Malaysian Batik

The batik we recognise today are brilliantly coloured, intricately patterned fabrics of varying motifs that can range from delicate, winding florals to complex geometrical shapes. Though you’ll find more mass-produced designs due to the inevitable mechanisation of batik, its hand-crafted element is a tradition still practised today albeit having adapted to modern times.

Dubbed as a ‘painting in reverse’ in an old article published in 1975, it’s a rather accurate description of the ‘resist dyeing’ technique used in creating batik. Apparently an age-old process practised as early as 4th century that a burial site in Achmin, Upper Egypt revealed a child’s tunic with a simple block pattern made of wax print and was decorated by a “resist dyeing procedure”.