Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship

Family, art, and entrepreneurship converge in the story of three visionary Peranakan women from Indonesia – Nyonya Oeij Soen King, her daughter-in-law Nyonya Oeij Kok Sing, and her granddaughter Jane Hendromartono. From the 1890s to 1980s, they produced impressive batiks in the renowned batik centre of Pekalongan on Java’s north coast.

This exhibition explores the lives and works of these women, revealing how each became a batik master in her own right, and how they responded to the rapid political, cultural, and economic changes of their times to run a business that produced great art.