It's amazing how you guys have your own version of Batik. Is that how you also call it over there? I wonder what would be the difference of process between batik here and there. because the technique itself is originated from Indonesia, but I just found fun fact that that batik are brought by dutch traders to Africa in mid 19th from Indonesia then the locals adjust it to their culture and color preferences.
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You're right. Ghanaians adopted the idea and have always used local symbols with unique meanings for them. I simply love Afri print.
Yes the "Batik" technique of in-printing on fabric was adopted from Asia. However, the reason why it was easy to adopt was because an existing local West African technique called "tie and die" (translated to English) was used to create patterns of fabrics, so they just incorporated the new technology. With Batik you can create (and recreated, more importantly) specific designs, while with tie-and-die, you create one-off designs. The patterns can be similar but are individual every time. The difference can be compared to handwriting (tie and die) and typing (Batik).