Malaysian cultural icons on batik

Sunday, November 29th, 2009 | Jadi Batek, batik, custom made, handicraft | No Comments

Jadi Batek Gallery caters to custom made order from customers.

Recently, a local tourist guide requested a batik shirt with Malaysian cultural elements so that he can explain them easily to foreign tourists.

We have come out with few designs and he is happy and bought all of them. He is impressed with the detail of the motif and colors of the batik fabric.

This is a batik fabric with Malaysian traditional games. Wayang Kulit, Wau and Gasing.

Wayang Kulit is shadow puppet show, Wau is kite flying and Gasing is top spinning. All are typical traditional Malaysian games and sports activities.

The tourist guide  mentioned to me that sometimes when he brought foreign tourists to east coast and tried to explain traditional games like kite flying but can’t find any during monsoon season. Or when the shadow puppet show is not available during weekdays.

Now, when the real traditional activity is not found, he can now just show the shape and design of wau, wayang and gasing from his batik shirt to the foreign tourists now.

The other 2 pieces of batik fabric with wau and wayang kulit.

Malaysian arts and craft make it to shelves of Harrods in London

Sunday, November 9th, 2008 | handicraft, info | No Comments

Saturday November 8, 2008

LONDON: Malaysian products have made it to the world renowned departmental store Harrods.

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin is scheduled to launch Ma­­laysian arts and craft in Harrods in March, marking the country’s campaign to penetrate the European market.

Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said that he had seen the potential for Malaysian products in terms of pricing and quality during his visits to Harrods and Selfridges department stores.

He said Harrods’ boss Mohamed Al-Fayed was also pleased to have Malaysian products on the shelves.

Shafie said Malaysia must not only produce high quality products but also ensure their sustainable supply to penetrate the global market.

He said the failure to ensure an uninterrupted supply of the products had been identified as one of the teething problems in marketing the Malaysian brand abroad.

“We must not see empty shelves if we are to sustain our market share in the world,” he told Malaysian journalists here after holding final discussions with the Harrods management to promote Malaysian handicrafts.

Several Malaysian companies have been selected to supply high quality craft products such as wood carvings, bronze, silver and pewter wares, ceramic items as well as batik and songket to Harrods.

Shafie said the companies agreed to display their products for six months and later sell them on a permanent basis.

He said he had also brought several couture boutique designers in Paris to Malaysia.

Besides France, he said, they were eyeing the United States where they hoped to promote Malaysian handicrafts, batik and songket products next year.

Rebana

Monday, September 29th, 2008 | handicraft | No Comments

Rebana is a traditional single-headed drum.

The rebana was once used as a communication tool. However, it has been able to withstand the test of time and survive as a unique traditional musical instrument.

In Malaysia, rebena is in high demand as souvenirs for tourists as well as for musical performances such as dikir barat shows and traditional performances.

Under the umbrella of the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), the handicraft industry such as batik and rebana are linked to the tourism and manufacturing sectors.

The making of rebana would fall under the ECER master plan’s wood-based cluster, where the upstream segment can be found in the rural hinterland like Kelantan or Terengganu.

However, there are challenges of like the availability of raw materials, high cost of raw material and shortage of skilled workers and designers in Malaysia.

There are four types of rebana, namely rebana pengerum, rebana ubi, rebana penganak and rebana dikir barat. In Johor, there a type which is known as rebana hadrah.

The biggest rebana is the rebana ubi, which is at least 70cm in diameter. Rebana ubi is widely used by the Malays in the east coast, predominantly in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Rebana of various size are sold at Jadi Batek Centre.

Tags: handicraft, musical instrument, Traditional