Bringing up batik terap
Haniza Hisham has a secret fascination with Terengganu's traditional batik terap, but the local artisans were reluctant to teach her the copper mould craft. Intent on mastering the art, she persisted, and now the KL architect is promoting the beauty of ha
ARCHITECT Haniza Hisham moved from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Terengganu seven years ago for love, to be with her husband, Abdul Majid Ibrahim.
Her new home was at a small village called Kampung Serada, where everyone wore batik every day.
It got Haniza to begin taking notice of batik’s beauty. Batik is still commonly worn in Malaysia, but most people wear fabric with machine-printed motifs using synthetic dye. But Haniza wasn’t just interested in batik’s motifs and colours; she was also curious about the traditional process of making batik.
She was intrigued mostly by batik terap, a traditional method of making batik by block printing with copper moulds.
“I like batik terap because it is a piece of wearable art made by hand. It is interesting how elements of nature (sun, rain and wind) play an important role in batik making,” she says.
But Haniza found that her interest in learning was not quite enough. Her biggest hurdle was convincing veteran artisan batik makers to pass their knowledge to her, an “outsider” in their midst.
Another challenge was that there were only a handful of craftsmen in Kuala Terengganu who knew how to make batik terap.
“Rather than teach the younger generation, sadly, some batik makers prefer to keep their skills to themselves. Luckily, I met another group of batik experts who were willing to show me the ropes,” recounts Haniza, who also turned to the Internet and books to learn about block printing in batik.
When she started making batik terap, Haniza understood why it is a dying craft.
“Batik is time consuming. It requires patience and focus too,” says the 33-year-old mother of two, who has been producing batik terap since April.
To produce batik rap, copper moulds are dipped in wax and stamped onto natural fabrics such as silk, rayon, linen and cotton. It takes about four to five days to produce a two-metre piece of handmade material.
An intricate art
Haniza decided to make it her mission to revive and reinvent batik terap, but she stumbled almost immediately.
She simply couldn’t get the hang of making batik terap, making mistake after mistake every step of the way. “When I first started, I ruined 50 sets of batik cloth. I was very disappointed and almost gave up. But my husband, neighbours and family members encouraged me to persevere,” recalls Haniza who persisted till she mastered the steps of block printing batik. She also began experimenting with dyeing fabrics and batik canting, another form of batik making where a pen-like tool is used to apply wax on material.
As batik terap is handcrafted, the challenge for Haniza is to maintain consistency.
“The amount of hot wax on copper moulds must be precise to avoid blotches. It takes constant practice to perfect the art,” says Haniza who has gone from printing batik on her kitchen table to starting her own artisan
batik brand, Nysakapas, in April. She has two workers and they work to produce pieces of batik terap fabric, as well as ready-made traditional and contemporary apparels.
Haniza uses batik cotton, known as batik halus, to make batik terap.
She shares her Nysakapas products and her batik making on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Apart from selling Nysakapas materials at her workshop and through social media, Haniza also takes part in bazaars. A piece of two-metre cotton Nysakapas material retails for between RM50 and RM80.
“Through batik making, I have discovered nature – how we are always moving and needing nature every day. I live in a small village where the natural surrounding complements batik making in such a beautiful and spiritual way,” says Haniza, who is exploring eco-friendly ways of making batik.
Contemporary twists
To change the misconception that batik designs are oldfashioned, Haniza incorporates modern twists to her designs. She hopes to make batik more meaningful and acceptable to the current generation.
The first batik terap mould that Haniza designed is her Chinoiserie-inspired Isobel with kuntum (blooms), bintang (star) and ranting (branches). Another mould is Sheru (sea shells in Japanese) and Almas (diamond in Arabic).
The Azah mould was designed for three friends diagnosed with cancer. Part of the proceeds from Hanizah’s Azah collection is channelled to aid cancer patients.
Of all her moulds, it is the Isobel mould that is closest to Haniza’s heart.
“I missed my mother very much when I moved to Kampung Serada. The mould is made of a star, a representation of my mother and a kuntum, which is myself. The branches represent our relationship; they connect me to my loving mother.”
Besides batik terap, Haniza also does batik canting, using a penlike tool to apply hot wax in the batik-making process.
For inspiration, she turns to natural elements in her backyard, like dried coconut shells, gushing rivers and waterspouts.
She also mixes both methods, batik terap and batik canting, to show a diversity in pattern making while applying techniques.
Haniza has also started conducting batik canting classes at her workshop in Kampung Serada. “I started batik making in my very own kitchen. I set up my own frames and made art by my kitchen stove and dyed the fabric in my bathroom. What we teach in our classes will have a very domestic, home-styled approach, in my kampung house, so people can understand where the art is coming from.”
Through social media, she hopes to further promote the art and make it relevant to today’s lifestyle.
“Through my classes, I hope people can understand batik better and use it in a modern way.”
Haniza aspires to create a batik learning centre that focuses on promoting batik making and batik studies. She aims to have a library filled with books on pattern making and fashion to further develop the art of batik making.
“From this, we hope to revive batik art, especially batik terap, through creative programme and workshops. I also hope to promote batik through social media. It is important to show the world that the beauty of this humble material lies in the hands of our future generation.