Identification of the Sub-motifs of Batik Kawung Using Deep Learning

Abstract

Batik is one of Indonesia’s cultural heritages, with motifs that are both diverse and intricate. The Kawung motif, characterized by repetitive circular patterns, is divided into sub-motifs such as Kawung Bribil, Kawung Sen, and Kawung Picis. Automatic classification of these sub-motifs is important for digital preservation but remains difficult due to subtle inter-class similarities. The aim of this research is to analyze the performance of VGG, ResNet, and DenseNet and determine the most effective CNN architecture in classifying the sub-motifs of Batik Kawung. The research method is a convolutional neural network-based image classification approach using a dataset of 300 Kawung Batik images evenly distributed across three classes. Preprocessing steps included grayscale conversion, resizing to 256 × 256 pixels, Canny edge detection, and normalization to the range [0,1]. The dataset was randomly split into 210 training, 60 validation, and 30 testing images. The results of this research are that VGG achieved the highest training accuracy of 97%, but only 67% on the testing set, indicating a tendency to overfit. In contrast, DenseNet achieved the best generalization performance with a testing accuracy of 80%, surpassing both VGG and ResNet. At the class level, DenseNet161 demonstrated consistent performance across all Kawung sub-motifs, with precision ranging from 67% to 91% and F1-scores between 71% and 95%. These results suggest that DenseNet161 not only performed effectively during training but also generalized well to unseen data, establishing it as the most robust architecture for sub-motif Batik Kawung classification. The results underscore the effectiveness of CNNs, particularly DenseNet, in classifying subtle batik sub-motifs. This research contributes to develope a reliable automated system for identifying Kawung batik, leveraging modern technology to support the preservation of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.