Kuala Lumpur - The young generation of artists are urged to promote the Malaysian batik concept to ensure that it remains competitive in the international market.
Yayasan Budi Penyayang (Penyayang) chief executive officer Leela Mohd Ali said she noticed that young artists had failed to appreciate the Malaysian batik design and concept which should be incorporated in their designs.
"Compared to the Indonesian and Indian batik, our batik emphasizes on striking colours," she said after launching the batik fashion, handicraft and soft furnishing competition vying for the Seri Endon Cup 2007 at Seri Kembangan, near here Tuesday.
Leela said from Penyayang‘s experience in organising batik competition such as the Seri Endon Cup, a lot of young artists were influenced by batik designs from other countries and some even incorporated Western patterns.
"In the Seri Endon Cup last year, a lot of designers were angry when their beautiful designs were not picked as winners," she said.
"Our jury are experts in judging the Malaysian batik that we want.
"No matter how beautiful the design is, we will not pick it as the winner if the design digresses from the stipulated concept," she said.
The winners of the three categories of the Seri Endon Cup will walk away with RM30,000 each, runners-up RM10,000 and second runners-up RM5,000. Five entries from each category will receive a RM1,000 consolation prize each.
Source: www.bernama.com (24 Mei 2007)
