Hand-painted Batik on Silk at Rainforest World Music Festival 2015

In my previous post, I talked about how in this installment of the Rainforest World Music Festival, there will be a new system of purchase - a cashless payment system for festival goers (read here). Though I have yet to get any further details as to how the system works, is there a minimum topup and if so how much, and so on, I have at least one special booth to highlight!

Keep an eye during RWMF 2015 for a unique, one of a kind, hand painted batik on silk! and if you don't know what batik is, feel free to read a little on my previous post on that too here.

Just one of many hand-painted batik on silk design

Is that not gorgeous? Oh I can't even! >.<

Although how batik made its way to local Malaysian, and specifically Sarawakian culture is still debatable, it has been an integral part of our culture and heritage. So much so that it is normal to see batik being worn on Thursdays as a working attire among men and women in Malaysia.

Batik itself is already a diversified form of art, commonly translated into the local customs and tradition. Batik Sarawak features common motives of floral and fauna, and incorporates much of the local tribal designs such as the 'Tree of Life', bunga terung, the scorpion and many more.

Two Warriors : Hand-painted batik on silk

In some designs, people from local tribes are depicted, donning their ancestral clothings, parang (machete) and perisai or terabai (shield) in fighting stance. At this point, it is worth noting that Sarawak is also known as Land of the Headhunters. In the old days, tribes would wage wars between each other, and enemy heads are cut off and displayed as a trophy!

Though the headhunting tradition has long since been abandoned, the parang and terabai are normally kept as displays, batik is still very prominent. I cannot think of a better take-away item from your visit to the RWMF 2015! And don't worry, if you're more of a practical person, batik is not just meant to look good, it's meant for comfortable wears as well.

During RWMF 2015, Petra Pelita (Facebook page here) will be setting up booth at the Village Mart. They will be offering silk scarves and pareos that can be worn immediately during the festival, or silk material with batik designs in various lengths for you to turn into shirts or button-ups, dresses and skirts or decoration!

Typical silk material to be cut and tailored for men's shirt or ladies dresses and skirts

Owh, so gorgeous!

Heh before I get carried away! These are some of the pre-made designs that Petra Pelita has. You'll be sure to find even more varieties on sale during the Rainforest World Music Festival. So if you're lounging around waiting for the next workshop to start, why not pop in to Petra Pelita's booth and check out these items: 

1. Silk Scraves (in sizes of 35" and 45")
2. Silk Pareos (in sizes of 36" and 45")
3. Batik Silk materials (in lengths of 2.5m and 4m)

Hrm.. I wonder if I can get a discount code for my readers? I'll get back to you on that.