CONTENTS

2 Editorial 3 A Word From the

SCC

4 Indonesian Batik as Head Adornment

6 Duck Mobiles & Bean People

9 Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar

T-Shirt–2010 Competition

10 Batik-Style Silk Painting in Sarawak

13 A Page of History 14 What’s On in the

World of Crafts

14 Where to buy...

CRAFTS is published by Crafthub Sdn. Bhd. for the Sarawak Craft Council (SCC). Opinions expressed by contributors to CRAFTS are not necessarily those of the SCC or Crafthub. The contents of CRAFTS may not be reproduced in any medium without prior written permission. Feedback is always welcome, write to us (address on back cover), email crafthub@gmail.com or visit our website www.crafthub.com.my

Would you like your craft event to appear in our What’s On… free listing? Would you like to advertise? Email Freya at: crafthub@gmail.com

Editor: Heidi MunanPublication Manager: Freya MartinContributors: Lucy Abey, Reynold Ahviet, Annette Bessant, Cynthia LobatoPrinted by Bahagia Press Sdn Bhd, Lot 225 Section 49, Jln Padungan Utara, 93100 KuchingPublished by Crafthub Sdn Bhd, 1st Floor, 96 Main Bazaar, 93000 KuchingISSN 1985-7357, Cover: Mr. Deudney working on Sarawak pareo design.Photo by Annette Bessant.

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The classic literature on Southeast Asia, written before the 20th century, contains surprisingly little detailed information about handicrafts. Most articles of daily use were hand-produced by women – textile and fibre crafts, beadwork, earthenware pottery for home consumption. The explorers and administrators of the past, right into the early 20th century, were more likely to describe smith-craft and weapons, or woodwork like house-building and boat-making.

The authors of these early books on Borneo were bound by social restrictions, of course. On their travels they interacted mainly with men; they had no business to intrude into the women’s domain inside the family rooms. If they were government officials, exact details of weaponry and boats – potential war boats! – were of more interest than mats and baskets. Today, what scant written information about the history of our material culture exists is closely scrutinized by modern researchers. Together with the few artifacts that have stood the test of time, many of them in museums, these sources allow us to study not just crafts, but the history of crafts.

This issue of CRAFTS is devoted in part to the ancient art of batik. There is an early 19th-century description of the process (p. 13), another by a contemporary Indonesian author (pp. 4–5), and a third describes recent developments in Sarawak (pp.10–11). It is encouraging to know that crafts are researched and documented nowadays. It is essential to know not just what used to be produced in the past, or what is happening now. We also need to understand the developments that produced today’s craft scene, which is ever-changing.

Take fabric dyes as an example. The venerable art of pua-making, from spinning the thread to weaving the tie-dyed warp, has been well documented by a number of competent local researchers. The plant-based dyes have been carefully analysed; in the course of their work some hands-on researchers have come up with innovations, the experimental use of new dye plants for instance.

One new development is the use of artificial dyes. In the 1960s some weavers began to opt for the easy-to-use powder dyes which were becoming available even in up-country bazaars. The results were considered unsatisfactory. For one thing the colours fade, for another they do not replicate the traditional hues very well. Other, better dyes turned up in the market later, often introduced by handicrafts agencies.

Recording the use of new materials, and how they worked out in practice, is part of the documentation we need. In the case of dyes, for instance, does the ceremonial for making dyes still apply if chemical dye stuffs are used? Is dyeing still a communal activity, or can each weaver dye her warps in the privacy of her own kitchen?

In the 60s some weavers used embroidery cotton to work the ornamental patterns in anyam textiles, but the resulting stiff fabric wasn’t practical for women’s skirts. Gold thread is commonly woven into anyam fabrics nowadays, popular because of its glittery appearance but liable to snag if such a skirt is worn a lot. A new development is the addition of gold thread to the weft of ikat fabrics, a practice which seems to be popular with some buyers, but considered poor taste by others. Textile students of the future will want to know where these innovations were first used, who introduced them, and how they were accepted by the majority of weavers.

