imitations were made in the 19th century that now made their way into collections often mistaken to be real batik, like the one at ACM.

John Ang telling about our Batik Besurek discussions

After the tour, I was happy I could ask John to unwrap the present I brought him. Vlisco just released before my departure a new version of the imitation Besurek in purple decorated with rose gold (like prada). John showed it to everyone and we had to pose with it in the exhibition.

John invited us after tea for dinner. We went to this really stunning Peranakan Chinese restaurant. John was inviting someone in the car on the way there, I asked who will join us. And it was Thweep Ake Rittinapakorn, the Burmese textile researcher I got to meet in Bangkok for pies when I was with John there. Such a nice reunion, and it seems there are Dutch ~ Burmese textile histories we much explore further in the near future. 

After dinner, John insisted on is seeing his home. We were all tire, but were super excited to see his home. It was almost midnight, so we would only look around quickly. John wanted me to also look at some Batiks. I said no we should sleep, but looked at a couple before going anyway since a no is luckily not accepted. Again amazing pieces that I tried to date as best as I could and wish to dive into further when I am back. 

Blok from John's collection 

with grape motif I have been fascinated about for a while now

Looking forward to next time, when I will stay longer John, I promise. 

Enjoy the lost month of your exhibition!

If you are near KL go see it, a must see for sure. If you are far, go see it too.

More info on www.johnang.com.my

What to do with the Nutmeg batiks?

Nutmeg batik, TM-1585-4, next to TM-1585-3 

in the depot of the Tropenmuseum, 

both Collection NMvW

“What to do with the Nutmeg batiks?” has marked my agenda a couple of months now. This year we commemorate that is was 400 years ago,  to be precise on 6 May 1621 the genocide on the Banda islands occurred and on 8 May the massacre of the imprisoned Orang Kaya. JP Coen who led the “punishment expedition” has been questioned on his actions ever since and still we are discussion whether his statue and streetnames named after him should be removed from our public space (the answer is Yes! And #wegmetJPCoen).

TM-1585-4

Nutmeg batik, TM-1585-4

Collection NMvW

Nutmeg is not commonly used as a motif in textiles. Not in Batik, but also not in the earlier populair Chintz. 

Chintz are block printed cotton fabrics from India that were often ordered by European with motifs fitting the European market in the 17th & 18th century . I remember standing in the V&A in London in 2014 in-front of a display and realising all the chintz had Papaver/Poppies on it. Opium is created from Papaver and formed an important product for the East India Company, the British VOC {our VOC also “dealed” in opium, a lot!}. 

So it would be logical that other trading goods would make in onto cloths as a motif, especially cloths that are catering the wishes of the foreigners. 

With spices this seemed not to be the case. Batik design started to changed half way through the 19the century. Batiks ordered by Europeans for the colonial exhibitions are often decorated with Zoo-animals, animals exotic for Java, cupids, as in fat angels, and a lot of wayang figures, which were before that time not common on Batik. 

From all Batiks that survived I, till now, only found two with a Nutmeg motif on it. One that is seen as The Von Franquemont since half way the 20th century and one made as a goodbye-gift for the gouverneur-generaal of the Dutch East Indies from 1875 till 1881, Johan Wilhelm van Lansberge. This batik was later also, wrongly, attributed to Von Franquemont.

Detail of Nutmeg batik, TM-1585-4

“De Nootmuskaat batik” as it is know in the Netherlands, The Nutmeg Batik, is part of a donation of no less than 196 objects. A large part consists of textiles of which a number of Batiks. Believed is they were worn by Adolphine Leonardina Wardenaar (1884-1942) the wife of P.H.Q.Bouman who made the donation in 1942. All batiks seem to be from a similar time, around 1900’s, but the Nutmeg got attributed to Von Franquemont in 1965 and is since then dated ‘1840-1867’. There is no additional provenance for this, but when it got published in a book in 1979 together with the spectacular, wrong, story about Von Franquemont’s passing, it has been shown/used as the example of what a Von Franquemont Batik looks like.

Page from the book 'Splendid Symbols. Textiles and Tradition in Indonesia' 

by M. Gittinger from 1979

Nutmeg Wax Print

I even found a copy of the famous Nutmeg Batik at the Vlisco archive. It is a very rough one-on-one copy, presumedly made for an exhibition to be sold in the giftshop, but never put in production. This Nutmeg wax print was donated in 1979, so was made before that date. 

