BATIC ART

  Batic- is the common name of different methods of hand painting of fabrics. In basis there is principle of reservation, i.e. covering the spaces on fabric which should stay unpainted and create some pattern with oil proof composition. These principles have been used in oriental countries since time immemorial. The motherland of Batic considers to be island of Java in Indonesia, where the clothes from batic fabrics are very popular even in present days and consider to be sacred and serve to protect the owner from evil spirits.

Hot batic
  Since ancient times to adorn the fabrics oriental people used painting with hot wax or tar. But in Uzbekistan wax was replaced with a hot mixture of tar with sheep or goat fat, which used for painting the patterns on silk kerchiefs called kaigals. For hot batic used only cotton fabrics. After the fabric was painted, the wax or tar should be removed from the fabric. To mark the pattern people used special tool -chanting, it looks like a small tea pot with wooden handle. This tool allowed to mark difficult patterns consisted of thin lines and small points. Then the fabric was painted in succession in indigo and brown colours.

Cold Batic  
There is also a Cold method of painting invented in Europe. It was difficult for Europeans to reproduce the method of hot painting for adorning fabrics so they invented more simple and less dangerous way. It was totally different by temperature of composition, ingredients of composition, tools for painting and style. Europeans used this method to paint kerchiefs, ties, scarves, table-clothes etc.

  Today the traditions of batik painting are still used by Uzbek designers. They use the methods of hot and cold batik, painting only natural fabrics such as silk, hemp and cotton. Their collections consist of casual women's dresses and traditional uzbek robes (chapans) for men and women. Synthetic paint gives them an ability to go beyond the limits of the traditional blue-brown colour ranges used by traditional textile craftsmen.

  Different colours of background and the patterns make ready product very bright and decorative.