Basket-workers have started utilizing the tough plastic bands used for commercial packaging. Some only produce rough utility containers from this modern material, others apply their traditional skill to making finely finished baskets in many colours. One seasoned basket-worker and mat-maker in Miri who gives lessons in traditional crafts uses the comparatively cheap, easily obtainable material while teaching beginners. Once they gain better skills they ‘graduate’ to pandan, bemban and rattan (for a report, read our next issue). Rolled-up or folded strips of paper (magazines or newspapers) are plaited and woven into a variety of containers and mats too; this new craft enjoys an international following. The small glass beads traditionally used for making bead fabrics are still very popular, but a new type of plastic bead, somewhat larger than the ‘craft beads’, is taking the local bead scene by storm.

Is anybody keeping track of these new trends in Sarawak? Every innovation, ones that proved successful as well as ones which were discarded after a short trial, needs to be recorded. Information and input about new craft trends or ideas from our readers would be welcome. Twenty years from now, when possibly other new fibres are used for traditional-style handicrafts, it will be useful to know when, and how, packing bands or plastic beads first became popular. The past yields clues to the future.

KEEPING RECORDS

Top & Right: Indonesian Batik

On 27 September, Crafthub hosted a dinner for Ms Susanne Kampp (front left) who led a group of Danish basket-makers to share lore and craft with the Iban ladies of Ng. Sumpah in the Ulu Ai region.

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Top & Right: Indonesian Batik

Our guest of honour, Toh Puan

Datuk Patinggi Hajah Norkiah

Our fashion show!

The Coin Box and Key Chain from Bamboo Workshop held last year in Similajau National Park is one of the many workshops that are planned and run by the Sarawak Craft Council in order to nurture the love of arts and crafts in beginners. We know that there are a lot of people out there who want to try their hand at various crafts, but don’t know exactly how to begin.

The objective of this workshop (and others like it) is to introduce people to a particular craft, provide expert instruction and through this process produce highly skilled craftspeople who will go on to make good quality crafts products – in this case bamboo coin boxes and key chains – as a livelihood. Bamboo products are currently selling very well in the local market, and it is a well-known craft of the Bidayuh community in Sarawak.

Fifteen participants were selected by the Sarawak Craft Council to attend this particular workshop. Most of them were from Sg. Asap resettlement, Belaga, and Sarikei town. The workshop was held at Similajau National Park in a classroom setting. This type of venue is stress free because participants can focus on and enjoy nature while learning to hone their bamboo craft skills. The trainer at this workshop was En. Edwin Sijan (bottom right) from Kampung Pichin Serian. He has been in the bamboo craft business for more than 10 years and he also owns his very own bamboo workshop based at his home where he produces a variety of bamboo products. The Sarawak Craft Council chose him because of his expertise and his willingness to share his skills with others.

Crucially, despite all the fun we had throughout the course, participants managed to acquire the vital skills as taught by the trainer so that they are now able to make both bamboo coin boxes and key chains. And it was no surprise when most of the participants told us that they couldn’t wait for the next workshop!

by Reynold Ahviet

A word from...The Sarawak Craft Council

Bamboo Workshop in Similajau National Park

The Sarawak Craft CouncilThe SCC promotes the State’s ethnic handicrafts, both to preserve a priceless artistic heritage and to improve the artisans’ livelihood. The predominantly rural craftworkers now have a realistic option to augment their income from agriculture.The Craft Council coordinates the activities of government and private entities involved in handicraft development in Sarawak.

Mission StatementThe Sarawak Craft Council provides leadership in the development and enhancement of the handicaft industry in Sarawak.

ObjectiveTo develop the handicraft industry into a more coordinated and progressive enterprise that will complement the needs of the tourism industry.

The SCC building above, situated next to The Old Courthouse in Kuching, has a quality crafts shop on the ground floor which is open from 8.30am-4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

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VIP visitor - Datuk Michael Manyin

“Batik is a Javanese term for a selective dyeing technique using wax to produce coloured patterns. It has been used in India, Sri Lanka, China, South East Asia and West Africa. In Java this craft has reached the highest level of refinement. Once limited to the confines of the keraton (palace),it slowly spread outside. Natural colourings used in traditional batiks yield the distinctive, muted colours for which Indonesian batik is famous.”