Nutmeg wax print from the Vlisco Archive

Detail of Nutmeg wax print from the Vlisco Archive

TM-H-91

TM-H-91

in the depot of the Tropenmuseum, 

both Collection NMvW

The second batik that has a nutmeg motif on is a piece donated by J.W. van Lansberge to the Koloniaal Museum in 1881. The batik is made on an unusual material, pine-apple fibre, also known as ‘rameh’, which was a very populair material on colonial exhibitions, but not really common in every day use on Java it seems. It now being used again to create Batik on! The large cloth, 1,5 x 2,5 meter almost, is designed as a Batik with a kepala, head, and Badan, body. In the kepala  the letter ‘L’ or ‘J’ and in in the badan between flowers, cupids on top of an H and an L, a mythical swan with a crown and nutmegs. 

Detail of TM-H-91 with the crowned swan, the nutmeg and a part of the 'booh'

The nutmeg on TM-H-91

Nutmeg as a motif

For me it seemed odd there was nutmeg as a motif on these pieces and that it was almost proudly seen as the ultimate display of ‘European influence’ on Batik. “What to do with the Nutmeg batiks?” and their unclear attributions to Von Franquemont. 

I first wanted to learn more about the history of Nutmeg, before making any further statements on these pieces. 

I joined  the opening event of the online exhibition ‘From Cartography to Cookbooks: A web of Dutch Colonialism’ in January and there I saw speaker Dr. Joëlla van Donkersgoed wearing a blouse with a Nutmeg motif. She shared about her research on the Banda islands and her upcoming online ‘Banda 1621-2021 International roundtable series’. I contacted her afterwards about her shirt and the Batiks with nutmeg. She explained the fabric was sold in the Moluccas. The fabric was gifted to her and she let it made into a shirt. I later spotted the same fabric in photos of the making of the upcoming online exhibition ‘Pala – Nutmeg tales of Banda', used as a table cloth. Again this fabric was bought in the Moluccas.

Screenshot I shared in my insta story

Joëlla send me a link to wear the fabrics were sold online. 

This is from The Ambon Manise Shop

Print sold by The Ambon Manise Shop

Prints sold by The Ambon Manise Shop

I attended the online 'Banda 1621-2021 International roundtable' and was inspired to learn more about how the history of the Banda islands was re-told, commemorated, how they used rituals and dances to heal from what occurred and strengthen their connection to their ancestors. If you haven't watched yet, you can watch it back on  you can watch them back on Youtube.

It seems the Nutmeg as a motif have been (re)claimed. However the Nutmeg motifs on the old Batiks seem to be made in a different light. 

The Nutmeg Batik, TM-1585-4 is scheduled to be show in the upcoming exhibition 'De Erfenis', The inheritance, at the Tropenmuseum. I hope before it is put on display again a closer look will be taken at the provenance of this piece....

There is much to watch back, read and upcoming. 

Please check the different programs this week as mentioned above, but also:

Exhibition ‘I love Banda’ by photographer Isabelle Boon, with an online opening on 6 May and a podcast series in collaboration with Beyond Walls

Book in Dutch, recently published, ‘Banda – De genocide van Jan Pieterszoon Coen’ 

Book in Bahasa Indonesia, Rumah di Tanah Rempah - Penjelajahan Memaknai Rasa dan Aroma Indonesia by Nurdiansyah Dalidjo {also of Kain Kita}. More info on the book also in this video

Article 'The Hidden History of the Nutmeg Island That Was Traded for Manhattan'

* All photos are taken by me, otherwise it is credited!

- Feel free to drop must watch/reads in the comments below -

11 tahun perjalanan ke Batik

= 11 years the journey to Batik

A month ago, just when the Netherlands started with their 'intelligent lockdown', I published a new blogpost. I wished people who had the opportunity and privilege to stay at home with free time, would use this time to read, learn and explore. My blog has never been visited as much as this last month! Old blogposts have been viewed and I feel very glad my 11 years of blogging is providing much to explore now! So thank you for following & re-reading my journey to Batik!
If you are a new reader, welcome, and if you are returning, thank you!
Feel free to comment below and share your thoughts, ideas and questions on this post or my blog in general.

