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.

Batik is considered to give Indonesian people a sense of identity and continuity as an important component of their lives from birth to death.

Batik also continues to develop without losing its traditional meaning. 

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3. Celebrated every year in various ways

When celebrating National Batik Day, the most common thing people do is wear batik clothes.

However, that doesn't mean there aren't other ways to celebrate.

Various activities have been carried out to commemorate National Batik Day, here are some of them:

• Breaking the MURI record

On National Batik Day 2010, there was a record-breaking event for the Indonesian-World Record Museum (MURI) for making the longest batik motif mural.

Saturday, October 2 2010, this record was successfully created by a student from Inter Studi High School who completed 192 hours of making batik murals on the pillars of the Thamrin City building, Central Jakarta. 

• Digitally commemorated

National Batik Day 2012 was also celebrated digitally.

Tuesday, October 2 2012, there was a social movement using the hashtag #BatikDay which had become a trending topic on Twitter for the Indonesian region.

This social movement is carried out so that other countries know that batik has been recognized by UNESCO as Indonesia's cultural heritage. 

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• Short film screening

National Batik Day 2018 was celebrated with the screening of a short film entitled Sekar at the Kaya Indonesia Gallery located on the 8th Floor of West Mall Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta.

Reporting from Tribun Jakarta, the 30-minute film tells the story of a blind woman named Sekar, played by Sekar Sari.

The film depicts Sekar's love for batik even though she has never seen it. 

• Kebaya parade

Kompas.com reported on Wednesday (09/21/2022), the kebaya parade was held in Solo, Central Java, as part of the 2022 National Batik Day event series.

First Lady, Iriana Joko Widodo also attended the event. 

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(TRIBUNBATAM.id)