Batik: A Heritage from the East
The best-known batik technique is here
Batik [buh-teek, bat-ik] / noun / a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with colours and dissolving the wax in boiling water.
On the island of Java in Indonesia lies the heart of the best-known batik technique. The island of Java has a long history of acculturation (the process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the blending of cultures), and that is how batik came about.
As the island became diverse in its variety of cultures, so has its batik art, which has become more developed with patterns and techniques.
And here you are, in Australia, with the opportunity to learn this very same art technique from someone who learned it on the very island of Java. Wendy Fisher has mastered the art of native Batik, and she’s prepared to teach you, if you’re prepared to learn.