BATIK AS A CULTURAL IDENTITY OF THE YORUBA: HAND COLOURING TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS, POSSIBILITY OF ADAPTATIONS

Abstract

This research piece takes a look into how Malaysian has been practicing batik craft and how it has been a success story. There are two main focuses of the research. The first is how Malaysian designers build and maintain a unique batik identity in the south- East Asia arena. This includes an in-depth analysis of batik practices hand coloring technique used by both emerging and established designers. The second focus is on material, techniques and applications, chemicals and how the government had been promoting batik in Malaysia. However, this research is important as there is little scholarly research on the Malaysian batik with emphasis on coloring techniques and applications in Nigeria, and non on the Nigeria batik designers and producers. A collective case study method is used to collate the data and is analyzed through an interpretive framework of a single case study. The batik industries that comprise the case study are Lynena batik and Kraft Holdings, a subsidiary Kraftangan Malaysia. However, key conclusions are that, it is the researcher hope and belief that a suggestion in form of developing a new method in colouring techniques and applications, promotions of skill acquisition programs, will be highly welcome.