Our Roots

Folk Indigo is a proud partner of Galeri Batik Jawa. Galeri Batik Jawa is an award winning natural dyed batik produced exclusively in 10 villages in Imogiri, Yogyakarta Special Province, Indonesia. They employ women and batik artisans who work in their own homes to continue tradition of batik cottage industry. Galeri Batik Jawa bought these batik from them, then process them in their studio for natural dyeing using indigofera tinctoria. Galeri Batik Jawa has been showcasing their products throughout the world, and before the pandemic, they were selected in four consecutive years to attend International Folk Market in Santa Fe, held every July.

As a Javanese, batik is an integral part of my culture. The advantage of living 10,000 miles away from the land I was born in is that I can see the bird’s eye view of how invaluable this heritage is.

Although the technique of resist dye had been in existence for millennia, only in Java did it evolved to the highest form of art. Javanese people used batik to mark significant periods of life (pregnancy, birth, circumcision, wedding, and funeral. We also use them significantly in rituals, traditional festivals, and until recently, in the office!

Batik connected me with who I am. Although it is widely used, it is widely misunderstood. Not all batik is equal. Sometimes what you see in the markets in Indonesia (and sometimes Singapore or Malaysia), in fact, is not batik. Only those painted by hand, or stamped by hand are batik. Machine printed batik are not batik. In Javanese, batik came from the word “tika” which means “painted.” Each batik cloth is a work of art and needs to be treated as such. Batik is expensive. Batik is beautiful. Batik lasts for generations because that’s the way it should be.

Just because it’s part of my culture, though, it doesn’t mean that I know everything about batik. I’m still learning, and I invite you to join me in this journey. I will be writing periodically in my blog “blueprint” (see the navigation), about the origin, the history, many-many patterns, and their stories, as well as my ideas on how we can return to the local indigenous Javanese wisdom to conserve batik as the world’s intangible heritage.