Showing posts with label digital batik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digital batik. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Brunei Batik Maker Jumps Into Digital Age

FOR the past five years, local batik maker Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim is so far the only one in Brunei to venture into digital batik making where unlike traditional batik making, digital batik does not require hand-drawing or the molten wax process.

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim admits that there has been some debate on the authenticity of digital batik as it is not hand-drawn the traditional way. 

"There is a movement away from traditional batik to digital batik, but some people debate about the orgininality of a digitally-made batik as the patterns are made through the computer, which is considered a machine," said Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim.

Overriding such arguments, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim believes the step towards digital batik is just a revolutionary development of batik since its existence hundreds of years ago in Asia. Digital batik making has allowed Zainal's local batik business, Batik Desa Mas, to expand by being innovative using digital designs. Batik Desa Mas was formed in 2000, 12 years ago.

The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/features/2012/05/13/batik-maker-jumps-digital-age

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim A Pioneering Digital Batik Artisan

Zainal Abidin
Local batik maker Zainal Abidin checking his batik designs
LOCAL batik maker Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim has made a name for himself when he became one of the few who pioneered into digital batik making. Unlike traditional batik making, digital batik does not require hand-drawing or the molten wax process.

"What was holding back my batik business in the past was the need for batik pattern artists and the ingredients needed to produce the patterns such as candle wax and material. With digital batik I do not need any of these," said Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim.

Zainal assures that digital batik making is the same as the traditional batik-making process where the only difference is the design of patterns via digital technology.

"Once the patterns get printed off, we still need to use the fixing of colours onto the material through a steaming process to ensure the patterns and colour will stay. It is a more commercial and technological process than the traditional one," said Zainal.

At 61 years old Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim is able to master software such as Photoshop Illustrator to come up with his digital batik designs. Zainal comes up with his own designs while he prints and produces them outside of Brunei.

"I can say digital batik has allowed me to bypass the traditional needs of batik making process. It ensured the survival of my batik business," said Zainal.

During the 12-year period in batik business Zainal has learnt that batik designs evolves according to the country where batik thrives. Zainal believes and encourages Bruneians to come up with its own unique batik designs that can be developed through instilling local motives and identities. His batik business has been aspiring to do so.

"Batik is not part of the local tradition but we can come up with our own batik designs with our own identity and values. This is what I am trying to do, offering made-in-Brunei batik," said Zainal.

Zainal realises that it is obvious Brunei would not be able to develop batik at a level which transpires into its culture and tradition such as in Indonesia where batik patterns have been noted to exist since the 12th century or even earlier depending on different sources.

"Indonesia has made batik as part of its tradition. Different patterns are given different names. They have a stock file of their own original designs. Batik is part of the Indonesian tradition which would be very hard to fade," said Zainal.

In 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity".

Zainal underlined the birth of Malaysian batik in the seventies when it was introduced as a form of art in educational institutions like the then Institute Technology Malaysia (ITM) or presently known as MARA University of Technology(UiTM).

It has been contested whether the origins of batik in Malaysia were brought and taught by Indonesia. However when it was introduced to such institutions it was emphasised the batik designs was to be developed based on more Malaysian designs to ensure more original patterns.

"Young Malaysians then were vigorous towards the aim of creating their very own batik where they instilled designs from the villages around Malaysia," said Zainal.

In terms of batik, Malaysians were more innovative in trying to create their own designs.

Zainal is confident that Brunei has the traditional designs that can be incorporated into local batik designs especially with more alternatives. The batik-making process now is more accessible to wider groups of people with the presence of digital batik making. Zainal now produces his batik design through four different processes; the melting wax process, the batik stamping process, the batik screen printing process and the batik digital making process.

The Batik Desa Mas boutique can be found at the Sumbangsih Mulia Building along Jalan Beribi.

The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/features/2012/05/13/pioneering-digital-batik-artisan

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Batik Desamas Goes Digital Designs

Batik Desamas
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
INNOVATION does not necessarily have to be in the form of a product or service; it can be a system in the production process, and this is the idea behind digital batik, an innovation introduced by a local batik producer and designer Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim.

