Happy National Batik Day! Batik as a Marker of the Age and Literacy of the Nation History

TRIBUNBATAM.id - The Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) organizes some various activities to promote Batik in the context of the National Batik Day which is celebrated every October 2. 

The activity included a Batik exhibition that held in the office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday (2/10/2019). 

Commemoration of the National Batik Day was also enlivened by a fashion show, Batik competition with Canting techniques, as well as discussions on the development and the use of batik to enliven the day of determining Batik as a world cultural heritage. 

On that occasion, the Director General of Culture Kemendikbud, Hilmar Farid said, at this time Batik could be promoted not only through the clothing, but various new products could be used as promotional media. 

Enter to the World Cultural Heritage

"Batik is an intellectual property and it is indeed a hereditary product. Now, many of us to discuss about the developments for it uses. If all this time was only clothes, so the application now we will see from a variety of other products. That is what we are currently focusing on, "Hilmar said in a written statement, Tuesday (01/10/2019). 

Through the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Batik officially became the third Intangible Cultural Heritage (WBTb) of Indonesia, after the Keris and Puppets (Wayang) which had already been listed as UNESCO's ICH list.

Bequeathed to the next generation

In the manuscript that submitted to UNESCO, Batik is a technique to decorate the fabrics that contain of values, meanings, and cultural symbols. This skill was passed down from generation to generation and became a marker of Indonesian civilization. 

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Actually batik is a process, has more value than just a piece of patterned cloth. Batik cloth is a manifestation of patience, perseverance, accuracy, and the philosophy of life of the batik maker.

Batik in question is a fabric drawn that using the traditional tools called Canting or copper stamp to speed up the manufacturing process.

Celebration of the decade of entry of Batik to the list of ICH UNESCO this time carries the theme of "Batik, the Hidden Treasures of Civilizations". "Batik is the wealth of this nation's civilization, it is appropriate that this wealth bequeathed to our children and grandchildren," Hilmar said.  

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The Markers of time and historical literacy

The wide diversity of motifs were reflects a variety of influences, from the Arabic calligraphy, European floral arrangements, and Chinese phoenixes, to Japanese cherry blossoms and Indian or Persian peacocks. 

Nowadays batik is widely known. Young people who were initially embarrassed to use batik because they were considered to depict about oldster, now proudly wear it for everyday clothing.