BATIK TULIS

Batik tulis

One does not leave a batik factory without a renewed appreciation of the batik. Although a lot of the common batik prints are machine-made, the original ancient tradition of batik tulis is alive in Indonesia. The acknowledged center of the art is Central Java, particularly Yogyakarta. The process is quite tedious- the number of colors there is in the print, the most likely that this is the same number of times that the cloth is waxed and dyed.

Batik tulis is widely practiced exclusively by old women but I was glad that there were several young apprentices in this workshop. The survival of the art rests on the interests of the young to find sustainable work from this age old tradition.