Benny Adrianto, batik expert, present at RWCB-2009

Traditional batiks are made by hand, in a long and painstaking process. First, patterns are pencilled on white cotton, calico or silk. Then wax is applied using the canting (small bronze reservoir with a narrow spout) to mask parts of the cloth. The cloth is then dyed in one colour. The open part will be coloured while the masked part remains white. This process may be repeated with several colours. Finally the cloth is dipped in boiling water to remove the wax, and left to dry. If natural dyes are used, washing and drying should be done naturally to protect the colours.

This traditional process produces batik tulis (handmade batik) of the highest quality. Simpler processes cater for different markets. Around 1815, batik cap (stamped batik) was introduced. Inspired by European block-printing, the batik pattern is stamped directly onto the cloth with a metal printing block dipped in wax. This produces an image on one side of the cloth only, and the patterns are repetitive. Although it is deemed inferior to batik tu l i s , stamped

batik is m o r e

Indonesian Batik as Head Adornmentby De Gayantina Thamrin

affordable as it permits limited mass production. A later development is textile that has been machine-

printed with a batik design. Some purists don’t even consider this version to be batik!

Over time, some places have become associated with certain styles or patterns. Cirebon and Pekalongan for instance, are known for brightly coloured batiks influenced by Chinese and European art. Arabian influence is evident in batiks from Jambi. Batiks from Yogyakarta and Solo mostly come in muted brown colours, traceable to Hindu tradition.

In Indonesia today, batik is worn on many occasions. Apart from traditional costumes, batik is being mixed and matched with modern clothes, producing interesting combinations that are modern yet distinctively local. Creative design utilizes batik in Muslim women’s fashions, including their head coverings.

Batik as HeadcoverWhen Islam came to South East Asia in the late 13th century, women started to cover their heads with hijab or kerudung/tudung. In Indonesia the practice of covering the hair entirely, now widely believed to be the standard teaching of Al Qur’an, did not become popular until recently. A white silk veil became known as the attire of nobility, while peasants working in the rice fields wore thick cotton, both for reasons of modesty and to protect the wearer from the sun.

I do not know when women started to use batik as a headcovering; I believe it’s a recent phenomenon. In olden days men wore headgear made of batik – in the form of blangkon in Central and East Java, iket kepala in West Java, Sumatra and Celebes, or udheng in Bali. Old photos (see p. 13) often show warriors of the Javanese kingdoms

Mr. Roso demonstrating his skill on the author

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sporting batik headgear. I suspect batik became a sensible choice when it also became widely accepted as part of modern clothing, and when more women chose to wear hijab for religious reasons. It is a natural extension of batik’s comeback and rising popularity in modern urban life in Indonesia.

“Use a clip, brooch or pin to keep your kerudung neat and firmly in place,” said Roso, a batik designer from Indonesia, speaking to a Kuching audience. Roso demonstrated his kerudung/tudung technique at a workshop for women at the Indonesian Consulate-General after attending the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar 2009.

A whole new industry called busana wanita muslimah (Muslim women’s fashion) has sprung up in Indonesia. According to Islamic teaching, a woman has to entirely cover her hair. To do this, she ties her hair and covers it with a kind of bandana or thin cloth. Over this, she drapes an outer scarf or veil. This may be a soft rectangular headscarf, a wrapped selendang panjang, or a ready-made hijab.

As the modern headcover is not part of any batik tradition, the use of batik for hijab does not follow any traditional norms. As a nod to the principles in Islamic arts, abstract and floral patterns are commonly used, while animal patterns are muted or avoided altogether. Silk batik headscarves of 100 x 100cm or 200 x 90cm size, area available in a great variety of colours and patterns, and are very popular. They are light, easy to use, and go well with almost any women’s clothing.

Care of Batik TextilesNaturally dyed batiks tend to fade faster than those made with chemical colourings because they are not chemically fixed. Precious handmade batiks (batik tulis) need special care. Here are some tips from Ms Mis’ari from Jakarta Textile Museum, another batik expert who attended the Rainforest World Crafts

Bazaar 2009:

• A special soap for washing batik is available, but it is possible to use hair shampoo to wash handmade batiks. Make sure the shampoo is completely diluted before dipping your batik, and don’t dip it for too long. Traditionally, people used lerak fruit (buah lerak, sapindus rarak) or dilem leaf (daun dilem, Pogestemon hortensis) for washing batik. Lerak fruit or dilem leaves are soaked in warm water and gently squeezed until the water is soapy and bubbly. The soapy water is then used for washing batik. (The dried peel of a locally available fruit, buah langgir, can be used for this purpose. Ed.)

