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| Some of the batik products are displayed at Batik Desamas' Brunei exhibition booth during a recent exhibition in South Korea. The company is using technology to mass produce its designs. |
Under his firm Batik Desamas, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim. hopes to design his way out of Brunei into the world, through a system he created which applies both the traditional method of hand-drawing as well as computer-generated graphics.
A pioneer in Brunei's batik scene, Zainal Abidin had started hand-printing batik since 2000. However, it was only during the last five years that he became more active in the business, during which he had participated in a number of international textile exhibitions such as Shanghai and South Korea, where he was able to attract the attention of the international audience of his batik artwork.
His goal is to mass produce his designs for the international market. However, he said that the traditional method of producing Batik is not enough to meet the global demand.
He revealed that hiring more workers remain a challenge for the batik business, as there are only a handful of batik designers who are up to the tasks. Traditional methods of preparation also requires more time and effort in order to produce a certain amount of batik.
"The times have changed. We need to innovate if we want to grab the worldwide market. We cannot just sit and rely solely on the traditional process," he said.
However, Zainal Abidin was unable to meet the criteria to sustain a profitable trade with global partners due to the lack of facilities for mass production, and hence turned to the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) for aid.
The firm received funding from the BEDB under its Local Enterprise Applications Products (LEAP) programme, a grant worth $150,000 to aid the firm in the development of a prototype of its intended innovation. The firm was one of the eight recipients who were successfully shortlisted for the grant earlier this year.
"The funding allows me to easily explore to other places and discover new ideas and technologies which can be applicable for this system," he said.
Using advanced software and engineering which he was able to outsource to another country, Zainal Abidin was able to transform his hand-drawn work into digital form, which allows his artwork to be replicated for mass production.
"Every batik designers and enthusiasts agree that the best batik are the ones that are traditionally hand-drawn by its artists, and so that essence is still preserved in this system," he said.
He also said that the Batik needs to have its own identity, not just to preserve the authenticity, but also to promote the origins of the product and giving it a distinct Made-in-Brunei brand.
"Our designs must be distinct to that of the Javanese and Malaysian batiks, and must possess the motifs of our Bruneian culture," he added.
He said that one advantage of going digital is that it allows for low-cost production of batik textile, and thus bringing costs down for consumers.
"When hand-drawn, it takes a lot of effort, and so the batik has to be sold at a premium. Furthermore, going digital enables us to reach all market sectors, and majority of them are price-sensitive. That's the market we are after," he said.
He said the technology will also allow his digital batik to be applied for the creation of a variety of other products imbedded with his design.
He said that most foreigners were mainly impressed with his batik designs and there was demand for the designs to be imbedded into a wide variety of products such as shirts, scarfs, neckties and bedsheets, among others.
"There is a high demand for that in the outside market, particularly in South Korea," he said.
He said that the prototypes of his products are already in production, and he is now looking at potential markets for distribution, with South Korea already expressing strong interest.
Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/business-national/2011/11/16/batik-desamas-goes-digital-designs
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