Designing Dua Negeri (Two Countries) Batik Influenced by Indonesia and Thailand Shared Culture to Enrich the Batik Repertoire in Both Countries

Abstract

The study aimed to explore knowledge about the shared culture between Thailand and Indonesia, the story of Garuda and batik traditions, and develop a new cultural product that represents the two cultures visually in the form of batik based on the findings. Samples were determined purposively from the Mother-Inlay-Pearl doors of the Emerald Buddha Temple at the Grand Palace Bangkok and the Semen Agung Sawat Garuda batik from the collection of King Chulalongkorn. This qualitative-descriptive and comparative study used a compositional interpretation approach to analyze the symbolic meaning of visual styles and text semiotics. The analysis could help develop batik with the Dua Negeri concept based on previous studies, batik expert interviews, and visual experiments. The idea is that one piece of batik displays visual styles from two countries. This study showed that Indonesia and Thailand have a shared culture influenced by Hindu Buddhism due to trade, culture, diplomacy, and kinship relations. Both countries have batik traditions, and each has a distinctive visual style. Therefore, the proposed new Dua Negeri batik design is expected to enrich the batik repertoire in both countries and strengthen cultural relations by respecting each other’s cultures.

Keywords:

• Batik Dua Negeri
• Garuda
• visual style
• text semiotics

Acknowledgements

With the utmost gratitude, the author would like to thank Assistant Professor Veerawat Sirivesmas and Professor Eakachat Joneurairatana, dissertation advisors, Doctoral Program in Design Arts International Program (DinDA), Department of Decorative Arts at Silpakorn University, and all faculty members for their guidance. Also, many thanks to Miss Asti Suryo Astuti, Assistant Manager of the Danar Hadi Batik Museum, Surakarta (Solo), Central Java, Indonesia, for her time to be interviewed online and to my family and friends for valuable support and encouragement.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Larangan (Heringa and Veldhuisen 1996): forbidden, restricted. Larangan motifs are a term used to refer to motifs whose use was restricted to the sultan, members of his family, and the aristocracy of the central Javanese courts.

2 Chinese Peranakan (Rismantojo 2021): The people of mixed births during the 15th–19th centuries as a result of a century-long history of transculturation and interracial marriage between the immigrating Chinese people and the local people in Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, the Penang, and Malacca States in Malaysia, Singapore, and the southern part of Thailand in Phuket province. Chinese migrants came as single males because, during the Ming dynasty, women were forbidden to leave China. Therefore, they often married local girls until the ban was lifted at the end of the 19th century.

3 Sarong (Roojen 2001): A sarong is a piece of cloth of which the short ends are stitched together, forming a simple tubular garment. Most popular traditional garment of the Malay world, worn by men and women.

4 Soga (Smend et al. 2004): Brown dye used in Javanese batik, a combination of bark and wood from several tree, such as the bark of the soga tree (Peltrophorum ferrigineum).

5 Canting (Javanese) (Smend et al. 2004): a small tool consisting of a wooden or bamboo handle with a copper vessel from which one or more spouts allow the controlled application of molten wax on to the fabric surface.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sandy Rismantojo

Sandy Rismantojo is a PhD candidate at Doctoral Program in Design Arts International Program, Faculty of Decorative Arts, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.

[email protected], [email protected]

Veerawat Sirivesmas

Veerawat Sirivesmas, an Assistant Professor, a full-time lecturer, a supervisor in Doctoral Program in Design Arts International Program (DinDA), Department of Decorative Arts at Silpakorn University. Now, the Deputy Dean of International Academic Affairs, Faculty of Decorative Arts, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Eakachat Joneurairatana

Eakachat Joneurairatana, a full-time lecturer, Chairman of Doctoral Program in Design Arts International Program (DinDA), Department of Decorative Arts at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.