• Do not put handmade batik in a washing machine. The spinning and tumbling will make the colour fade faster.

• Do not dry your batik under direct sunlight and it is better to dry it inside-out.

• Don’t spray fabric softener or perfume directly on your batik, cover it with a piece of white cloth and spray through the cloth.

• Do the same when ironing. Never directly iron a batik tulis.

Mr. Roso demonstrating his skill on the author

Sitting at the Crafthub booth at the 2009 Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar (RWCB) one late afternoon, I watched with curiosity the booth opposite coming alive. From the airport, two Korean sisters came straight to the RWCB with a couple of boxes.

Their poster said “White birch duck mobiles”. Out of the box came strings of one duck, three ducks, four ducks, five ducks, seven ducks, all wingless, with tea-cosy shaped brass bells dangling at the end of each string. Fingers worked deftly; soon the duck mobiles-wind chimes were suspended in mid air.

The longer I stared at the mobiles-wind chimes, the more appealing they became. They were exotic, hypnotic, so as to stimulate my mental faculty to compose a little verse to the wingless ducks. They might not take flight; but I believed that they could speak.

O gentle wind,Rock me softly.I’ll mute my quacks,Then let my bells sing.Ding a ling-ling … ting!

And I was mentally transported way back. Childhood memories included my father’s frequent presents of little yellow furry ducklings waddling after me. They had tiny, undeveloped wings, flightless but could speak, like the ducks of the mobiles-wind chimes.

Duck Mobiles & Bean People

Hee Sook, the elder sister, is the artist-crafter, Mee Hee speaks on behalf of them both. Their family name, Suk, means ‘stone’. Mee Hee means radiant beauty, Hee Sook is roughly translated as lasting or permanent shine. Together, we had a hearty laugh when I interpreted their names as one stone radiantly beautiful and another of everlasting brilliance.

Each duck is hand carved in a rustic, primitive shape, a robust oblong wingless body, an upright neck holding a head with a beak gently upturned at its tip.

Although virtually any wood can be used for carving the ducks, Hee Sook favours white birch for the body. Carved birch wood ducks are a trademark of Jintokacki, Gangnung in Gangwon Province. Traditionally, the duck sits on a stick or a pole placed at the entrance to a village or a house. Hee Sook, arts and crafts talent of over 25 years, decided to give this old form a new application. So she pioneered the duck mobile-wind chime.

Hee Sook’s creation is all natural, without paint or varnish. Sometimes, she uses fishing nylon to string the duck(s). Other times, she uses soft, fine metal wire. She systematically spaces out the ducks – big, medium, small – all on one string. There’s no set pattern of spacing the ducks, or choosing the string. It’s all in the artist’s mind and the crafter’s instinct. Hee Sook mentally measures the spaces between ducks and bell for a well-balanced mobile.

by Lucy Ang-Abey

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Duck Mobiles & Bean People

Don’t imagine that a bell is a bell is a bell! Those hand-forged bells ring with variable tones and pitches. Hee Sook can’t explain how she decides which bell to string for each mobile-wind chime. It all depends on how she views the ducks in their combinations in relation to the sound a bell gives out.

Hee Sook’s domain is carving, mainly on wood and soap. But before she ventured into creating the duck mobile-wind chime, her curiosity had led her away from carving.

Hee Sook lives in a village producing tofu (bean curd), and she became fascinated by beans, to the point of using beans to create art. Inspired by Korean folk tales, Hee Sook’s compositions of Bean People have story lines.

The Bean People are made up of different beans, of different colours and sizes. Hee Sook cleverly uses one bean for the head, another for the body, and others for limbs. Some feet are shoed, also by beans. No colours are applied.

Sometimes, tiny fabric scraps are meticulously shaped and stitched as clothes and scarves for Hee Sook’s Bean People. Little faces are created by pencil dots. Amazingly, with just three dots (two black for eyes, one red for mouth) Hee Sook captures expressions of joy and smiles.

