The child is not dead

Nelson Mandela reading Ingrid Jonker's poem "The child is not dead" during his inaugural address to South Africa’s first democratic Parliament, on the 24 of may in 1994, is the first thing I think of when I think about Mandela.
I was only 6 when Mandela was finally released, so I know him more in legend then in memory. His very important legacy shouldn't become a part of history, we have to honor it everyday.
A friend of mine, thanks Thijs, send me a message in Facebook: "I just read that Nelson Mandela is a big fan of Batik blouses". And indeed he is. I said to him, maybe I should write a blogpost about that, and here it is. Googling "Mandela" I found so many lovely pictures of him in beautiful Batik blouses, always smiling.
How great is it that he almost always wears (Javanese) batik!

Another great thing I came across are the memory cloths with Nelson Mandela's portrait on them. Memory cloths ('Herinneringsdoek') are made to honor special events, like the cloth made by Vlisco for Willem-Alexander's coronation*. They can be worn as support or as protest. And are instant collector items.

An ANC supporter hangs a cloth in support of Mandela outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital

Memory cloth with images of Nelson Mandela, with the colors and symbols of the ANC (African National Congress), former president of South Africa (1994-1999).
The text on the cloth: "Better life for all, working together for jobs, peace and freedom".
These cloths were really important, because before 1990 it was illegal to own a portrait of Mandela or things with the ANC-colors on it.**

This Vlisco Java pattern was launched because of Mandela’s immense popularity following his release from prison in 1990 and his leading role afterwards in the negotiations for multi-racial democracy. The framework of the design, however, was designed in 1989 to suit different portraits, from Charles de Gaulle to Pope John Paul II.***

The child is not dead
The child lifts his fists against his mother
Who shouts Afrika ! shouts the breath
Of freedom and the veld
In the locations of the cordoned heart

The child lifts his fists against his father
in the march of the generations
who shouts Afrika ! shout the breath
of righteousness and blood
in the streets of his embattled pride

The child is not dead
not at Langa nor at Nyanga
not at Orlando nor at Sharpeville
nor at the police station at Philippi
where he lies with a bullet through his brain

The child is the dark shadow of the soldiers
on guard with rifles Saracens and batons
the child is present at all assemblies and law-givings
the child peers through the windows of houses and into the hearts
of mothers
this child who just wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere
the child grown to a man treks through all Africa
the child grown into a giant journeys through the whole world

Without a pass

- Ingrid Jonker

* See blogpost 'The day that you knew was coming is finally here'
** Cloth from Tropenmuseum collection
***Text from Vlisco Stories

Shared Heritage

Exhibition 'Sporen van Smaragd' on the 55th Tong Tong Fair

On Friday the 31th of May I went to the symposium 'Shared Heritage' by Sporen van Smaragd ("Traces of Emerald") on the Tong Tong Fair in Den Haag. An interesting day with great lectures, a good conclusion of a very successful project. Many great architectural finds were made during the three years of research. Not only the charismatic bricks and stained glass has been mapped out, also the inhabitants and the clients. It's an important part of our cultural heritage in which emigrants from the Dutch East Indies left their traces of emerald not only in buildings, but also in literature, art, music and the cuisine of the Netherlands.

Frans Leidelmeijer with Louis Couperus's 'De Stille Kracht' with a batiked cover

Example of Batik being made in the Netherlands

'Raden Adjeng' by Paul Citroen

Frans Leidelmeijer gave an interesting lecture about Dutch East Indies influence on the Dutch art scene. Great examples are found in the Dutch version of the Arts and Crafst-movement, De Nieuwe Kunst. Batik was a popular craft and was used in many different ways by artists in the Netherlands. Leijermeijer's lecture contained many interesting artworks, but his story was a bit chaotic and he mentioned a lot of names and dates, but only once. Fortunatly the great publication by Sporen van Smaragd also gives attention to this subject in both text and image.
Leidemeijer's lecture ended with a very nice surprise, the wonderful painting 'Raden Adjeng' by Paul Citroen. The ultimate Batik Statement!
I first saw this painting in a museum in Gorinchem. I didn't like the exhibition much and so I didn't mind not being allowed to take pictures. But then in the last room, there it was. This big colourful painting with a beautiful Javanese lady surrounded by Batiks and Ikats. I thought of making a picture anyway, but most paintings were from private collections. Back in Breda I googled for an image of the painting without any luck. Then there it was, more then a year later, projected at the Tong Tong Fair.

