From tomorrow up to 26 August of this year Mudec (“Khaled al-Asaad” Space of Cultures) is pleased to present the exhibition project “From batiks to Art Nouveau. The thread that unites east and west“.

Curated by the Cultural Paths Association which will showcase a selected research of precious Indonesian batiks coming mainly from private collections, with the aim of narrating the ancient history of this precious fabric that brings with it all the culture and the oriental tradition of handicraft manufacture.

Through the exhibition of refined fabrics, designs and patterns, the exhibition will tell not only the history and culture of these ancient Indonesian craftsmanship, but will focus attention, in particular, on the refined batik fabrics produced in the Art Nouveau period.

The exhibition, in fact, will highlight in particular the different cultural and artistic influences that linked the European world to some Asian countries, in particular to the Java Island in Indonesia, towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the last century, the period in which the artistic and philosophical movement of Art Nouveau spread in Europe, from which a “fashion” and a new taste were born.

The word batik derives from tik, meaning drop in Malay. The origins of this technique are of controversial origin, it seems to have originated in China or in India, but it has certainly developed on the Island of Java in Indonesia where, for centuries, refined examples have been produced, all strictly handcrafted. These artefacts express, with their drawings and colors, the founding elements of the culture and social life of the Indonesian people and combine, in their essence, the design skills, the artistic expression and the technical-manual skills of those who create them.

The exhibition, therefore, interpreting the Mudec mission which involves studying and enhancing not only the works and artefacts but also the connections and relations between the different cultures of the world, allows us to underline the intense relationships of exchange and comparison that characterized the European and Indonesian craft production of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Location: Mudec – Museum of Cultures – via Tortona 56, Milan

Free entry.

Information and opening hours:

JULY
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 from 15.30 to 19.30
Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 from 15.30 to 19.30
AUGUST
Saturday 04 and Sunday 05 from 15.30 to 19.30
Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 from 15.30 to 19.30
Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 from 15.30 to 19.30

You can discover the tours with a focus on Art Nouveau – Liberty Style that we organise in the Italian capital of fashion by CLICKING HERE. These are exclusive private tours for small groups.