Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship

11 October 2024 to 31 August 2025
Daily, 10am–7pm | Fridays, 10am–9pm
Peranakan Museum
$6 for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents; $18 for Foreigners

Family, art, and entrepreneurship converge in the story of three visionary Peranakan women from Indonesia – Nyonya Oeij Soen King, her daughter-in-law Nyonya Oeij Kok Sing, and her granddaughter Jane Hendromartono. From the 1890s to 1980s, they produced impressive batiks in the renowned batik centre of Pekalongan on Java’s north coast.

Featuring about 200 batik textiles and accompanying objects, Batik Nyonyas: Three Generations of Art and Entrepreneurship examines the lives and careers of these Peranakan women through their works. With batik as a portrait of society, the exhibition reveals the influence of the Oeij family women as they became batik masters in their own right, as they ingeniously responded to the rapid political, cultural and economic changes of their time to run a business that produced great art. Visitors are invited to draw links to the development and evolution of Indonesian batik through a Peranakan perspective, and to participate in hands-on workshops, performances and tours. The exhibition will also feature a contemporary art commission by Aiko Tezuka, an artist specialised in producing art based on the unravelling of woven fabric.