I planned to do more blogging, but I spend my time mostly making other online content and written articles for other platforms. However it seems online is the new world, so I will definitely make new posts for here.
Although we live now in a world that is changing and seems scary at times, I think sticking with tradition and keeping, or re-inventing habits, will help getting through this time. So also now I want to celebrate my blog's birthday. Can you believe I am blogging for 11 years!
Last year I was so lucky I got to celebrate my 10th year of The journey to Batik so big! I made exhibitions, events, gave lectures, workshops...I shared Batik in 2019 in the Netherlands, on Java and online the whole year through. I had many plans for this year, but I was also thinking on the online presence of Batik and how to share my journey and current research in a accessible way. This is not so much a matter of making time, but also of having budget. Of course budget will not be easy in this time, but luckily I already have multiple other online platforms which allow me to share & connect. My blog, Social Media, YouTube and online platforms like Modemuze are and already were my ways of sharing my thoughts, stories, new discoveries and questions. So I will explore this further for the time being.

For this post, I will be sticking with tradition. "To have connection, you have to do things for a long time", freely quoted after what professor Marli Huijer said in the TV programme ''Floortje Blijft Hier'. Normally Floortje Dessing makes travel-programs, visiting people living on the edges of the world taking planes, trains, busses, cars, camels, you name it, to get there. "You don't need to travel the world to share stories, you can share stories here, now". I really connect with what was Marli Huijer said. Slowly moving forward, that is the feeling I often have. At times it is frustrating and I have so many failures along the way, but looking back I can really enjoy all the steps I was able to make and can see how far I have come. The last 5 years I have been posting new posts around 21 April to celebrate my blog's birthday. These posts usually included a Batik Statement and big news or new plans.

To see them, click the links below:
in 2019 'Busy with Batik'
in 2018 'Pattern Edition Batik Statement: Pagi-Sore'
in 2017 'Behind the scenes'
in 2016 'The journey to Batik'
in 2015 'Hari Kartini'

Now no big new news, but I will be looking back at a Batik Statement series I created for last Cultuurnacht, Culture Night, in Breda.
I started making Batik Statement already 8 years ago. The first one I made was a Batik-fashion-tribute-to-fashion-bloggers in 2012. Being a blogger, but not at all a fashion blogger, I thought it would be fun to explore this world of pretending-to-be-fashion-while-being-at-home and create looks with Batik. I got a great response to it and kept making and sharing Batik Statements. I also got Batik Statements from others and even did four Batik Statement events. However I never really used it in an Art-type of way.
When Pieter Vastbinder asked me and Koen de Wit for his yearly Spiegelhol event at the BelcrumWatertoren during the Cultuurnacht, I had the idea of exploring the 'colonial mirror', or better my view in that mirror.
Looking for ways of addressing colonial history and how we reflect on this past, I got inspired by 'Bigi Spikri' and the selfie-culture of Indonesia. 'Bigi Spikri' is a Surinamese word which translates into 'Big mirror'. During big festive parades dressed up people would walk the streets of Paramaribo seeing themselves reflected in the shopwindow. These shopwindows functioned as big mirrors to admire yourself in. The 'Bigi Spikri' parade is closely related to 'Keti Koti'. 'Keti Koti' celebrated on 1 of July that marks the date when slavery was abolished in Suriname and the Dutch Antilles in 1863. The parade is a returning part of this remembrance and it is not only a way of admire beauty in diversity, but also to invite others to reflect on this past.
In the BelcrumWatertoren I created a shopwindow in which I displayed books, objects and textiles that I use to learn from and reflect on our colonial past.
Next to that I showed a slide-show of photos I made in the Netherlands and Indonesia showing how we deal with this past. During my last visit to Indonesia in October, I was much more focussed on our shared history and visited more old sites. The cellphone-culture which I already encountered from 2009, is now transformed into a full on selfie-culture. Next to being asked a lot to pose for photos, people pose everywhere. Places for me filled with heavy feelings are now popular for the youth as pretty backdrops for their Insta-shots. Old Dutch places even got fixed up, and re-used. Before these colonial memories were literally falling apart. So an interesting development which allows us to reflect better on this past even if it is through a filter with someone making a peace sign.