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

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Pengusaha Batik dari Brunei

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim
Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim
Ilham dari jiwa seorang pelukis
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Berasal dari Negara Brunei Darussalam, bakat seni lukisnya yang dimilikinya tidak pernah disia-siakan malah digilap sehingga gelaran seorang pelukis kini sudah berubah kepada seorang pengusaha batik terkenal.

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim yang mempunyai perusahaan dan mencorak batik dengan hasil kerja tangannya, kini telah berkecimpung lebih 10 tahun dalam industri batik tempatan.

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim merupakan salah seorang daripada 11 pengusaha atau pemilik butik batik yang turut serta dalam pameran sempena Malam Amal Anggun Warisan II "Warisan Nusantara" yang diadakan di 1Borneo pada Jumaat lepas.

Batik-batik rekaannya dan perusahaannya juga turut diperagakan di hadapan tetamu kehormat Pengerusi Puspanita Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu, Datin Naimah Haji Hassan yang telah menyempurnakan perasmian pameranitu sambil disaksikan oleh Datuk Bandar Kota Kinabalu, Datuk Iliyas Ibrahim.

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim berkata, pada malam kemuncak acara itu, batik rekaan beliau turut diperagakan oleh model-model tempatan.

Lebih 20 jenis batik rekaannya dipamerkan pada pameran itu yang dianggar antara RM500 hingga RM2,000.

Ketika ditemui, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim  memberitahu Brunei terkenal dengan pembuatan batik bercorak seperti bunga kuduk, air moleh dan simpur.

"Namun, lebih mendapat sambutan dan menjadi kegemaran para pelanggannya ialah batik muleh kerana memiliki ukiran fesyen yang tersendiri dan asli.

"Alhamdullah...setakat ini sambutan yang diterima dari Brunei ataupun peminat batik di sini (Sabah) sangat menggalakkan...saya sangat berterima kasih," katanya sambil memberitahu ini merupakan kali ketiga beliau mengadakan pameran batik di negeri di bawah bayu ini.

Namun, jelasnya beliau banyak menerima tempahan daripada penggemar batik dari Sabah yang rata-rata terdiri daripada golongan berjawatan tinggi.

Bercerita sebentar bersama beliau mengenai pembuatan batik hasil ukiran beliau, Zainal berkata bakat seorang pelukis yang dimilikinya digilap menjadi satu punca rezeki.

"Kebolehan saya dalam bidang lukisan memberi saya bakat untuk melukis corak-corak batik.

"Dari situ, saya perkembangkan corak itu menjadi sebuah lukisan batik yang menarik." katanya.

Menurut Zainal yang sudah 10 tahun berkecimpung dalam industri pembuatan batik, memberitahu, terdapat tiga cara membuatan batik samada secara tulis/lukis, batik cop dan batik digital.

"Namun, orang lebih suka dan gemar batik tulis/lukis berbanding dengan batik yang lain kerana memiliki keasliannya tersendiri," katanya.

Ditanya mengenai keistimewaan batik Brunei dengan Malaysia, Zainal berkata, ianya tiada banyak beza kerana berasal dari satu rumpun.

Bagaimanapun, dalam melahirkan sebuah corak batik yang menarik, Zainal gemar menggunakan corak Brunei sebagai corak asas namun menggunakan warna berkonsepkan nusantara dan etnik iaitu campuran antara citarasa Malaysia dan Brunei.

Tidak hairanlah, corak dan lukisan batik dari Brunei ini tidak banyak beza dengan batik Terengganu dan Indonesia kerana turut menyelitkan elemen nusantara.

Dalam pada itu, pameran itu turut disertai oleh pengusaha batik dan butik dari Indonesia dan Filipina mengambil bahagian dalam pameran tiga hari sempena Malam Anggun Warisan II yang akan berakhir hari ini.

http://myzatulakhmajanil.blogspot.com/2009/03/pengusaha-batik-brunei.html