Preserving Batik Should Go Beyond Heritage

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Preserving batik should go beyond being a heritage of the country, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor said today.

As such, the prime minister's wife hoped the relevant Malaysian organisations and agencies would come forward to enhance the fine arts of batik locally and internationally, including 'Dyetik', a technique developed by fine arts batik master Sam Karuna.

"I want fine art batik to be given recognition. My dream goes beyond preserving batik as our heritage...I want to showcase it on an international platform," she said when opening Karuna's Dyetik Batik Heritage Art Exhibition at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture here Sunday.

Rosmah, who is also Welfare Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) president, said local batik should be taken to a higher level and considered an artwork, decorating walls of homes of famous people and in galleries.

The prime minister's wife said the exhibition could further symbolise cultural collaboration between Malaysia-Russia in the new art.

"Arts and culture can be important avenues for bilateral ties between both countries, and I believe that it will pave way to promote dyetik arts in general, to the people of the Russian federation and cooperation on international arena," she added.

Dyetik is a new technique in batik fine art which saw the successful marriage of the traditional batik method of resist-dyeing with micro-pointilism, developed by Karuna.

It involves placing little dots on the material to form the desired image, a la Pointillism (a technique developed by Georges Seurat in the late 19th century). The result is a uniform mottled surface glow that Karuna effortlessly tweaks to incorporate depth and dimension to his paintings.

Unlike traditional batik techniques, he uses relatively less wax and more dye in his works.

A few of Karuna's art works were on display for sale at the exhibition themed, 'The Dream That Never Dies', whereby 20 per cent of the proceeds from their sales would be donated to Bakti.

Source: http://www.bernama.com
Photo: http://article.wn.com

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