To bring this inspiration together and make my 'colonial mirror' even more visible, I made a Batik Statement series. With the great help of Koen de Wit, we made analog dia-slides on 30 December 2019. It was very cold, but with a beautiful blue sky and we found a great spot with water in the background.
I made 5 different looks using clothing and textiles from my own collection. I am especially proud of the iPhone-headpiece we created based on the ear-irons worn in Dutch Traditional wear. It was good for many laughs and the result works so well.
Also very happy with how my koto-skirt turned out using a Vlisco Java Print and a lot of pins. The Java Print has a motif of a big standing mirror. It was designed in 2016 for the Vlisco 'Woven Wisdom' collection. For me immediately it was linked with the reflection we should make with our past, and I sheepishly thought Vlisco refer to that with this collection...However I instantly thought of this fabric for this photoshoot and was happy it was still available.
Without going in much further detail, I just want to share the series here with you. During the Cultuurnacht it was projected in a loop. These are digital scans of the dia-slides. We had multiple of each look and I picked my favourites to share here with you, enjoy!

*All photos made in collaboration with Koen de Wit 

10 Tahun Hari Batik

Hieperdepiep hoera! Today we celebrate Batik is 10 years the official Unesco Intangible Heritage of Indonesia. I already started celebrating early this year, but now here on Java the celebrations have started. I already had a great opening & event at Museum Tekstil and now I will be part of the celebrations at Museum Batik in Pekalongan. You will definitely see some pictures on Social Media later!

Since 2009 Hari Batik, Batik Day, is being celebrated on Java. When I arrived last time, it was just a few days after the first time. So my ‘journey to Batik’ & my blog are also 10 years old today. 

And that’s not all, today is my 35 birthday. I feel so happy that I can celebrate my birthday surrounded by people wearing, sharing & enjoying Batik! 

To stay with my traditions, I prepared some Batik Statements in the Netherlands before I left. I took this in the bicycle parking-lot at the Central Station in my hometown Utrecht. It is the biggest bicycle parking-lot in the world. Since I started my Research Associate position at RCMC I take me bike to the station and go by train to Leiden. Often I have to park on the third floor, but I do not mind because the green floors match my green bike very well. For the photoshoot I am wearing Batik Cap I bought in 2016 in Jember at Batik Rolla. It is with classic Dutch bikes & tobacco  leaves. The entrepreneur of Batik Rolla wanted to put her own family history within the Batik, her father worked in Tobacco and her Dutch grandfather would ride a classic bike (we call ‘grandma bike’ in the Netherlands actually). The cloth I wear as a cape is a limited edition Vlisco Super Wax Print, so from Helmond in The Netherlands. It was actually a gift. The design is newly made and shows mountain-bikes going over a hilly underground. Pretty funny considering how flat the Netherlands is.  I wanted to make a statement with these two pieces for a long time. I think this statement is maybe more about addressing how we can move to a more sustainable way of living, by supporting local & handmade products and by riding a bike - I see the traffic here in Jakarta and I just fantasize how it would be if the city center was car-free, just like in my hometown Utrecht. You would be able to ride your bike safely and in fresher air. The public transport can bring you much faster to your work or home - Wouldn’t it be amazing! And of course in this dream of mine everyone is wearing real Batik, Cap or Tulis, no Fast Fashion printed textiles ‘Batik Print’!  

Have a wonderful Hari Batik! And don’t forget to share photos with me & use #batikstatement 

Dior and their new 'African inspired' collection

"Cross-culturalism has been a recurring motif in the work of Chiuri, whose pan-African collection for Valentino for spring/summer 2016 strove to build bridges between Europeans and African refugees following the migrant crisis at the time. “We think every person coming here is an individual, and we can show that we can improve ourselves by understanding other cultures,” 

she said, in 2015. The show, however, met with criticism for its lack of diversity on the runway, arguments fuelled by the cultural appropriation debates that peaked on social media that year. 

But the collection would become a learning curve for both Chiuri and her co-creative director at Valentino, Pierpaolo Piccioli." 1)

"Dior launches radical collection promoting local African print"

Dior’s new global outlook has certainly been met with criticism along the lines of cultural appropriation, especially as the designs were worn by non-African models. On Instagram, the luxury label shared videos of local artisans making the fabrics, but some questioned the notion of a French label profiting from the craft of another, previously colonial, culture.

