Exploring semiotic visual of batik stamp motif in Malaysia and Indonesia

Abstract

This paper studies the visual semiotic reading of stamp batik motifs visually in Malaysia and Indonesia, which is still very limited. There were some constraints, one of them was their distance from the source of the idea of batik stamps and differences in the market demand. This article is based on the theories of Charles Sanders Pierce’s visual semiotics. The approach of this paper is descriptive–qualitative, to study the motifs of batik stamps found in these two nations. The data of this research was obtained by a field survey of batik stamp business chosen from Malaysia. At that time, the Small and Medium Units of Batik Komar were from Bandung in Indonesia. From a sociological point of view, it supports the argument that these insights can create a bridge toward cross-cultural respect and synergies between Malaysia and Indonesia in building, growing, and protecting batik as regional art. They may at the same time open up avenues for collaboration in the batik trade and in the preservation of culture. This emphasizes the relevance of the problems of the study within wide and cultural partnerships; and the results’ theoretical and practical focus. One conclusion discusses a visual semiotic reading of the differences between the batik stamp motif from Malaysia and Indonesia.