Correction: The painting of Raden Ajoe is not by Paul Citroen but by a pupil of him at the Haagse Kunstacademie. Corry Muhlenfeld. See the comment on this post by Frans Leidelmeijer himself.

Dr. Marty Bax with Batik examples

In the lecture by Dr. Marty Bax the hidden Indonesian influence in architecture in Den Haag was unravelled. The Amsterdam School is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in The Netherlands. With the economic prosperity in the Netherlands, due to the colonies, art developed rapidly. Architects could design entire buildings including the interiors. It were the heydays for architects like H.P. Berlage and K.P.C. de Bazel. Marty Bax made some nice comparisons between buildings made in the style of the Amsterdamse school and Buddhist temples. De Lijn, the line, formed the basis for their architecture. The flow through the building had to be like a meandering line, like life energy, Chi. Gemeentemuseum De Haag by H.P. Berlage makes this very visible, wondering through the halls you get the feeling of being led flow instead of directions.
The modern Amsterdamse school use of squares, circles and triangles as patterns, wasn't so modern after all. The use of patterns could be easily traced back to Batik motifs. Bax used the great slide (see picture above) to demonstrate this.

The Dutch East Indies left a clear line in our history and if you just know where to look, you'll find it on many places. The influence in not only found here of course, but also oversees. Ben de Vries from the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed gave an very interesting presentation about station architecture in Indonesia from the Dutch East Indies. And the preserving of colonial buildings abroad was extensively discussed. It is a very interesting subject and a lot is happing at the moment. A VOC building in Publicat is going to be saved from being demolished, Louis Couperus home were he wrote 'De Stille Kracht' is discovered and on Sunday mornings in Indonesia the colonial time is being acted out with role playing. I will save this subject for another post, try to visit the exhibition “Vroeger is een ver land” ("The Past in a Foreign Country") at the Tropenmuseum first!

Drs. Ben de Vries gave an inspiring presentation

Monarch kite at the entrance of the Tong Tong Fair

More information about the interesting project by Sporen van Smaragd on www.sporenvansmaragd.nl and in my blogpost 'Traces of Emerald'. Also a very beautiful publication (in Dutch) is made!

The real deal

Photo made on Pasar Malam in Breda

A while back I began to notice that almost no one is wearing real Batiks. A year ago when I visited the Tong Tong Fair, I was disappointed that there was little Batik being sold, and the batik that was being sold wasn't handmade, it was mostly printed.
This year I was paying more attention to the actual Batiks being worn. Because of my Batik Statement project I'm more focused on the subject. What shocks me, is that actually no one is wearing real Batiks and if you ask them about what they are wearing they assume its real. Most of the time they even bought it in Indonesia or on a Pasar Malam where it is being sold under the name 'Batik'.
This is not a scam, you might think that, but in Indonesia printed cloth, or painted by hand, made with canting or cap can all be called Batik. It's not the technique what gives it its name, but the patterned style.
So to really support batik, and to make sure to be wearing the real deal some tips and tricks.

1. One basic trick is to check both sides of the batikcloth (blouse, skirt etc.). Batik is an Indonesian Heritage, because it's made on a specific way only in indonesia! The applying of the wax is always done on both sides of the cloth. This makes the lines more clear and the coloring very pure. Note: On Indian chintz wax is only applied on one side. If the Batik is printed, one side is more faded, the pattern is not so clear.

2. Batik Tulis is handmade, therefore irregularities can be found in the pattern. Not every dot can be the same, and that gives it it's great quality. The more difficult it is to find irregularities the better the Batikmaker is. Of course this depends on the motif of the Batik, but in almost all Batiks a pattern is repeated. Compare and if it is exactly the same, the Batik is printed. Note: Batik made with cap makes the pattern also look similar, but because it is a handmade process you can see the difference between print and made with cap (the cap is pressed to the cloth by hand, also the making of a cap is an art form by itself)

3. Buy the Batik at the workshop. Most workshops have their own store/shop. When you're in a Batikshop, ask if you can visit the workshop. Most times it's behind the store. You can even see the making of the product you're going to take home with you.

4. Buy the batikcloth in Indonesia and let it made into a blouse, skirt or dress also in indonesia. This way, with the tips above, you can be sure your batikclothing for the next Pasar is the real deal. And you can choose how the pattern is shown on your clothing. Note: Some Batik cloths are specially made for blouses so that when the fabric is cut, the pattern is still in tact. Where these Batiks are made, you can also buy the eventual blouse.