However valid the criticism, we approve of any brand promoting transparency in the sourcing and manufacturing of their materials. Moreover, Anne Grosfilley {researcher} maintains, “This collection is not about an idea of an ‘African look’. It’s a celebration of African savoir-faire, and it will be a part of a real African economy.” 2)

"Dior and the Line Between Cultural Appreciation and Cultural Appropriation

The French brand holds the first cruise extravaganza in Africa, 

and tries to start a new kind of conversation." 3)

"Wax started in Europe and moved through Asia, then back to Africa. It’s a technique that really went around the world,” Chiuri explained, of the material’s roots. “The collection speaks a lot about craftsmanship travelling around the world. In this moment, there’s a lot of attention to cultural appropriation, but I think we have to explain how craftsmanship travels around the world; why it’s often so difficult to find the ‘real’ reference.”

“A global brand like Dior, which has such an important history, has to move into the future through different points of view and different visions,” she said. “This is a collection but it’s also a conversation with artists about the representation of women, what it means to work in fashion today, and what cultural appropriation means today. It’s an intellectual reflection on fashion today.” 1)

If you read the articles online and hear Dior's designer Maria Grazia Chiuri explain it in the short video on Facebook, you honestly can't find any harm is this lady trying to re-invent fashion by embracing a more inclusive way of making it and collaborating with all sorts of artisans. But if we zoom in on what she chooses to embrace or use, questions starting to build up and I can't help but wonder what exactly is going on in this new Dior collection.
If Dior truly wanted to promote “African culture” and craftsmanship, there were plenty of textiles to choose from. Promoting actual local made textiles, not ‘green washing’ or ‘white washing’ textiles... or in Dior case, how should we call this? 'Africanity washing’, ‘appropriate washing’, ‘history washing’? I mean, why 'Wax Print'?
Dior wants to use their history and does that by basing their Wax Print on their Toile de Jouy design... I mean a motif based on a block-print design with exotic animals in a jungle setting, really? Are we just going to jump over the history of cotton and cotton-printing?
Creating your own textiles is great, and making a wax print, how cool. But this specific textile has such a complex history, which we are only just unravelling.
The researcher and auteur of Wax & Co/ African Wax Print Textiles Anne Grosfilley Dior invited to learn about Wax Print embraces it as a ‘global textile’.
Yes, this is great & true, but it is also, or even more so intertwined with colonial history.
It could be seen as a ‘colonial cloth’. So who are the French, in this case the fashion-brand Dior, to embrace this cloth as a ‘global textile’ and feel free to use it? Shouldn’t the fact that it is a ‘colonial cloth’ maybe weigh heavier in making the choice in who embraces it & why & how?
{Haven't read het book yet, it just got published in English, please comment below if you have and share your thoughts on it}

For her #DiorCruise 2020 collection #MariaGraziaChiuri collaborated with the Uniwax factory in Ivory Coast on special edition fabrics based on 100% African Wax, revisiting Dior codes like ‘toile de Jouy’ and ‘tarot cards.’ Watch the video https://t.co/MIkT7rhxX8. pic.twitter.com/d06zZdz54G

— Dior (@Dior) May 2, 2019

While reading up on articles published after the grand show in Marrakech Dior made to launch their new Summer collection 2020, I started following the comments on Twitter. The one showing the same video as what I first spotted on Facebook is getting mild comments, where the one with some tailor pictures is being flooded with remarks: "Get to discover more about one of the key through lines of the #DiorCruise 2020 collection: Wax print fabrics, the prestige cloth used for the collection!". The comments mostly go on about how they used 'African print', steal from Africa, and asking what Dior means with the term 'wax print'. People from Southeast Asia mostly comment 'This is Batik'.
What is going on here?

The name 'African Print' is maybe used widely, but Doir isn't incorrect in naming it 'Wax Print'. {They made this 'Wax Print' in collaboration with Uniwax, based in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), part of Vlisco based in Helmond (the Netherlands)}
Wax Print is the name for this technique and therefor these textiles are called 'Wax Print'. It' refers to machine printing of 'wax', which in this case is actually a kind of resin, onto cotton. 'Wax Print' started their history 200 years ago as an imitation batik. They had many names and different techniques that were used before the actual machines were invented by the Dutch. But they all had something in common, they were all made to ship to the former Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, to compete with actual Batik.
Batik is still being made! And not by machine but by hand! ,
Either with canting ''Batik Tulis, or with cap, Batik Cap. Batik has been the intangible heritage of Indonesia since 2009, but is still under pressure as a craft. The market is filled with printed textiles, cheap imitations and Batikmakers have a hard time getting a fair price for their products, more on that further on in this post.