Bean People are not only pretty collectibles to look at. Some of them are preserved in resin to be worn as jewellery like pendants and earrings, or charms to be attached to hand phone, purse, bag, and key chain. Others are delicately encased in tiny wood box frames in ‘the story of bean’ range.One Bean People creation shows six children from a very poor family covered in a tattered blanket. Although they don’t have enough food to eat, they’re happy and share whatever little bit they have. They’re not bothered that they have an uncle who has plenty but refuses to share his good fortune with their family.

Eight years ago the Korean Government awarded Hee Sook the grand prize for her Bean People creations. In recognition of her originality and creativity, she has been given some funding to further develop this bean art-craft. The Korean Government also endorses her line of Bean People as a product highly recommended as souvenirs in tourism promotion. In fact, Hee Sook’s participation at the RWCB 2009 was government sponsored.

As far as Hee Sook knows, no-one has copied her concept and design of the white birch duck mobiles-wind chimes and bean-art craft. One outlet for her creations is Chorey Artshop, 371 Chodang-dong, Gannung, Gangwondo, Korea. Mee Hee, the main contact person, is accessible by email (meeheesuk@gmail.com).

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The Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar T-shirt design competition is now in its third year and Crafthub Sdn. Bhd., managers of this growing event, are launching their search for the RWCB 2010 T-shirt designs.

Budding designers from all tertiary colleges in Kuching are invited to send in their entries by the competition closing date of 31 March 2010 and judging will take place shortly thereafter.

To give you some inspiration, here’s a reminder of last year’s winning designs…

See your design showcased at the Rainforest World Crafts Bazaar 2010!

1. The Winning Designers will be awarded a prize of RM500 each.

2. The Winning Designers will be publicized at the RWCB 2010, on the Crafthub website and in other media as considered appropriate by Crafthub Sdn. Bhd.

3. The Winning Designers will be asked to provide a brief biography for publicity purposes.

4. The winning designs will be printed on T-shirts and on other items as considered appropriate by Crafthub Sdn. Bhd to be sold at the RWCB 2010.

Three of last year’s winners with Datuk Gramong Juna, Chairman of the Sarawak Craft Council

Conditions of EntryThe theme for 2010 is – traditional crafts in a modern setting. To find out all you need to know entering the competition, read on…

The Entrants This competition is open to students currently enrolled at tertiary colleges in Kuching.

The Design• Must be composed of no more than three colours.• Must be suitable for printing on a black or a white background.• Must be effective whether printed large or small scale, eg on T-shirts or baseball caps etc.

Please note that copyright of the winning designs will become the property of Crafthub Sdn. Bhd.

Submission of EntriesEntries will be accepted as hard copy (A3 colour) or as digital colour images (jpg, tiff, gif min. 300dpi) either by email or on CD and MUST be accompanied by an entry form. The entry form can be found inside issues of CRAFTS magazine delivered to tertiary colleges in Kuching or can be downloaded from www.crafthub.com.my Designs which are received without a completed entry form, after the closing date of 31 March 2010, or which do not fulfil any of the other entry conditions will be considered null and void and not put forward to the judging stage of the competition.Submit your entries as soon as possible to crafthub@gmail.com or drop off a CD at Crafthub Sdn. Bhd., 96 Main Bazaar (first floor above Artrageously Ramsay Ong), 93000, Kuching.

We’re looking forward to seeing some more inspirational and eye-catching designs!

What it Means to be One of the Winning Designers

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When looking for beautiful examples of batik in Malaysia one must journey to Kelantan and Trengganu. Small batik factories have operated since the 1950s in these states, batik is still produced in kampongs by individuals working at home. However, to make the batik blocks and go through several stages of printing and dyeing to produce a piece of cloth takes many days, not hours. Now with modern technology and a demand for cheaper products, much of what we see in retail outlets is a batik motif printed using a silk screen, faster and cheaper but no longer one of a kind.

Sarawak does not have a tradition of batik. What it does have is a treasure trove of original tribal motifs, which lend themselves to reproduction on silk using the batik djanting technique, combined with silk painting.

In 1988 it was hoped that Sarawak would be able to produce its own silk, and to this end a silk farm was established by the SEDC. However, the venture did not meet expectations and a small group of textile artists found themselves retrenched. Since then, under the leadership of Winnie Wong, this group has been producing original silk painted designs in Kuching.

