Entrepreneurship and the batik industry in Pekalongan
Batik Nyonyas Talks
Entrepreneurship and the batik industry in Pekalongan
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
7–8pm
Ngee Ann Auditorium
Asian Civilisations Museum
Click here to register: https://batiknyonyas27novtalk.peatix.com
Situated on Java’s north coast, Pekalongan emerged as a batik centre in the 1850s, and by the 1890s it had overtaken competitors such as Batavia (Jakarta), Surakarta, and Lasem to become the island’s preeminent producer. This talk discusses the biographies of prominent Chinese batik workshops and traders in Pekalongan and its surrounding districts. It examines the development of Pekalongan’s batik industry in the context of Indonesia’s quest for independence, as well as shifting market forces within the nation and beyond. This talk is organised in conjunction with Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship, at the Peranakan Museum till 31 August 2025.
Light refreshments will be served from 6pm onwards at the basement foyer.
About the Speakers
Seng Guo-Quan is assistant professor of history at the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on Chinese societies in Southeast Asia, with a special interest in inter-ethnic relations, gender and sexuality, and modes of transactions within capitalism. He is the author of Strangers in the Family: Gender, Patriliny and the Chinese in Colonial Indonesia (2023). He also serves on the Board of Advisors of the Asian Civilisations Museum and Peranakan Museum.
Didi Kwartanada writes extensively on the Chinese community in Indonesia. His works include “Bangsawan prampoewan: Enlightened Peranakan Chinese women from early twentieth century Java” (2017) and “From Oei Tiong Ham to Ferry Salim: Visualization of the Chinese dandies, ca. 1900–2002” (Asian Culture, 2023).
Image: Women workers in Tee Boen Kee’s batik workshop in Java, 1920s. P. de Kat Angelino, Batikrapport, 1930. Vol. 1, p. 82.
The Batik Nyonyas talk series is organised in conjunction with the special exhibition Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship.
DISCOVER WHAT'S ON
Special Exhibition
Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship
11 Oct 2024 – 31 Aug 2025
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.
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Programmes
Daily Guided Tours at Peranakan Museum
Daily
Guided tours led by our volunteer docents are available daily.
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Programmes
Batik Stories with the Peranakan Indians
23–24 Nov, 11am–6pm
Explore the art of batik in a weekend of hands-on activities, community-led tours, vibrant performances, and more!
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