The Self Access Center (SAC) Gallery in Building A of the Faculty of Cultural Studies (FCS), Universitas Brawijaya (UB), became the venue for the East Java Batik Creation Exhibition under the theme Harmony of Tradition. The exhibition, showcasing dozens of artworks by students from the Fine Arts Program of FIB UB as part of the East Java Traditional Fine Arts Creations course, was inaugurated on Thursday (12/12/2024) and will run until Saturday (12/14/2024).
Siti Fitrohitul Izza, a Fine Arts student and one of the exhibition organizers, explained that the showcased works result from student explorations in creating batik motifs inspired by East Javanese traditions.
“Many of my peers drew inspiration from Malang’s unique features, such as bakso (meatball soup), temple reliefs, and ceramics. Others took ideas from broader East Javanese traditions like kuda lumping (a traditional dance),” she said.
The diversity of batik motifs created by the students is one of the exhibition’s main attractions. Featuring various patterns and colors, these artworks reflect the rich cultural heritage of East Java and the younger generation’s creativity in interpreting traditions.
Fitroh, as she is usually called, added that the exhibition’s primary goal is to introduce East Javanese traditions through the aesthetic medium of batik.
“Why batik? Because batik is a traditional art form widely recognized for its diverse motifs. We hope visitors will gain a deeper appreciation of our culture, especially the traditions and unique characteristics of East Javanese motifs,” she explained.
In addition to showcasing traditional fine art, the exhibition also highlights a digital innovation from the GenBatik research team, a collaboration between faculty and students from the Faculty of Computer Science (FILKOM) UB and FCS UB. GenBatik is an AI-based web application that generates batik motifs from text prompts. Three motifs created using this technology were printed and displayed during the exhibition.
Daffa Izzudin, a Computer Science student from FILKOM UB, known as Izzud, elaborated on the development process of GenBatik.
“This model requires training. We paired prompts with images so the AI could learn. Recently, we trained the model for about two days, providing it with 20,000 images,” he explained.
According to Izzud, GenBatik aims to inspire batik artisans to create new motifs rather than simply generating ready-to-use designs.
“Of course, there are plans for further development. Currently, users can only input text prompts, but we plan to expand its capabilities to accept image-based prompts as well,” he added.
The exhibition began with a focus group discussion (FGD) to ensure the relevance of the artworks and technologies presented. Izzud expressed hope that this innovation could be widely accessible to the public.
The GenBatik web application can be accessed at https://batik.izzudd.my.id. [acl/dts/PR FCS]
