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Butterfly Salone
What is Batik?
Batik is an ancient art form that uses a technique of applying wax to the fabric which creates resistance to dye in order to create beautiful patterns. To those who know batik, it is “a form of intangible heritage.”
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Sierra Leone Batik
For Sierra Leonean artists, batik is not just the creation of beautiful patterns on textiles used to make gorgeous garments, it is also a very important art form. For over a century, Sierra Leonean batik artists have used the art form to share stories of their surroundings, their experiences in good times and in bad times, history, traditions, and the way of life of ancient and modern-day Sierra Leone. Batik for Sierra Leoneans is wearable art as well as wall art that can be collected the same way you would paintings, masks, sculptures, etc. With very vivid, cartoon-like graphics, Sierra Leonean batik is vibrant, captivating and intriguing.
The origin of batik is one that has proven hard to tell, but one thing is for certain, having a piece of batik is having something dignifying, sacred and truly special. Even in our time, batik proves to be a sacred art form because of the rarity in producers. “To keep the production alive we need to support batik producers all over the world.”
About the artist
Benjamin Abdulai Conteh is a batik and tie dye artist who lives with his wife and six (6) children in the capital city of Sierra Leone, Freetown. “Abdul,” as he’s fondly known by friends and loved ones have been a batik artist for over thirty (30) years. Abdul’s team consists of him, his wife and the three (3) oldest of his children.