My concern about all of this is not on who can use what and why, I think it has more to do with why Dior made this collection. What is their idea behind it?
is it because it is just fashionable now?
Or do they want to be part of the “cultural appropriation” discussion and truly in a positive way?
Do they want to make their product more inclusive or is it just copying of popular fashion of the African continent? 

Non of these things get really answered. The framing is vague and has all the right lingo. Yet the word 'Colonialism' is left out completely.
When using products that are linked to, intertwined with, miss-placed by 'Colonialism' or being re-examinded or being re-discovered by diaspora, people really should take a moment, maybe even more then a moment. Maybe it is just not the place nor the time to "do something with it" just yet, maybe other things need to happen first before you can use it as freely as you like.
Using Wax Print is one thing and many European brand already made that mistake/choice. Designing your own Wax Print is really something else and don't get me started on those "glass beads that originated in Venice"...

Why Wax Print is so complex, is being shown greatly and in depth in the 'Wax Print Film’. I recently had the opportunity of finally seeing it myself. Director Aiwan Obinyan was in the Netherlands shortly for another screening and I managed to set one up with the Guave ladies at their studio, our first collaboration, many to come, one soon {read at the end of this post}. In the 'Wax Print Film' Aiwan starts a quest finding out what 'African print' actually is. It led her to an amazing journey, over the world and far into history. 

I still feel so honoured being part of her journey and I think her journey about Wax Print is not finished yet. She has a lot of footage and if I see what is happening now, I think people should offer her a stage and make that stuff into a TV series! It would be so good to explore this in even more depth with even more voices!

Think before you act
Everyone knows it, no one uses it?!

This morning my day started with reading news from Malaysia.* The article 'Join the ‘Wear Malaysian batik’ revolution' not only lightens up the fire of the who has the claim to the heritage of {In 2009 Unesco declared Batik officially the intangible heritage of Indonesia, after Malaysia and Indonesia both wanted it as a national heritage}, but the minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture also states that they are going to promote Batik by encouraging young people to wear printed textiles, what? Wait? How?

"Although machine-printed batik might not be considered actual batik, which is handpainted, it is a start to reach out to the younger generation because it is cheaper and more accessible"

Promoting Printed Textiles can never result in promoting Batik. To promote Batik you should promote handmade Batik. It is that simple. If you promote printed textiles you just promote Fast Fashion! And therefor create an even more difficult position for the makers of the actual textiles... They already have to compete with these printed textiles, why make it even more difficult by promoting these textiles! Please don’t confuse a heritage with Fast Fashion! Promote Batik by actually wearing Batik. Invest in a new generation of Batik by wearing Actual Batik & making it possible for a new generation of Batikmakers to continue their legacy!

During the 61th Tong Tong Fair me together with Guave will be hosting 'The Batik Stand, A Stand For Batik'. From 23 May till 2 June you can find us on the Grand Pasar for everything about, on and with Batik. Come stand with us for Batik!

1) 'SPRING/SUMMER 2020 RESORT Christian Dior' on www.vogue.co.uk
2) 'Dior launches radical collection promoting local African print' on www.gbcghanaonline.com
3) 'Dior and the Line Between Cultural Appreciation and Cultural Appropriation' on www.nytimes.com

To read more on Wax Print:

• Article 'Deze stof stemt Afrikaanse millennials tot nadenken' by Hélène Christelle Munganyende {in Dutch}
• Website of the film 'Wax Print: 1 Fabric, 4 Continents, 200 Years of History' & Director Aiwan Obinyan respons to the Dior collection on Twitter
• Previous blogpost 'Wax Prints are based on Javanese Batiks'
• Previous post 'Good Life II'
• A little more on Toile de jouy on  'The History of Surface Design: Toile de Jouy' on PatternObserver

* I wrote this Monday, but had no time to finetune until now. Meanwhile I had a discussion on the 'Batik print' promotion, were I was called a 'gatekeeper' and that this was the future...Even the claim was made that keeping the technique of Batik alive was not necessary and not sustainable...This breaks my heart & I want to say to all hard working Batikmakers (and all others that keep textile traditions alive) keep up the great work! Batik will never be replaced by some printed substitute, it didn't work in the 19th century, why would we let it happen now!
** I haven't shared images of the Dior collection, because I don't want to support their possible campaign strategy of getting free press through negative press

Arabic Calligraphy in Dutch traditional wear

Summer apron from former Dutch island Marken

Dated 1920-1940

collection Textile Research Center

Searching for some examples of Calligraphy Batiks, I came across this piece in the online collection of the Textile Research Center. A Summer apron from former Dutch island Marken, in Dutch "zomerboezeltje", made from what appeared to be Calligraphy Batik. What a remarkable combination! So when Modemuze asked me to write an article for their FashionClash Festival collaboration blogpost-series, this apron seemed to be the perfect match, or clash, to write about. [1].

