American batik
Fashion instructor wins national design competition
1:57 p.m., Nov. 18, 2011--Bridging the divide between the “American spirit and values” and batik—a cloth that uses wax-resist dyeing techniques to create traditional Indonesian patterns—University of Delaware fashion instructor Kelly Cobb has designed an American batik that has won the highest honors from the Indonesian Embassy and Asia Society.
Entitled “Indigo Batik with QR code,” Cobb’s design combines a contemporary symbol -- the QR code -- within a traditional textile context. As she explains, it is a square that “represents earthbound matter, and correspondingly, with its two sides delineating a two-dimensional surface, may symbolize earth or ground, or a field.”
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National Medal of Science
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The textile can be scanned with a smartphone, leading the viewer to a website Cobb developed highlighting Indonesia, the history of the textile art of batik and information on her design practice.
For her work, Cobb won the American Batik Design Competition.
Sponsored by the embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, the competition aims to “reflect the cultural fusion between United States and Indonesia through batik, bring American values in the tradition of Indonesian batik, and…strengthen people-to-people contacts between the two countries.”
The national contest is part of a larger effort by the Indonesian government to “internationalize batik to the world.”
Cobb’s design took first place over dozen of entries by American artists from 18 states.
As award winner, she will receive a $5,000 prize along with a textile tour to Indonesia (valued at $15,000), where she will produce her winning design.