Batik vs Shibori
バティック（ジャワ更紗） / 絞り染め
Both sit in Textile Traditions, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. Both are read here as technique. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Batik
Javanese cloth resisted with wax and dyed over and over again. The line drawn by the canting builds a pattern system that also speaks of rank, region and rite.
Shibori
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A technique in which cloth is stitched, bound or clamped between boards before dyeing, so that only the parts under pressure stay white. The result is left to the strength of the craftsman's hands and the movement of the cloth, and no two pieces come out alike even from the same pattern.
| Batik | Shibori | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | traditional–present | 8th century– |
| Family | Textile Traditions | Textile Traditions |
| Kind | Technique | Technique |
| Cues | Crackle of the wax resist / The canting's line / Layered indigo and soga brown / A semantic pattern system | The bled white left by binding / Regular grain from stitch resist / Geometric ground patterns from board clamping / A texture that keeps the relief of the cloth |
| Best used for | Cloth and wallpaper needing a density only a drawn line produces · Formal and ceremonial textiles that respect what each pattern signifies | Making a surface that differs piece by piece from the same pattern · Using a texture that records the pressure of the hand on purpose |
| Type | Any lettering follows the pattern grid and never breaks the repeat | Choose heavier letterforms that survive the unevenness of handwork. |
| Composition | Divide the whole cloth into pattern units, change rank at the border | Mix intended irregularity into a regular repeat. |
| Material | Wax resist, then layered indigo and brown, washed keeping the crackle | Resist the dye by binding and pressure, and allow the dye to bleed. |
| Caution | Using the patterns as decoration detached from meaning ignores who may wear them and on what occasion, which turns the cloth discourteous. | Reproducing the pattern in print makes it another thing entirely. The bleed and the unevenness are the record of the technique. |