About

Batik: Recolouring Tradition is an exhibition that retraces the steps of batik through a deeply personal and cross-cultural lens. Inspired by her late mother Farida King’s rich textile archive and Indonesian heritage, British textile artist and designer Lisa King embarks on a journey to deconstruct and re-examine this ancient technique for a contemporary world.

Batik’s slow, symbolic and process-led nature aligns with a wider resurgence in textile-based art and regenerative craft. Within this context, batik emerges as a powerful medium, offering audiences a tactile connection to identity, place and making through a personal story of rediscovering heritage. The exhibition presents batik in a new light for a new generation, positioning it as a vital medium for contemporary storytelling and sustainable innovation.

Collaboration sits at the heart of the exhibition. Lisa King works closely with artisan communities in Indonesia, colour specialists in the UK, and experts in Southeast Asian textiles to present batik as a living, evolving craft that bridges heritage and innovation. This contemporary body of work pushes the boundaries of pattern, art and design traditionally associated with batik, while revealing the beauty, process and intricacy of this ancient Indonesian craft.

Through collaborative commissions, the exhibition brings batik to new audiences, expanding its presence across contemporary art, fashion and interior contexts through creative dialogue between UK and Indonesian craft and design practices. Alongside this, the exhibition explores more sustainable approaches to practice, while expanding the language of colour, pattern and design in batik.

In partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Lisa King presents batik not as a static tradition, but as a living medium for cross-cultural exchange, contemporary storytelling and sustainable design, laying the foundations for a future permanent batik art studio in the UK.