Interviews
Namibians get a feel of batik
16 Jun '10
2 min read
Together with the University of Namibia (UNAM), the Indonesia embassy in Namibia conducted a two-day workshop on batik, which was directed towards providing Namibians with the correct knowledge and techniques of producing batik.
The batik process involves coating portions of a fabric or wood with wax and only the covered areas take the dye. It is a form of art, which has been for long practised in South Africa, but only recently it has started luring people of Namibia, thanks to the launch of furniture trade from Bali.
The batik workshop was conducted by Indonesia-based batik expert, Venny Afwany Alamsyah, from June 8 – 10 at the UNAM campus in Windhoek.
UNAM students, officials from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, students from the College of Arts, women empowerment organisations (OEWONA and Penduka) and members of the general public were the participants for the workshop. The Indonesian embassy distributed to these participants, batik equipments worth almost US $1,500.
While giving out the batik equipments, Indonesian Envoy, HE Leonardus Widayatmo said that, they were happy with batik making slowly gaining popularity amongst Namibians. He believed that since batik is the country's cultural heritage, it should help bring together Namibians and Indonesians from all across the world.
He also hopes that the workshop proved fruitful for participants who, in the future, would like to establish their own batik motifs and then utilise them as a means of developing business. In actuality, he suggested that batik could serve as a tool for self employment.
Professors from UNAM said, art industry was a mushrooming industry in the Namibian economy and therefore, provided greater chances of both business and employment to skilled workforce. Indonesian embassy's interest towards encouraging batik to students is likely to help the students include the same in their range of skills.
The batik process involves coating portions of a fabric or wood with wax and only the covered areas take the dye. It is a form of art, which has been for long practised in South Africa, but only recently it has started luring people of Namibia, thanks to the launch of furniture trade from Bali.
The batik workshop was conducted by Indonesia-based batik expert, Venny Afwany Alamsyah, from June 8 – 10 at the UNAM campus in Windhoek.
UNAM students, officials from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, students from the College of Arts, women empowerment organisations (OEWONA and Penduka) and members of the general public were the participants for the workshop. The Indonesian embassy distributed to these participants, batik equipments worth almost US $1,500.
While giving out the batik equipments, Indonesian Envoy, HE Leonardus Widayatmo said that, they were happy with batik making slowly gaining popularity amongst Namibians. He believed that since batik is the country's cultural heritage, it should help bring together Namibians and Indonesians from all across the world.
He also hopes that the workshop proved fruitful for participants who, in the future, would like to establish their own batik motifs and then utilise them as a means of developing business. In actuality, he suggested that batik could serve as a tool for self employment.
Professors from UNAM said, art industry was a mushrooming industry in the Namibian economy and therefore, provided greater chances of both business and employment to skilled workforce. Indonesian embassy's interest towards encouraging batik to students is likely to help the students include the same in their range of skills.
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