[Book Review] Anti Stress: Batik — Batik Motifs, Demystified
Batik is a part of Indonesian culture. The patterns and colors of it are diverse. The meanings behind its various patterns, however, may not be readily apparent to laypeople like me.
Recently I went by a local bookstore and stumbled upon an anti-stress art therapy coloring book about batik, which I found to be a feast to the eyes (for the drawings) as well as to the mind (for the definitions of the drawings).
This book by Yulianto Qin contains sixty-one wonderfully-crafted black-and-white drawings of batik motifs complete with their respective meanings, all made by the author himself.
From the preface of the book, I learned that on October 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which, the author appealed, needs to be preserved.
Batik with Chinese and European influences have brighter hues, claimed Yulianto, as can be read on the back cover of the book — also written there a call to preservation (of batik) by GKR (Her Royal Highness Princess) Mangkubumi of Keraton Yogyakarta (royal court of Yogyakarta).
Another insightful bit: Gerret Pieter Rouffaer, a Dutch scientist who worked for the Rijks Ethnographisch Museum, recorded on 1914 in his book, De batik-kunst in Nederlandsch-Indië, that there were more than 1,500 variants of batik motifs in the Indonesian archipelago.
Below are some of the pictures and their interpretations taken from the book (translated by Kurnia Gusti Ayu and me):
Gunungan: A mountain-shaped Wayang (Javanese puppet-play characters), its inside part is etched with various batik ornaments which represent the state of the world and everything within it.
Prior to the beginning of a Javanese puppet-play, Gunungan is to be stood upright by the center of the screen (the theatrical performance stage).
Gunungan is also used as a transitional marker between chapters (intermission) in the story at play.
Kamajaya and Kamaratih: A wayang spouses — god and goddess of love symbolizing harmony in the household.
Arjuna Kala: Wayang characters representing balance between good and evil.
Gatot Kaca: A wayang character symbolizing strength and masculinity, who is also imbued with indomitable will.
Gurdo: Gurdo is derived from Garudo (Garuda), the sacred avian, mount of Batara Wisnu (Vishnu). Gurdo motif usually consists of a pair of spreading wings (lar). This motif symbolizes knowledge and virility — becoming the force that illuminates life.
In conclusion, this book is superb — both as a stress-reliever and as a dispenser of invaluable knowledge on a wide variety of batik patterns plus their underlying lore. 9/10.
