2026
Pencelupan - Immersion
Sahul & Sunda Arts
What does it mean to sustain a slow art form in an age of impatience? How does it feel to be truly immersed to lose oneself in creative practice?
Pencelupan celebrates the rare art of Rifa’iyah batik and the women who sustain it as a humble yet powerful act of resistance to global cultural homogenisation.
Choreographed and performed by Australian-Indonesian dancer Alfira O’Sullivan, with original live music by Javanese composer Cahwati Sugiarto, Pencelupan invites audiences to step away from the rhythms of everyday life and into an enchanting botanical world. The performance also features Darwin-based Sahul & Sunda community dancers, Sydney’s Suara Dance, and batik artists from Batang, Indonesia.
From a semi-rural, semi-industrial community on Java’s north coast, Rifa’iyah batik is rich with Sufi-inspired spirituality, botanical knowledge, and layered symbolism across generations. It is a meeting place of diverse cultural influences and metaphor, with astracted creatures that emerge and recede within intricate motifs.
Despite the challenges of sustaining a livelihood and the distractions of the digital era, Rifa’iyah women artists continue to create, often spending up to a year completing a single work, maintaining a tradition that is cultural, spiritual, and deeply personal.
Pencelupan reflects on artistic practice as a means of building community, collective healing and developing spiritual discipline. It examines the plurality of art-making: as a form of spiritual devotion: an offering of patience, persistence, and care, as a way to maintain radically local identity as well as a way for women to earn a living.
Presented in George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, the performance unfolds among tropical plants that have long inspired many Rifa’iyah artworks. In this shared landscape – intimately connected to the cultures of Darwin’s Southeast Asian neighbours – the work reveals the quiet beauty, resilience and enduring relevance of a tradition shaped by nature, spirit and community.
See the live performance and explore the exhibition Batik Rifa’iyah.
Pencelupan celebrates the rare art of Rifa’iyah batik and the women who sustain it as a humble yet powerful act of resistance to global cultural homogenisation.
Choreographed and performed by Australian-Indonesian dancer Alfira O’Sullivan, with original live music by Javanese composer Cahwati Sugiarto, Pencelupan invites audiences to step away from the rhythms of everyday life and into an enchanting botanical world. The performance also features Darwin-based Sahul & Sunda community dancers, Sydney’s Suara Dance, and batik artists from Batang, Indonesia.
From a semi-rural, semi-industrial community on Java’s north coast, Rifa’iyah batik is rich with Sufi-inspired spirituality, botanical knowledge, and layered symbolism across generations. It is a meeting place of diverse cultural influences and metaphor, with astracted creatures that emerge and recede within intricate motifs.
Despite the challenges of sustaining a livelihood and the distractions of the digital era, Rifa’iyah women artists continue to create, often spending up to a year completing a single work, maintaining a tradition that is cultural, spiritual, and deeply personal.
Pencelupan reflects on artistic practice as a means of building community, collective healing and developing spiritual discipline. It examines the plurality of art-making: as a form of spiritual devotion: an offering of patience, persistence, and care, as a way to maintain radically local identity as well as a way for women to earn a living.
Presented in George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, the performance unfolds among tropical plants that have long inspired many Rifa’iyah artworks. In this shared landscape – intimately connected to the cultures of Darwin’s Southeast Asian neighbours – the work reveals the quiet beauty, resilience and enduring relevance of a tradition shaped by nature, spirit and community.
See the live performance and explore the exhibition Batik Rifa’iyah.
Suitability & warnings
Please note
Suitable for all ages.
Accessibility
- Suitable for audiences who may not have a comprehensive understanding of the English language
Social media
Credits & acknowledgements
Artistic Director & Choreographer Alfira O’Sullivan
Performers Alfira O’Sullivan, Cahwati Sugiarto, Suara Dance, Sahul & Sunda Community Dancers
Original Music Cahwati Sugiarto
Creative Producer Sarah Rennie
Produced by Sahul & Sunda Arts
Community Dance Facilitator Bibi Ahmed
Production Manager Duane Preston
Video Art Direction Sarah Rennie
Cinematography Caro MacDonald
Editing Sarah Rennie
Post-production support Alex Edmondson
Visual Design Thomas Rennie
Batik Art Rifa’iyah Batik Artists of Batang
Photo Genevieve Gorman Deane
Performers Alfira O’Sullivan, Cahwati Sugiarto, Suara Dance, Sahul & Sunda Community Dancers
Original Music Cahwati Sugiarto
Creative Producer Sarah Rennie
Produced by Sahul & Sunda Arts
Community Dance Facilitator Bibi Ahmed
Production Manager Duane Preston
Video Art Direction Sarah Rennie
Cinematography Caro MacDonald
Editing Sarah Rennie
Post-production support Alex Edmondson
Visual Design Thomas Rennie
Batik Art Rifa’iyah Batik Artists of Batang
Photo Genevieve Gorman Deane
Supported by
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This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and through the Australia Indonesia Institute, and by the Northern Territory Government through Arts NT.
Many thanks to our other partners for their generous in-kind contributions and support: George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia (Northern Territory) and Tracks Dance Company.