The National Museum of Fine Arts is holding an exhibition of Silk Batik from Southeast Asia, by the Guinness world record holder for the longest batik painting, Sarkasi Said.

Batik is a wax-resist dyeing technique which has been applied to textiles for nearly a thousand years. In Southeast Asia, batik is both a craft and a revered art form.

The current exhibition is a fusion of nature, representations of the Mother and Child and abstract works. The exhibition also features The Risis – Singapore’s Gift to the World. This is created from carefully selected fresh orchids, plated with nickel and 24 carat gold.

In a press briefing, Sarkasi said, “Such an exhibition communicates love to creations and expresses the artist’s appreciation to God and Mother Nature”. He continued, “All people in the world should understand the true meaning of livelihood and both our nations could be together through art communication,” Sarkasi said.

Heritage Malta chairman Mario Tabone said, “This is an introduction to our public of an art form which is new in our culture but very well known in many countries”.

Batik is a wax-resist dyeing technique used on textile and found in several countries of West Africa, and Asia. Batik is believed to have originated in China, or more specifically in Yunnan. Until the present, batik is still the main attire of the Yunnan women and they consider batik as one of their heritage.

The technique involves malam, often a mixture of bees and paraffin wax in which the former holds to the fabric while the latter allows the “cracking” characteristic of batik. Wherever the malam penetrates, the dye does not. Such work, which is usually carried out on cotton, must be carried out quickly and carefully since wax hardens fast and cannot be painted over, erased or re-worked.

Sarkasi, known in Singapore as the “Baron of Batik”, makes use of several colours with a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps. He uses habutai silk from China almost exclusively.

The Silk Batik exhibition will be on between 14 June and 27 July at the National Museum of Fine Arts, South Street, Valletta, which is open daily from 9am – 4.30pm. Entrance is free of charge.

Sarkasi is also giving a class on the art of batik tomorrow, between 9.30am and 1.30pm.

Such a contact was made thanks to Margit Waas, a volunteer at Heritage Malta.