PDT Assignment

atik has resulted in a more varied
choice of batik fabrics and designs
in Malaysia.
In Chapter 3 Noor Azlina
discusses in some depth the
emergence of the Malaysian
identity in stylus batik from
the 1970s right through to
the 1980s and 1990s, led by
the younger graduates of
art and design trained in
foreign institutions as well
as local ones such as the
Mara Institute of Technology.
The reader is led to conclude
that what can be considered
a pioneering venture in
Malaysian batik is not so
much the creation of a unique
Malaysian design identity but
rather, the innovations and
experimentations in batik
production.
Interestingly, the
tradition of designing
individually styled yardage
batik pieces for different
designs in women’s dress,
scarves and stoles, men’s shirts
and even lifestyle products was
born and nurtured during this
phase of the batik story. The riot of patterns
and colour combinations in traditional Malay
women’s dress, such as the baju kurung, baju
kebaya and baju Kedah, and men’ shirts
typically reflected the Malay preference for
stronger designs in their attire.
The writer also identifies the individual
batik designers and producers who were
outstanding during this era and contributed
their artistic skills as well as marketing talents
to popularise Malaysian batik. Through
their combined endeavours, the country
saw a proliferation of batik silk produced by
a combination of waxing and hand-drawn
design using the canting and brushes. To this
day, batik silk remains the most popular fabric
choice for batik, taking over from the cottons
and lawns of the early period and the voiles,
rayons and viscose later.
While individual designers in Kuala
Lumpur were able to sustain their businesses,
it was the organised efforts of government
agencies like Rida (Rural Industrial
Development Authority) and Mara (Majlis
Amanah Rakyat) in the 1960s and 1970s that
provided financial and technical assistance to
the small-scale batik industry which started
in the East Coast states of Kelantan and
Terengganu and spread to the West Coast
of Peninsular Malaysia. The growth of local
and international tourism, the governmentencouraged
use of batik for formal use, and
individual initiatives developed a more stable
market for Malaysian batik and the industry
was to gain a stronger foothold in the nation’s
economy.
However, as Noor Azlina rightly points
out, while batik manufacturing was on its
way to becoming a viable local industry in
the 1990s, product development, if there was
any, was less impressive. The new government
agency Kraftangan needed to coordinate the
batik industry players better and inspire them
to develop newer and better designs to meet
the demands of a more discerning twenty-first
century consumer market.
The highlights of Malaysian Batik:
Reinventing A Tradition in terms of both its
exposition and illustration are Chapters 4 and
5 where the writer describes in great detail the
role played by the late Tun Endon Mahmood
(wife of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi) and the organisation she
spearheaded, the Yayasan Budi Penyayang
(Penyayang), to inject new life into the
Malaysian batik industry.
From the inception of Penyayang in
2000, Endon was to consider it her personal
mission to revitalise the industry with a new
creativity, promotional scheme and business
strategy to take it to loftier levels, locally and
internationally. Under the untiring efforts
of the foundation’s CEO, Datuk Leela Mohd
Ali, and its subsidiary Batik Guild Sdn Bhd,
Penyayang embarked on the “Malaysia
Batik – Crafted for the World” movement
launched in 2003.
Through the well-chronicled
text and assortment of photographs
in Chapter 4, the writer takes us
through the colourful series of
events – batik extravaganzas
and fashion shows, street
carnivals and fun walks,
batik and craft exhibitions,
batik demonstrations and
workshops, seminars and
conferences – organised by the
movement that connected the Malaysian public
with the best players in the batik industry. The
batik industry players have been, in turn, given
an organised platform and opportunity to
showcase their talents and products and reach
out to a much larger public.
The concerted and sustained efforts to
promote the Malaysian batik industry and
encourage the creation of Malaysian batik with
a clear national identity has brought together
the batik makers, designers, production
houses, fashion moguls, fashionistas,
retailers and distributors, writers and media
communicators and academicians, all poised
to witness the modern rejuvenation and
reinvention of Malaysian batik.
The culmination of each year’s activities
lie in the Piala Seri Endon, a batik design
competition held annually to showcase the best
in batik design, highlighting the knowledge
and experience of the designers
but more importantly
their “creativity,
originality and
p r o f e s s i o n a l
execution of
the batik in the
designs as well as
their commercial
viability” boldness
in combining the
strokes of canting
and brush through a
heightened colour
sense.
credit: http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx/?file=%2f2011%2f12%2f23%2flifebookshelf%2f10108892&sec=lifebookshelf
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