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Batik is both an art and a craft, which is becoming ever more popular and well known among contemporary artists all over the world, as a wonderfully creative medium. The art of decorating cloth using wax and dye, has been practised for centuries in many parts of the world including China, Japan, India, South America and Europe.

In Java, an island in Indonesia, batik is part of an ancient tradition, and some of the finest batik cloth in the world is still made there. The word batik originates from the Javanese word “tik” which means to dot. Batik is both a verb (to batik) and a noun (a batik – an object made by batiking!). Batik is usually made on a fabric surface (such as cotton, silk, linen, rayon or hemp), but batik techniques can also be used on paper, wood, leather and even a ceramic surface.

The concept for my batik is ‘THE GIRLS’ because the theme for the batik competiton is ‘ASPIRANA MILENNIA’ which defines inspiration .This batik is inspired from an indonesian dance called the ‘SERIMPI DANCE’.This dance is performed by 4 girls.It is a very soft and the movement of the dance is very slow.Moreover, the batik that I have design is only for women and girls.The reason is because the dance is performed by girls.The yellow pattern in the small boarder are 4 footprints shows that there are 4 girls who performed this dance.Other than that, the flower pattern at the both sides of the batik shows a soft and girly pattern because the the dance is a very slow and soft dance.Lastly,the triangles in the middle of the batik is design because triangle is a suitable pattern and shape for girls.The elements that is in this batik is lines,colour,shape,balance and contrast.

The origin of batik production in Malaysia is not easy to trace. However, it is known for certain that the Javanese influenced Malay batik-making technically as well as in the development of designs. At an early stage the Malaysians used wooden blocks in order to produce batik-like textiles. As late as the 1920s Javanese batik makers introduced the use of wax and copper blocks on the East Coast. The production of handdrawn batik in Malaysia is of recent date and is related to the Javanese batek tulis. Commercial production started in the 1960s. This craft has developed its own particular aesthetic and design, peculiar to Malaysia. The new Malaysian batik is clearly different from the Javanese tradition of hand-painted batiks.

There are two main types of batik in Malaysia today; hand-painted and block printed. These types differ in production techniques, motif and aesthetic expression, and are often classified according to the tool that has been used. Since the 16th century the art of batik has been documented in the Malay Archipelago, and particularly in Java the art was developed to a very high standard.