Batik, Traditional Textiles of Indonesia

Batik occupies a special place in Indonesian culture. Each fabric has a rich story to tell—as a reflection of the nation’s religious beliefs (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam), sophisticated court cultures and cosmopolitan history (that includes Chinese, Indian, Arab, Portuguese, Dutch and British influences). The extraordinary textiles in this book are from the collections of Rudolf Smend and Donald Harper. Most date from the period 1880 to 1930 when the art of batik reached its apogee. The cloths are complemented by vintage photographs from the first quarter of the 20th century demonstrating how the batik were worn at court and at home. None of these photographs have been published before.

Author Biography

Rudolf Smend is a passionate batik collector and the owner of Galerie Smend in Cologne. He was first introduced to batik in 1973 at Yogyakarta in Central Java. His gallery exhibits the work of international textile artists and recently celebrated its 42nd anniversary. Smend has edited and published numerous books on silk painting and batik: in the year 2000 Batik from the Courts of Java and Sumatra: The Rudolf G. Smend Collection and in 2006 Batik∙75 selected masterpieces’.

Donald Harper is an American collector of traditional textiles, particularly Indonesian batik. He has lived in Southeast Asia since 1975. Donald Harper has sourced many textiles which are now part of a number of important museum collections, such as the National Museum of Singapore, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Fowler Museum at UCLA, The Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum of Ethnology in Cologne and the Textile Museum in Krefeld.