Name: clenoro
Message: My name is Clenoro, I am 31 years old, man, single, I born at Jakarta in 1975. I don't have a good English. And i am Indonesian People. Can I give a question. Where I can learn about batik ? And how can I to know?

The best way to learn batik is by doing. I'm afraid I cannot tell you where to learn in Jakarta, never having been there myself. Some people like to take classes; I learned at home, from books, and give basic instructions on my How to Batik web page.

Perhaps you could find out more about local methods of batik at the Textile Museum in Jakarta. I often recommend that people in my own country look for notices of classes at local art supply stores, or by calling and asking someone in the arts or textiles departments at a local college. We do not have the batik industry here that you have in your country, however.                                  

It is common for batik artists in Indonesia to use naphthol dyes in batik. This type of dye is very interesting and the results are beautiful, but I would urge you to never allow any of the dye to get on your skin, because it may give you cancer. Naphthol dyes are not used for batik in America, because of their dangers. Instead, we use reactive dyes, such as Drimarene K or Procion MX dye. I don't know where you would buy this dye locally; the closest source I personally know of to you is by mail order from companies such as Batik Oetoro in Australia.             

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