Thursday, July 30, 2009

Local Products at ASEAN exhibition

AN ASEAN handicraft and food exhibition catered to local and foreign small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is currently being held at the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah complex, aimed at promoting wider business opportunities for local and foreign entrepreneurs.

Visitors to the exhibition will be in for a treat as local and foreign products are displayed by SMEs from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei, showcasing various handicrafts, textiles, souvenirs, food and confectionaries.

Brunei Local entrepreneur, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim said the exhibition also encourages SMEs to be more productive in marketing their products and enables them to be more competitive in their profession.

"Handiwork such as songkok and other crafts produced by residents from Kg Ayer creates more employment, strengthening the economy whilst developing the handicraft industry," said Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim.

He also thanked the authorities for taking the time and consideration in providing SMEs with low cost rental space and enabling them to conduct their business at a location where most visitors will flock.

Owner of a handicraft business, Hasni Hj Hashim said that some entrepreneurs must learn to provide other forms of revenue for their country through their craft-making abilities. "Opportunities such as low rental rates at the complex provides business advantages for us (vendors) to give affordable prices on local products such as batik and kain jongsarat," she said.

"Our local SMEs have done a good job at producing local products, this comes to show that Bruneians are capable of producing quality products, " said Hjh Rohana Hj Rahim, who was a visitor to the exhibition yesterday.

She said that prices for products were affordable for the local public and tourists as she was informed by vendors that various items on display were given discounts during the special two-week expo.

Mohd Kamil Hj Latip, a youth who was informed of the exhibition by a friend, was captivated with the various products produced by Brunei's craftsmen. "Items such as songkok and kain jongsarat were amongst the local products I was amazed with. I am truly amazed by the quality, design and workmanship of Bruneian handicraft," he said.

A customer checking out the local handicraft on display, Hj Bungsu Hj Yahya said that such events like these will help further boost the local handicraft industry in promoting and giving exposure to local-made products through exhibitions and events.

"The batik and kain jongsarat are some of the products that were on sale, displaying one-of-a-kind designs that will attract locals as well as tourists to buy local-made products," said Hj Bungsu.

The senior citizen also hoped that more exhibitions will be organised by the authorities to help preserve the culture and heritage of Brunei, especially in the area of producing quality handicraft products by the locals.

The ASEAN food and handicraft exhibition began on July 25 and will end on August 5, organised by the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah complex in support of local and foreign SMEs.

Twelve booths showcasing the best of Southeast Asia's products will be open to the public from 4pm to 10pm at the atrium of the shopping complex. (KAY1)

The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/home_news/2009/07/27/local_foreign_products_at_asean_exhibition

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

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
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 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

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