Modern Batik

he precise origins of batik are widely debated. However, dye resistance patterns on cloth can be traced back thousands of years ago to Egypt and the Middle East. Samples from past centuries have also been found in Turkey, India, China, Japan, and West Africa. Although in these countries, people were using the technique of dye-resisting decoration, within the textile realm, none had developed the batik art form up to the 1960s as the highly developed intricate batik found on the island of Java in Indonesia.

The evolution of the Modern Batik style was accelerated in the 1970s from its entry into East Africa in the early 60s. Their batiks became the main source of income for the Ugandan art community. The works they created provided tourists with meaningful mementos of their adventurous trips to the East. The evolution of the Modern Batik style however, was spearheaded by two talented Ugandan artists, the two brothers Henry Lutalo Lumu and David Kibuuka, whose innovations and refinements would revolutionize batik art in East Africa. These innovations provided the art community with unique techniques which would open up endless possibilities for their artistic expression and would continue to evolve over 13 years.

Henry Lutalo Lumu, developed new techniques using the same traditional materials of water-based dyes, wax, and fabric; everyday tools that were used in the traditional Indonesian batik. Henry applied the colours in reverse order, starting with darker hues and ending with light. Instead of using dyes in full strength by merely dipping the fabric in them, he controlled the gradual dilution of the same dyes and applied them to the fabric using paintbrushes. This revolutionary approach allowed Henry to create detailed, refined images with dramatically enhanced tonality, shading, and depth. Later David Kibuuka, introduced an additional technique called ‘fragmentation’ to this medium. This modification added increasing background depth, broadness, and a richer palette of colours to the batik art technique, allowing this medium the detail and richness comparable to acrylic and watercolour.