Calligraphy Batik

Batik is a resist dyeing techniek in which hot wax is used to create patterns on fabric. Calligraphy Batik, or Besurek Batik, is a style or type of Batik within the Indonesian tradition. These Batiks, often blue with white patterns, are full of signs recognizable as Arabic or Islamic Calligraphy. They were made on Java (in cities like Cirebon and Demak) and intended for the Sumatran market.[2] On Sumatra Islam was introduced in the 11th century. The style of the calligraphy used on Besurek Batik looks a lot like calligraphy from the Ottoman Empire (1299-1922), now Turkey, and it is plausible that the texts on Calligraphy Batiks were copied from these kinds of handwritten calligraphy.

Calligraphy Batiks are seen as talismans and give protection to the wearer. In most museum collections you'll find Besurek Batiks in the size of a headscarf.[3] These headscarfs were probably worn during prayers and rituals. There are also Calligraphy Batiks known in other sizes like sarongs, banners or even jackets with on it the soerat al-ihklaas – a verse from the Koran which would give the wearer protection.[4] Besurek Batik in sarong size weren't meant to be worn as such, they were used as shrouds or to wrap around important things like a Koran.

Styled texts

On old Besurek Batiks the texts are readable or recognizable as the Arabic saying Bismillah or as other prayers. Sometimes texts are styled into the shape of an animal or flower. A lion stands for Ali, a bird for Allah and Mohammed is depicted as a horse.[5] This form of zoomorphic calligraphy or zoomorphism is a way of depicting live animals without them being directly recognizable as such. The Koran disallows idolisation: within the Islamic Art its quite common to not depict humans or animals.[6]

Christian grapes and Arabic Batik motifs 

Back to the apron from the Textile Research Centre (TRC) collection, because: How does Arabic Calligraphy end up on an apron worn as part of the traditional wear on Marken?

The apron, called 'boezel' in Dutch, is a typical example of wear commonly used on former island Marken before the Second World War. [7] Children had within this traditional wear their own 'fashion'. Boys would wear girls clothing, including this type of apron as long as they "went in the skirt" (“in de rokkies gingen” in Dutch)[8]

Between the age 5 and 7 boys started wearing pants. The age depends on achieved nighttime dryness of the children. Girls would wear red and white chequered aprons, while boys would wear dark blue aprons with a white pattern. The 'boezels' of the boys in museum collections often have a bunch of grapes om them. I found this motif also on other clothing items from Marken and even as curtains for a bedstead.

This house😍A building originally from Marken, decorated as it was in the 1930’s💙💛Everything in this house is soooo wonderful❣️Where did our colourful past go? Happy some of it is saved at @zuiderzeemuseum 💛💙I need to explore Marken better, check out the fabric used for the bedstee-curtain😍#marken #zuiderzeemuseum #enkhuizen #exploringdutchculture #traditionaldutch #textile #pattern #yellowandblue #tiles #Iwanttolivehere #tinyhouse

A post shared by Sabine Bolk (@sabinebolk) on Sep 22, 2017 at 1:41am PDT

Protestans

A bunch of grapes has many meanings, among them fertility, but in this case it is more likely to be linked to Christianity. A bunch of grapes can be a symbol of the Last Supper and the blood of Christ, similar to the sacramental wine.

The population of Marken is mainly Protestant and this is expressed through their traditional wear in different ways. Not only the grapes, also in other parts of their clothing: they change it on Sunday and to go to church, for different celebrations or stages of mourning.
Between Pentecost (May-June) and St. Martin's Day (11 November) the Summer apron is being worn. These blue with white aprons for boys are in all kinds of grape-motifs. Later it seems all kinds of blue with white motif fabrics were welcome to be turned into Summer aprons.[9]  I found one with a chequered motif, one with a very fine floral motif and a couple with Batik-like motifs [10] and of course the one with Arabic Calligraphy.