Photo made on Pasar Malam in Breda

That's all the tricks and tips for now. I'm not an expert either, and sometimes printed batiks can be really well done. I'm been told that nowadays wax printed Batiks are being made on Java. This development makes it even more difficult to see if it's Batik Tulis or fake.
To support the fine art of Batik Tulis and to keep it from extinction we need to make an effort. It is know that the technical quality of Batik Tulis, made with canting, is far less than what it was before the arrival of the cap. The knowlegde about the technique gets lost because faster methods are being developed (cap and worse, printing) and isn't passed on to the next generation.


VERSION #2 - BTS 'Batik Our Love Story' - The Documentary from Ucu Agustin on Vimeo.

The beautiful documentary 'Batik, Our Love Story' shows this troubling trend in very fine colors. A great story, but with a possible very bad ending.
I'm looking for places to screen the documentary, but there is more needed than sitting down and watching this heritage like watching hunting panters on the verge of extinction in nature shows.
Why isn't real batik for sale on the many Pasars we have. Where does it go wrong?
In the end we all want the real deal, right?
I'm working on it and in the meantime use my tips and tricks and if you have any useful tips or tricks I can share with my readers, please let me know (comment below!). Also if you are interested in screening 'Batik, Our Love Story' in the Netherlands, please send me an email (see 'About Me').

In May all birds lay an egg *

Joepie, my new Vlisco!

A clear line starts to form in the Vlisco's I purchased. My last one, the nest filled with eggs on a great greenish-blue colored pattern of birds in branches from the 'Jeu De Couleurs' collection (see previous post 'The day that you knew was coming is finally here '), seems to be an extreme bold one, but is it?
So far I only have Vlisco's with birds, eggs and nests... and I do love birds, and I love having them build nests in my garden, but I do not long for a nest of my own. So when I first spotted this Vlisco online, I was wondering if I could wear it. What hidden message could be given to it?

That birds, nests or eggs could have many meanings, is clearly found in the Vlisco's I own, 'Happy Family' and 'Moms know best', but also in the works I made.
In my collaboration with artist Emmy Dijkstra bird nests are found in three of the paper installations***.
The first one, 'Copying the Moon', an installation of wallpaper forming the background for Emmy's paper dress, is filled with weaver birds building their moon-shaped nests. Our inspiration was a quote from a book about South-American Indians: "Do you know there is a place on earth where people and animals, water and trees, plants, stars and the moon live together? Where men gives a soul to everything that surrounds them, where everything is visible, touchable and tangible?"
For our ceremonial hut, a hut made of paper, I made a piece that didn't make the final selection, but is now hanging at home. The inspiration for this installation were the ceremonial huts made on New Guinea by the Papua. In my paper 'panels' I chose to work with symbols for fertility, nature and gender, common in tribal art, but in a way they represent the opposite.

Creating your own symbols and patterns gives you the freedom to give (a new) meaning to them. But even if the meaning is the same, by repeating a symbol you can make peace with its meaning.

But what meaning could be given to the Vlisco that is my newest addition to my small collection? It's a new design by Vlisco and I wonder how it did on the African market. My first thoughts were that it was an appropriate fabric for springtime, Easter Chic. The title of this blogpost "In May all birds lay an egg" (Dutch phrase "In mei leggen alle vogels een ei"), doesn't mean anything other then that birds start their breeding season in May, it's a weather proverb. So you can easily use this Vlisco to celebrate spring.
Another meaning could be: Nest egg. You have or need some savings for the future. Poultry farmers formerly placed a porcelain or other fake egg in a hen's nest to encourage it to lay more eggs, from this came the proverb; nest egg. Saving money is making money ****. In Africa women collect Vlisco's, and other textiles, as a form of savings account. Buying a Vlisco is considered an investment.
So this Vlisco could be my literal nest egg for a rainy day.

