Handwritten Batik on Madura Island - PhotoHunt

Cottage industry on Madura Island : Batik making 

Photohunt theme : Spots/Industry

On a trip to Surabaya (Indonesia) with my friends, our Indonesian hosts brought us on a day trip to Madura Island. Before we returned to the city in the evening, we visited a family who runs a successful cottage industry.

Drawing with a canting

The owner asked two of their batik craftswomen to wait for us so we could see Madura’s traditional type of batik being produced on the spot. Batik tulis (written batik) is drawn using only the canting (a a spouted tool).

The wax-resist dyeing is manually applied to a white cloth. Batik is made either by drawing dots and lines of the resist with the canting.

hot wax - usually made from a mixture of paraffin or bees wax

The skilful craftswomen were amazingly good with their hands and eyes. They were so fast and meticulous. Beautiful motifs appeared on the white cloth as their creative juices flowed. As it is handwritten batik, the motifs were never the same.

The owner then led us to a small room where she revealed her valuable stock of hand painted batik. Some pieces were really exquisite. Each piece of fabric takes about 2 - 3 months to complete. The more elaborate ones would take a year or more.

Several of my Singapore friends made purchases, that put me on the spot.  The batik were expensive. The owner doesn't accept credit cards. I could only watched enviously as I did not carry enough cash with me.  :)