Home / Batik Regions – Central Indonesia – Sulawesi Island – West Sulawesi
Facts of the region
Discover Batik in West Sulawesi
The production process of Mandar Batik, West Sulawesi (photo: Batiketniman)
The Batik textile in West Sulawesi (photo: Batiketniman)
Sandeq boat is common batik motif inspiration in West Sulawesi (Photo: @traverse.id)
The Glory of Sailor Heroes
West Celebes batik represents the local maritime life. Since Mandarese people mostly work in the marine sector and the sea transportation services for agricultural products, Mandar batik adopts various motifs illustrating sea creatures, such as the Arowana fish motif and gill motif.
Socio Cultural Values of Batik in West Celebes
Mandar batik illustrates several motifs of flora, fauna, and all cultural richness in West Celebes. Various themes have become the cultural icon for the Mandarese and West Celebes society. Instead of the unique motifs, Mandar Batik also highlights the many colours representing the social dynamics in West Celebes. The used colours are blue, red, purple, yellow, brownish yellow, green, Tosca, and black.
Batik Motifs in West Sulawesi
Batik Villages in West Sulawesi
local batik workshop
Batik villages are the region where the Batik producers mostly reside. You could buy the Batik textiles from the artisans and participate in the making process of Batik on the site.
West SulAwesI
Visual Journey
in 1 Minute
woven Batik production in west sulawesi
The Wonder of Mandar Land
West SulAwesI
Tanjung Bira Beach, West Sulawesi (photo: @Tukang Pantai)
About West Sulawesi
West Sulawesi is known as the land of Mandar tribe. West Sulawesi is one of the first regions in Indonesia that recognized the democracy system since the era of Todilalang King in the 16th Century. West Sulawesi is known for its intangible cultural heritage in forms of Sandeq boat building, Mamuju traditional architecture, woven textile tradition, and many other cultural festivals. This province has the slogan called “Mellette Diatonganan”, which means to hold and act in accordance with the truth.
Facts about West Sulawesi
West Sulawesi is a province located in Sulawesi Island. The capital of West Sulawesi Province is Mamuju City. The total area of the region is 16,787.18 Km2 with a population of 1,330,961 inhabitants according to the population census in 2017. West Sulawesi Province is bordered by Central Sulawesi Province to the north, the Makassar Strait to the west, and South Sulawesi Province to the South and East.
Gendang Dewata mountain is the highest mountain of Sulawesi island with a height of 3,300 masl. This mountain is considered as the national park as it is the habitat of the rare endemic fauna called Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi) (Photo: @PenaSulbar).
Highlights on Culture
The indigenous tribes of this area are the Mandar (49.15%), and other regional tribes such as Toraja (13.95%), Bugis (10.79%), Javanese (5.38%). The two-third of West Sulawesi’s population are Muslims, while the rests are Christians (22.26%), Catholics, Hindus and Buddhists. Several kingdoms ruled the Mandar region since the 13th Century, namely Balanipa, Proude, Pamboang, Sendana, Tappalang, Mamuju, Maturga, and Bambang. Among the 14 kingdoms, the Mamuju Kingdom and the Balanipa Kingdom were the largest kingdoms of the Mandar Tribe. The social structure of the Mandar tribe consists of three social layers, namely the aristocratic group (Todiang Laiyana), the majority group (Tau Maradika), and the slave layer (Batua).
One of the intangible cultural heritage preserved by the local community is the Bamba Manurung Dance. This traditional dance is performed in the sacred ritual and local ceremonies (photo: Silotong).
Tourist Attractions in West Sulawesi
