Technique
The batik process is specialized with artisans dedicated to one step of the process. Each batik cloth passes through different hands before the final textile is complete.
Weavers card the cotton and weave the cloth before it is passed on to the batik makers. Batik artists create the main patterns with hot wax using wooden blocks,then the apprentices apply wax to large areas that are intended to be white (to protect them from the dye) in the final design.
Genuine materials, Unique designs
Each Batik cloth is unique and can be identified with the Batik master’ name.
Prints range from abstract geometry to figurative images and all designs are handmade using wooden blocks.
The Art of weaving
The handcrafting process of the Baoulé cloth has several steps. First, the dyeing of the cotton, silk and raffia threads with organic materials derived from plants, root, barks such as Indigo, then the cotton threads are woven into several long and narrow strips (about 10 cm), using a traditional loom (device that interlaces threads to create the fabric).
Finally, the cotton strips are sewn together edge to edge to create a whole cloth (up to 60 meters long).
An ancestral tradition
The Art of weaving is generally reserved for men. Transmitted from father to son or through apprenticeship, it generally takes 5 to 7 years to master this ancestral textile technique and 1 to 2 weeks to produce one piece of Baoulé cloth, using a tenth century set of techniques.
The patterns created by brightly colored threads have symbolic meaning as well as the colors (red symbolizing death, green for fertility or blue for love)