Batik of Batang - A Design Story

Main Article Content

Jessica Lea Dunn

Abstract

During my time living in Central Java, Indonesia, I stayed in the family home of one of my Indonesian friends on multiple occasions. In my friend’s village, located in the district of Batang, along the north coast of Java, west of Semarang city, almost every woman has the ability to produce exquisitely detailed hand-drawn batik fabric. A walk up a lane or a peep into a neighbour’s house will often reveal a solo entrepreneur contributing their wares to a dynamic cottage industry. However, the lifestyle is hard and the reward almost not enough to justify the patience and hours required to produce fine batik cloth.

Article Details

Section
Curated Works: Designing Futures in Indonesia
Author Biography

Jessica Lea Dunn, Faculty of Design Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney

Jessica Lea Dunn is a Sydney based designer with a passion for Indonesia and socially responsible design. She was briefly famous when her graduating project, a folding motorcycle helmet easily carried in a backpack inspired by her time in Indonesia, went viral online (and blew up Kaskus). Her other Indonesia-themed projects include creating playground equipment and dining hall furniture for Olifant preschool in Yogyakarta, and designing bags and accessories from recycled plastic packaging for XSProject in Jakarta.
She is a sessional academic at the School of Design at UTS and each year brings third year design students on a Global Studio to Indonesia to learn about culture, context, alternative design definitions, design thinking and to collaboratively work on projects that attempt to solve important design problems within the community. You can find her on pinterest and instagram with @jessdunnthis.