Winnie graduated from Manchester in the UK with a degree in textile technology. While her peers were steering a course towards ICT and accountancy, she followed her interest despite doubts about how useful this qualification would be

Batik-Style Silk Paintingin Sarawakby Annette Bessant

in the Malaysian job market. As it turned out she was one of only two Malaysians to take this course, and so when SEDC decided on their silk venture Winnie was the obvious candidate for the job of designing and producing silk batik.

After the retrenchment Winnie decided to set up her own business, employing the five textile artists she had been working with. Her company Petra Melita produces material, which is used primarily for dressmaking and tailoring. Winnie specializes in designing original uniforms for dignitaries and organizations who need a splendid look for formal occasions, when batik is a must.

These colourful and often floral shirts are a constant source of admiration for those of us used to a more drab, austere formal look worn by men of European countries. The use of silk makes them both comfortable and elegant, and the colours are a joy to brighten any occasion.

Winnie gets her inspiration for designs from magazines and books, and looks for interesting colour combinations. As much of her output is for the local market she includes tribal motifs and colours associated with Sarawak.

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Winnie buys silk fabrics from China, with satin being the most popular for men’s shirts and chiffon a popular choice for ladies. She uses German dyes of high quality, so the colours stay true after washing.

The process of producing a piece of batik involves stretching the silk on a frame and then drawing the design directly on to the fabric. A djanting tool is used to apply the wax lines, which will separate the colours. Areas to remain white will also be waxed. Then the process of dyeing the material to achieve the different effects begins. A complicated design may take three days for a dress length of two and a half metres.

Winnie has found that word of mouth is the best advertisement. Admirers of a dignitary’s shirt will investigate the source and through these contacts new customers are found. Winnie also sells her pieces on consignment to a few retail outlets in Kuching.

Another small company producing batik-style painted silk can be found at Kraftangan. Sandora, who has been operating from Kraftangan for the last six years, produces designs on silk and cotton. She combines floral designs with tribal motifs and uses some tie-dye techniques to give her items a more unusual look. The colour combinations are eye catching and amongst the more traditional floral designs are some exciting abstract ones. Her designs are sold as pieces of fabric and ready-made clothing at the Kraftangan showroom at Jalan Stadium; they are also to be found on the weekend at the Kuching Waterfront.

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Coloured Cloths-Batik

A Page of HistoryFrom: T.S. Raffles: The History of Java, John Murray, London, 1830; Vol I, pp. 188–190.

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) is best known for founding Singapore in 1818. During the Napoleonic Wars he governed the Dutch East Indies, and wrote copious reports on the province under his command. It was only when he realized that the territories would have to be returned to the Dutch that he settled on an English foothold in the region, the strategically vital island of Singapore.

Coloured cottons are distinguished into luri or ging’gang, those in which the yarn is dyed previously to weaving; and batik, those which are dyed subsequently. The process of weaving the former is similar to that of the gingham, which it resembles, and need not therefore be detailed, but the latter, being peculiar to Java, may deserve a more particular description.

The cloths termed batik are distinguished into batik latur puti, batik latur irang, or batik latur bang, as the ground may be either white, black or red. The white cloth is first steeped in rice water, in order to prevent the colour with which the patterns are intended to be drawn, from running, and when they

are dried and smoothed, commences the process of the batik which gives its name. This is performed with hot wax in a liquid state, contained in a small and light vessel, either of copper or silver, called chanting, holding about an ounce, and having a small tube of about two inches long, through which the liquid wax runs out in a small stream. This tube, with the vessel to which it is attached, being fixed on a stick about five inches long, is held in the hand, and answers the purpose of a pencil, the different patterns being traced out on both sides of the cloth with the running wax. When the outline of the pattern is thus finished, such parts of the cloth as are intended to be preserved white, or to receive any other colour than the general field or ground, are carefully covered in like manner with the liquid wax, and then the piece is immersed in whatever coloured dye may be intended for the ground of the pattern, to render the colour deeper, cloths are occasionally twice dipped. The parts covered with wax resist the operation of the dye, and when the wax is removed, by being steeped in hot water till it melts, are found to remain in their original condition. If the pattern is only intended to consist of one colour besides white, the operation is here completed; if another colour is to be added, the whole of the first ground, which is not intended to receive an additional shade, is covered with wax and a similar process repeated.

