Our community batik workshop at the Walvis Bay was published in their local e-newsletter.
http://www.walvisbaycc.org.na/ (extracted 1st August 2011)
“BATIK TECHNIQUES prove popular in Walvis Bay”
Friday, 29 July 2011
Two acclaimed artists from Singapore recently visited Walvis Bay to share a bit of their vast experience with excited learners from various local schools. Kamal Dollah and his assistant Rosman Shahid held an arts workshop illustrating Batik techniques. Batik is a textile design method using wax as resist of dye on fabric. It is a combination of traditional and modern mediums of art.In his brief welcoming speech, Public Relations and Customer Service Manager at the Municipality of Walvis Bay, Kevin Adams, thanked Kamal and Rosman for taking the initiative to travel all the way from Singapore to Namibia to share their expertise with Namibians in general. He encouraged the young artists to become involved in community art projects, as it is a healthy form of recreation. “Through art you can build social aptitude and problem solving skills, and increase your sense of creativity,” he said. Adams went on to mention numerous benefits when one engages in art, all of which would keep youngsters off the streets and away from social evils.Prior to coming to Walvis Bay, Kamal and his assistant also held successful workshops in Karibib, Usakos and Swakopmond. Kamal said that in Singapore they facilitated similar workshops in various schools and art centres and they were all successful. He further said that coming to Namibia is the first international workshop they have ever conducted. “The purpose of workshops is to share the techniques with others and to increase the awareness of Batik to more people while bringing out the passion in those interested,” he said.
Students also had an opportunity to draw the images and colouring them using the Batik technique ranging from flowers and animals to cars and people. Apart from the Batik technique, Kamal also demonstrated effective cartoon drawing skills using simple methods. At the end of the workshop both facilitators, teachers together with children displayed a beautiful art work they created using their newfound skills.
Throughout the workshop, the learners demonstrated their eagerness to learn and also to try the technique. The workshop was successful and many children were very happy that they had an opportunity to participate in the workshop. Back home, Kamal and other artists are also involved in the Community Batik Project and the objective of the project is for everyone to have fun, discovering teamwork while making a lasting work of art collectively.
The following is an extract from an article on the website http://www.expat.or.id/info/batik.html
BATIK’
The word batik is thought to be derived from the word ‘ambatik’ which translated means ‘a cloth with little dots’. The suffix ‘tik’ means little dot, drop, point or to make dots. Batik may also originate from the Javanese word ‘tritik’ which describes a resist process for dying where the patterns are reserved on the textiles by tying and sewing areas prior to dying, similar to tie dye techniques.
