The Javanese batik is made by painting/imprinting a pattern on a piece of fabric with hot wax, dyeing the exposed parts of the fabric, and then dissolving the wax so the pattern can be shown. You can either draw the pattern by hand with a special tool, a tjanting (pronounced “chanting”), or use a copper stamp with special design, which is called a tjap (pronounced “chop”). With a tjanting, the artisan fills it with hot wax and starts painting with quick and precise movements while the wax slowly flows from the tjanting’s tiny spouts. It is a very tiresome process, and you have to be very skilled in order to produce a garment without any flaws. Every minute or so, you have to reheat the wax or fill it up again. When working with a tjap, the process is much faster. The artist dips the copper stamp in hot wax and presses it against the stretched fabric, to create the pattern. At the end of the process, he might make some adjustments by hand. Nowadays, most batik is done with a tajp since it’s easier, and it saves time. The dyeing process itself also takes time, and the fabric must be cleaned before it is dyed.
What beautiful stories and experiences. Makes me want to see them!
Thanks so much, Heather. It was such a special experience! We loved learning about the history behind these traditional Indonesian arts and crafts.
Such beautiful and painstaking work, but truly pieces of art.
Yes, these artisans are so gifted and how much patience does it take! Visiting these Indonesian artisans was at the top of our bucket list and we were so glad we could see so many of them in action!
Wow! you did an incredible job capturing the detail, patience, and passion of all the artists! Fantastic job!
Thanks so much, Nadia. We tried our best. We love arts and crafts and watching these Indonesian artisans in action was so amazing. Also, a great opportunity to buy some high-quality Indonesian souvenirs.
Yogyakarta has long been on my list of places I want to visit after watching a documentary about it. I didn’t realise there were so many incredible artisans there. Great post and thanks for giving me more reason to want to travel there!
Thanks so much Beth for your kind words. While we were searching for things to do in Yogyakarta we were especially focused on local artisans and were amazed of how many we found. Yogyakarta is stunning. Hope you’ll get there soon!
Hey there, I’m looking for a fabric block printing workshop in Bali and the cover photo of this post got me! Do you know any of them?
Hi there, we love this photo too 🙂 But it was taken in Yogyakarta, not in Bali. Not sure where to buy this in Bali. Perhaps you can ask our guide in Munduk, Vanz and we could help you: Putuberlin76.pb@gmail.com