Emmy's paper dress with my wallpaper 'Copying the Moon' during our forrest exhibition

Paper 'panel' at home

Detail from 'View on the Linie', stencil swan on nest first used for tree-carpet 'A walk around the Pond'

Detail from Vlisco expressing the African proverb 'Only a good mother knows what her childeren will eat'

Detail from Pagi-Sore Batik, c. 1950 by Liem Siek Hien**

* Dutch phrase; "In mei leggen alle vogels een ei"

** Pagi-Sore batik by Liem Siek Hien from Greg Roberts collection, photo from his blog North Coast Javanese Batik, www.northcoastjavanesebatik.com. You can find more photos of this beautiful batik in the post 'A Pekalongan Batik Made in the kudus style'

*** For more about my collaboration with Emmy Dijkstra visit our blog www.edijkstra.wordpress.com

**** From Free Dictionary

BatikFashionPhotoShoot

Tony van Room & Talitha

On 21 of april I planned to make Batik Statements** of the public that visited the Indonesian Cultural Festival in Best. Preparing the Batik Statement Fashionshow* took more time than planned. After the fashionshow a lot of people came by my Batik Statement corner to ask questions about batik, how I knotted the batik-pants and how I came to love Batik so much. And to take a closer look at the beautiful Batik Chic products.

My Batik Statements

Koen de Wit posing so I could check my frame and light

My Batik Statements corner with the beautiful products by Batik Chic

And with Batik books and fabrics

The day passed and in the process I only made two official Batik Statements. But after the event self made-Batik Statements appeared on Facebook. I was so happy to see that my Batik Statement corner was well used during my absence! Thanks Erni Hendriks for sharing these photos!

* More about my first Batik Statement Fashionshow in the previous post 'Batik Statement Fashionshow'

** More Batik Statements under the label 'Batik Statement'

Batik Statement Fashionshow

Group-photo by Dhanti Hajdenborg, representative of Batik Chic in the Netherlands

On Sunday 21 april I organized my first 'Batik Statement Fashionshow' during the Indonesian Cultural Festival at Best.
Rob Rosielle borrowed me his mothers Batik collection. His mother, Madame Rosielle-Bergsma is the granddaughter of Maria Paulina Carp, a batikmaker from Pekalongan during the Batik Belanda period (see blogpost 'Give honor to whom it’s due'). Very special to get the opportunity to use these batiks. I used them in the fashionshow to 'frame' the models to create a Batik Statement on stage. My male models Koen de Wit and Mickel van der Heijden hold the 'vintage' batiks behind the models.
Batik Chic provided a part of their Batik Tulis collection, the bags, the pretty clutch and the batiks Koen and Mickel wore, for the fashionshow, lucky me! It really added a great flair to the fashioshow, great to show these beautiful products by Batik Chic in the Batik Statement Fashionshow.

As soundtrack for the fashionshow I chose the song 'Who run the world' by Beyoncé.
My choice for this song was because the Cultural Indonesian Festival was held on Kartini day. Raden Adjeng Kartini (21 april 1879 - 17 september 1904) was a prominent Javanese and an Indonesian national heroine. Kartini was a pioneer in the area of women's rights for Indonesians.
After Raden Adjeng Kartini died, Mr J. H. Abendanon, the Minister for Culture, Religion and Industry in the East Indies, collected and published the letters that Kartini had sent to her friends in Europe. The book was titled "Door Duisternis tot Licht" (Out of Dark Comes Light) and was published in 1911. It went through five editions, with some additional letters included in the final edition, and was translated into English by Agnes Louise Symmers and published under the title "Letters of a Javanese Princess".*
To prepare for the 21th of april I bought that last edition, that was first published in 1920.

The time was ripe. It has been said that great men are products of great movements. There must always be some one to strike the note of leadership, so firmly convinced of righteousness of a given cause that he or she goes blindly forward, forgetful of personal interest and of all selfish considerations, combatting the world if need be, holding its ridicule as of no account; and what is perhaps hardest of all, bringing sorrow and disappointment to those that love them.
- Agnes Louise Symmers

The Kartini day also gave me the opportunity to honor the Batikmakers from the Batik Belanda period, like Maria Paulina Carp, Lien Metzelaar and Eliza van Zuylen. With their own Batikworkshops they were really ahead of their time. Maybe it wasn't feministic ideology, but more due to circumstances that made them run their own business, but never the less it is really inspiring. And we can still learn a lot from them! So who run the world? Right ;)!

For more photos of the Batik statement Fashionshow visit my website www.sabinebolk.nl/2013/05/batik-statement-fashionshow

Photo by Rahma

Photo by Ryvo Octaviano

Photo by Dhanti Hajdenborg

Photo by Yvonne Bolk

Photo by Ryvo Octaviano

Photo by Ryvo Octaviano

Photo by Dhanti Hajdenborg

Photo by Ryvo Octaviano

Photo by Dhanti Hajdenborg

Photo by Yvonne Bolk

Photo by Dhanti Hajdenborg

Photo by Ryvo Octaviano

Photo by Rahma

* Information from Wikipedia