In order to render the dye fixed and permanent for the scarlet or blood-red colour, the cloth is previously steeped in oil, and after five days washed in hot water, and prepared in the usual way for the batik. In the ordinary course, the process of the batik occupies about ten days from common patterns, and from fifteen to seventeen for the finer and more variegated.

Of the several kinds of coloured cottons and silks there is a very great diversity of patterns, particularly of the batik, of which not less than a hundred are distinguished by their appropriate names. Among these are patterns exclusively worn by the sovereign, termed batik parang rusa, and batik uswat, and others which designate the wearer, and are more or less esteemed, as well on this account as their comparative beauty of design and execution.

Celebes headcover ‘iket kepala’.

Deli Melayu Sumatra (19th century) .

Minangkabau Sumatra woman.

Deli Melayu Sumatera (19th century).

Jambi man. Arab calligraphy ‘iket kepala’.

Sumatra ‘iket kepala’.

Sumatra batik

Photos supplied by Benny Adrianto.

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It’s time to find out what’s for sale – on our way to India Street, at Ban Hock Lane we stopped at Syarikat Fathimah, where they sell Sarawak Borneo Designs. We were shown different fabrics like Jacquard or Perles as well as cotton (cheapest), all of which they sell by the metre or in 4-metre lengths to make the baju kurong or the sarong kebaya. To our surprise all the Borneo-Design fabric is printed in Korea, Japan, India and Kelantan (West Malaysia). Prices vary widely from RM9 to RM66 per metre.

The shops in India Street are more focused on local buyers, but tourists also like to buy here. Merjiah Trading, showed us cotton, silk, polyester, viscose and other fabrics in a different price range. They also sell songket (brocade) fabric for men who use it for their traditional outfits. Songket is not cheap: it sells for RM145–285 per metre, but it is worth buying!

We then stopped at Fabriko, who also have a shop on Main Bazaar. This is a place filled exclusively with traditional Sarawak designs from the Orang Ulu to pua kumbu; they also have kebaya fabric to make up, embroidered with pua kumbu designs to fit the front and sleeve edges. This shop sells the more expensive fabrics, starting from cotton (the cheapest) to silk for official functions or weddings.

The Main Bazaar is more focused on tourists. We saw sarongs and pareos as well as bags, wallets, shawls, men’s ready-made shirts, t-shirts. In all the shops we went to, and there are many more to choose from, the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

Where to buy…Batik in Kuchingby Cynthia Lobato

what’s on... in the world of crafts

KUCHING WEEKLY CRAFT MARTevery Friday – Sunday at the Waterfront

MIRI PERMANENT CRAFT MART at the Handicraft Centre, Brooke Road

AROUND THE WORLD1 January – 31 March 2010Two-day batik and silk painting workshops in Shropshire, UK or 10-day courses in Deux Sevres, France.Tel: +44 (0)1691 656788Website: www.artholidaysfrance.com

20–27 February 2010Seminars, Exhibitions & Demonstrations on Conservation of Textiles at The Indian Museum and The Tagore Centre ICCR in Kolkata, India organized by SUTRA Tel: Swati Nandi +91 9830105159 or Amrita Mukerji +91 9830052590 Email: sutraindia10@gmail.comWebsite: www.sutratextilestudies.com

13 March 2009Workshop on Braids and Trimmings Makers Guild in WalesThe Flourish, Lloyd George AvenueCardiff, Wales, UKTel: 029 2048 4611 Fax: 029 2049 1136www.makersguildinwales.org.uk

Silversmithing Classes – all year roundMetalab Gallery, 10b Fitzroy Place Surry Hills, NSW 2010AUSTRALIATel: +61 2 8354 1398Email: info@metalab.com.auwww.metalab.com.au

If you would like to see your local or international craft event appear here, free, send the details to Freya via crafthub@gmail.com

Sarawak Craft Council, Sarawak Handicraft Centre, Round Tower, Lot 32 Sect 25 KTLD, Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak

tel 60 82 245 652, 252 241, fax 60 82 420 253e-mail : beatricekedoh@yahoo.com

website : sarawakhandicraft.com

Published for SCC by: Crafthub Sdn.Bhd, First Floor, No.96 Main Bazaar, 93000 Kuching Sarawak Malaysia.

tel: 60 82 421 346 fax: 60 82 614 622 email: crafthub@gmail.com website: www.crafthub.com.my