Starting left corner clockwise: 

apron with herons (TRC 2016.0448f); 

apron with Calligraphy Batik-motif (TRC 2009.0048); 

insides of sleeves (TRC 2010.0463a-b); 

apron with Vlisco-motif of Star of David (TRC 2016.0720)

Imitation and original 

I visited the TRC in Leiden to see the Calligraphy Batik-apron and other pieces from their collection. The TRC has an interesthing textile collection with all kinds of techniques and traditional wears. The requested items were sorted from the depot and were put neatly on a board covered with fabric. I was free to take photos and to touch them!

To my surprise the apron turned out not to be a Batik after all. It is an imitation Batik. Another apron I requested also turned out to be a imitation Batik. I recognized the motif of a Vlisco Wax Print I have at home. A Star of David is surrounded by leaves with a craquelé effect on the background.
So the Calligraphy Batik from the TRC is a copy of a copy of a copy: first handwritten writings or calligraphy from the Ottoman Empire, then an Indonesian Batik and then an imitation Batik or in other words Wax Print.

Detail of apron from the TRC collection

 (TRC 2016.0720)

When Batiks are copied to make a pattern for a Wax Print, the pattern changes a little and become less readable. In the case of the Calligraphy Batik it would have been interesting if it still was readable. And if I could link it to an actual text or prayer which would tell us more about the use within the Islamic belief. I also thought if I could trace it back to the original Batik on which this design was based, I could figure out when and how it got on Marken. I found an original Batik before on which Vlisco based a Wax Print, so I started searching.[11]

Kain panjang ‘batik tulis arab’

Dated 1900-1950

collection Asian Art Museum in San Francisco

I actually found the original Batik in an online catalog, image above. The pattern is clearly the same, even the mirrored calligraphy placed in a triangle. I assumed the mirroring was a printing error, or a design solution to make a repeating pattern, but it  is actually already in the original Batik.

I haven't gotten extra information yet on this Batik, I will definitely keep on searching. The story isn't told completely yet, but what a story it already is. This apron takes us on a journey from the Ottoman Empire, to Indonesian Sumatra, through the Vlisco factory in Helmond to the former island Marken.


Two religions onto one apron came together in an unusual way. Is it a clash or a match, who knows?




For more:

See the original post on Modemuze for more photos www.modemuze.nl

Check out the project ‘Fake Calligraphy’ by Ada van Hoorebeke and Maartje Fliervoet in collaboration with Manoeuvre in Gent (Belgium), show at WIELS in Brussel.

Read also previous blogpost ‘Where Batik Belongs’ on The journey to Batik about artist Ada van Hoorebeke

Notes
[1] This blogpost was written as part of the series 'Fashion My Religion!' in collaboration with FASHIONCLASH Festival
[2] Nowadays Besurek Batiks are made on Sumatra in Palembang and Jambi 
[3] Find more examples of Calligraphy Batiks in the collection of Stichting Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen en het Wereldmuseum with search words ‘Kalligrafie Batik’.
[4] More on the jacket online https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11840/169561. Believed is that this and other similar jackets were worn by warriors, or against the Dutch on Sumatra during the Aceh War (1873–1914), or when Indonesia became independent.
[5] Chapter 8 ‘Islamic talisman, the calligraphy batiks’ by Fiona Kerlogue in the book 'Batik, Drawn in Wax'.
[6] ‘Turn Of A Century’ on this blog with nice examples of Islamic influence on Batik. The heads of the people on the batik are turned into flowers.
[7] For more on the traditional wear of Marken, check out the second episode of Community Dressing on YouTube.
[8] From the book ‘Marken’ by Dr. P.J. Kostelijk and B. De Kock.
[9] Examples in the online collection of Modemuze with search word ‘boezel’.
[10] Apron, collection Zuiderzeemuseum, objectnr 021828. Apron for boy, collection Zuiderzeemuseum, objectnr 012284. Apron, collection Zuiderzeemuseum, objectnr 012285. Apron, collection Textile Research Centre, objectnr TRC 2016.0720.
[11] My previous Modemuze post ‘Batik ‘Tiga Negeri’ & de Java Print ‘Good Living’ in Dutch, on my blog 'Good Life II' in English.

With special thanks to Textile Research Center & artist Ada van Hoorebeke

Update 22 April 2023; The Batik Besurek from the Asian Art Museum turned out not be a handmade batik, but a blockprinted imitation. Another one with exactly this motif is in the ACM collection in Singapore. To be continued