Canting
53 USD
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For the batik-makers, canting, the copper pens to paint batik, are their spirits. At its most glorious moment canting is blown with deep and powerful feelings that are blended with the owner’s breath. But nowadays, hand-painted batik that is made by using a canting is crushed and cornered with the emerging of the new print batik. Hand-painted batik takes months and months to make, but this new kind only takes a few blinks. Canting is a symbol of a defeated and isolated culture because it is considered to be time-consuming. Ni - a girl who holds a bachelor degree in pharmacy, a bride-to-be from Ngabean - tries to explore hand-painted batik with a canting. However, she faces strong pressures from Pak Bei, a bold and handsome nobleman; Bu Bei, her mother, who used to be a batik painter; and her successful siblings. Canting, which is the signature of Ngabean’s batik cannot withstand the market demands. “When we acknowledge a sick culture, we must not cry, we must raise a flag instead.” Ni decides to be un-Javanese, to be different, to go against the flow in order to survive. Ni, who was born when Ki Ageng Suryamentaram died, is the second generation after her father, who dares to be un-Javanese
