3 Facts About National Batik Day October 2, Starting from the UNESCO Recognition

TRIBUNBATAM.id - National Batik Day is celebrated every October 2nd. 

This year, that day falls on tomorrow, Sunday, October 2, 2022. 

One way to enliven the day is to learn things about batik. 

Here are some facts related to National Batik Day which are summarized from various sources: 

Facts about National Batik Day

1. Starting from the UNESCO recognition

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is one of the foundations for the National Batik Day.

In the fourth session of the Inter-Governmental Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage held on 2 October 2009, UNESCO recognized batik as a Humanitarian Heritage of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Culture. 

This recognition from UNESCO also prompted the then President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) to set October 2 as National Batik Day.

This is regulated in Presidential Decree No. 33 of 2009 which was issued by SBY on November 17, 2009.

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2. Reasons for UNESCO to recognize batik

Previously, Indonesia submitted a nomination to UNESCO on September 4, 2008 so that batik would get intangible cultural heritage status.

Quoted from UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage site, batik was finally accepted as a cultural heritage and included in the list of representations of the Humanitarian Heritage of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Culture.

Broadly speaking, UNESCO assesses that batik is rich in symbols and philosophical meanings of Indonesian people's life.

There are several criteria that are met so that batik gets UNESCO recognition, one of which is about batik which has a wealth of symbolism related to social status, local communities, nature, history, and cultural heritage.