- The exotic textiles of Java have intrigued the outside world for the past 150 years. Batik, the legendary fiber art of painting and dyeing fabrics using a waxing process, has been influenced by cultures as diverse as the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch, and English. Like no other book before it, Batik takes the reader on a spellbinding tour of Java, revealing batik"s history, motifs, and methods of production.