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

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

Batik Desamas Goes Digital Designs

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

The Search for 'Identity' in Brunei Batik

On Sunday(31.5.2009) i have a long conversation with my friend Awg Zainal Abidin Ibrahim at his Batik Shop in Sumbangsih Mulia Building at Beribi Industrial estate, Brunei. l have known Zainal since our student days learning Art in Kuala Lumpur. Since then,we have been good friends.

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim with his batik product

What interest me to have a conversation today is to ask about his search for an identity in the making of Brunei Batik.Zainal is so keen to develop 'motifs' that can carry something about Brunei. He believes that any artist/batik entrepreneur should develop motifs that are different from what others from any region have shown in their work.lt is only after having our own 'motifs' that we can claim the work as ours.
'How do you start this journey in developing the Brunei motifs in your Batik Art? How do you proceed in this search? What have you achieved so far? These are the three questions that i have asked Zainal in my conversation.

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim and his batik product

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim's explanation started by pointing out that Batik can be done by four different ways i.e by hand-drawing batik, using metal blocks, screen printing and digital printing. One has to master the technical aspect before proceeding to the search for content (motifs and design).

The 'content' part of the Batik is where the design lies and the manipulation of design can developed to the finding of 'identity'. Zainal believes that the understanding of Brunei Culture, the society and the practices should be the basis for his search in the Brunei Motifs, After a series of study, he found out that most design motifs in traditional crafts of Brunei be it from woodcarving, weaving and house decorations was mainly adopted from the local flora and fauna. Most of these traditional motifs appear to be used widely in the local culture''.

His second step is to manipulate the shapes of the Simpur flower i.e the national flower of Brunei to become an interesting design. He believes this can bring out some new motifs.ln fact he have done many series of designs from the Simpur flower. Another of his effort is to combine the Cengkeh Flower as another shape in his design. Cengkeh shapes have been used in the local designs. So what is the result of his adventure in incorporating these ideas. ln this post i have put some photos of Zainal's design for his Batik Artwork.

source :
http://diariseni.blogspot.com/2009/06/search-for-identity-in-brunei-batik.html