Batik is an ancient art of Indonesian origin used for artistic decoration as well as clothing. While it has spread to many places of the world, especially in southeast Asia and various island nations, the original and highest quality work still comes from Indonesia. Ancient in its origins, batik’s popularity fell with western industrialization in favor of more modern style clothes. In recent years, however, a resurgence of batik has appeared, hybridizing itself to incorporate it’s aesthetics to modern design. We visited the Batik Ori.

Batik Ori School Yogyakarta

A Local Told Us Where To Go

We started our day heading for the Taman Sari water castle, which was just under 2 kilometers from our homestay in central Yogya. As we were about to turn down the street to see it, we met an Indonesian tourist, either from Sumatra or Jakarta (I, unfortunately, can’t remember).

He told us to be careful because Taman Sari was a tourist trap and everyone would try to sell us poor quality batik. Instead, we should visit the Batik Ori – the batik school. We began to note its location on the map because we were interested, but the guy seemed to sense that we may not actually go.

A Pleasant Tuk-tuk Through The City

He kept saying that the Batik Ori was great because it supported students, was cheaper, high quality. They would demonstrate how it worked. We were also told, that exams were the next day or so, so we would not have the chance to visit otherwise. In the end, he insisted a little forcefully and got a tuk-tuk to take us (it was quite far admittedly) for 15,000 IDR (~$1.10).

The ride was quite pleasant, straightforward and we ran into no problems. The driver dropped us off down an alleyway where the school was and we began our tour.

A Personalized Lesson In Batik

We were greeted by the lone student who was there. He informed us that exams were indeed the next day, and most other students were studying, but as he was poor, he still needed to work. He was more than happy to show us around though, as well as explain the whole process.

First, The Breakdown

It begins with a piece of cloth (or silk) that has designs drawn upon it, usually in pencil or something that can be removed. The designs are then traced over in bee’s wax. The wax protects the cloth from dye when it is colored, thus creating the design. The wax is then melted off by being washing in boiling water.

The process is repeated numerous times, with various dyes and designs until the final form is achieved. Candle wax is also used for certain effects – candle wax will crack once dried. So they will cover large areas with the wax creating cracks so that some dye will seep in to create unique textures.

The process is tedious but creates great results. Lesser quality batik utilizes stamps and low-quality dyes. Designs should be done both sides to prevent color bleeding, but often time isn’t done for stamp batiks. As well, a high-quality batik should be able to be washed with no ill-effect, most low-quality batik will simply wash away.

Then, The Practice

He then asked us if we would like try it. We, of course, wanted to, so we said yes. He handed us a piece of cloth and gave us a unique pen that held bees wax. We would drape the cloth over the left arm and right leg and then draw on the design. The process is much more difficult than it looks but is really quite fun. We plan on giving it a more serious attempt when we have the chance to spend the time.

A Huge Selection Of Batik

Once our demonstration was over, he then told us we were free to look around the gallery. Everything was for sale. He insisted we did not need to buy anything (though it would be appreciated), and that the money would go to the artist. The art consisted of various levels of mastery, with a master and their students. So there was a wide range of styles to choose from.

Making The Purchase

It was hard deciding what we wanted. All were pretty fairly priced and because they were cloth we could easily carry them (finally we could get a few souvenirs!). Although we would have really liked to buy half of the store, some were still a  bit out of our price range, and that really just wasn’t feasible.

We settled upon two designs that had caught our eye: a cat and a fish. Our guide was ecstatic as the design I had chosen turned out to be created by him. The batiks came to about 140,000 IDR (~$10.00) each, for a total of $20 on our part. We felt it quite reasonable, and it did feel good to support students and local artists. It is not the usual tourist junk peddlers you find.

Support The Local Artists

Once we left, people would ask us about where we were going and if we wanted to get batik. Once we explained that we had visited the Batik Ori, most seemed satisfied with the answer, smiled and left us on our way.

If you want to give it a look, just check it out here. It may be hard to find, but the tuk-tuks should know where to go.