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I’ve always had a keen interest on traditional arts because of a deeper meaning contained within the art and the language behind it, it provides guidance and transmits remarkable stories of the past to the new generations. I find traditional art very symbology and the way artist use their unbridled imagination and creativity into an authentic art piece. Another reason why I’m impressed with traditional art is because of the action of the invention of different tools, for instance, the batik pen called “Canting” for the craft man to draw the design on clothing. Also, the technique and process in producing the final product, I find it very interesting and unable to imagine how much work and time they had to work into every masterpiece as everything must be done manually.

Therefore, my batik design was integrated with various traditional arts from a different culture. As Malaysia is a multicultural country which consists of three major ethnic groups, which is Malay, Chinese and Indian. Each race has a different culture, different history and other beliefs, moving on, I did some research on each race’s traditional arts. For Malays, many architectural buildings like mosque used integrate Islamic art into the building elements, not only architectural buildings, various furniture were combined with Islamic art elements in it. The complex geometry in Islamic art, using Islamic ornaments, intricate floral motifs into patterns and using repetition technique, called “arabesque” which formed into a detailed design with deep meanings in it. In my design, I used a various floral arrangement with some Islamic Calligraphy which transmit the message to the viewers about the peace and how different races in Malaysia get along well. Anyone familiar with Islamic Calligraphy would notice how I integrate it into the batik design.

Chinese traditional art is also enthralling, the traditional Chinese craftsmanship like the paintings, ceramic arts and clothing from thousand years ago. The inspiration I got the most is from the royal Chinese household embroidery, which was lost almost a century ago. Motifs and symbols were used in each design of the clothing consist of intangible Chinese cultural heritage. Unlike western design, which uses forms and scientific and mathematical rules, Chinese traditional is more on symbolism and to transmit underlying messages through metaphor and convert it into an eye-catching visual mode. The classic Chinese Dragon motif was used since the Chinese art started centuries ago, the design was formed by reducing few shapes and lines and repeat it with other elements. Hindu Traditional art is quite similar to Chinese art as their design were aims for representational purpose. The Hindu traditional art that that has remained till today that we all known is the Mandala, it is a bilateral geometrical design which symbolizes Hindu and Buddhist Cultures. The technique of my batik was rhythmic linear patterns of linear lines, intersected shape with floral motifs combining with other elements.

In my batik design, I want to express the message of the patriotism of our country, while remaining the invaluable traditional arts and the eternal messages behind. The message I want to transmit contained within my design, the news is to receive by how the viewers look it. From far, it will only look like a contemporary design. But if u look closely, viewers will notice how I integrate different traditional design of different culture into one.