Batik is a product of Indonesian culture admired the world. Not one of the many and varied traditional textiles produced anywhere in the world through the resist-dyeing process has ever been able to match the beauty and refinement of Indonesian batik.
Highly influenced by time and the environment, this art of designing textiles is widely spread in the Hindu and Malay world, and has become an integral part of Indonesia’s cultural identity. The techniques, symbolism and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments known as Indonesian Batik permeate the lives of Indonesians from beginning to end: infants are carried in batik slings decorated with symbols designed to bring the child luck, and the dead are shrouded in funerary batik. Clothes with everyday designs are worn regularly in business and academic settings, while special varieties are incorporated into celebrations of marriage and pregnancy and into puppet theatre and other art forms. The garments even play the central role in certain rituals, such as the ceremonial casting of royal batik into a volcano.
Batik is dyed by proud craftspeople who draw designs on fabric using dots and lines of hot wax, which resists vegetable and other dyes and therefore allows the artisan to color selectively by soaking the cloth in one color, removing the wax with boiling water and repeating if multiple colors are desired. The wide diversity of patterns reflects a variety of influences, ranging from Arabic calligraphy, European bouquets and Chinese phoenixes to Japanese cherry blossoms and Indian or Persian peacocks. Often handed down within families for generations, the craft of batik is intertwined with the cultural identity of the Indonesian people and, through the symbolic meanings of its colors and designs, expresses their creativity and spirituality.
History also reveals that the artists involved in the development of this art form have been extremely sensitive and responsive to each and every outside influence that has flowed in with any strength, from the aspect of both time and environment. It is on the passage through the ages and environments that batik has proven its great versatility in absorbing emerging influences. It is this that has enabled the existence of batik with an awesome variety of incredibly beautiful, complex, and impressive ornamentation, as we know it today.
Batik has, indeed, made Indonesia one of the world's most prominent producers of fine traditional textiles. This epithet derives from a tradition long rooted in the country; a tradition replete with tremendous richness, great variety, creativity, and artistry. Throughout this long period, the various characters, usage, types, designs, and qualities of Indonesian batik have been determined by, among other things, local climate and availability of fibers, history, trade, colonialization, and the readiness of the community to accept new concepts and comprehensions. The deciding factor, however, has been the traditions and beliefs of the people and their socio-¬cultural attitude in accepting the various influences.
The worth of Indonesian batik is not confined to perceived beauty—the kind of superficial beauty that astonishes by virtue of intricacy of designs and harmony of colors. More than that, Indonesian batik possesses a spiritual beauty evoked by ornaments that construct the design, with their deep philosophical significance resulting from the merging of Hindu-Javanese and Chinese cultures in Indonesia. It is this spiritual beauty that is lacking in batik produced in all other countries.
Through the ages, diverse environments and cultures have evolved that are clearly and undeniably expressed in the batik motifs produced by them. From the apogee of the Hinduistic Kingdom of Mataram to the arrival of religion after religion on the island of Java; from the appearance of Indian, Chinese, and Arabian traders, followed by Europeans; from the emergence of the courts of Surakarta, Yogyakarta, and Cirebon, to the rise of independence: batik has always been there with designs and colors representative of the age and the environment in which it was made.
Until now, the tradition of batik is preserved and nurtured across the Indonesian Archipelago. Batik is worn by everyone at home, at school, and in offices, as well as for weddings and other formal events. In October 2009, UNESCO included Indonesian batik in its list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".
UNESCO (Decision 4.COM 13.44)
The Committee (…) decides that [this element] satisfies the criteria for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as follows:
R1: Indonesian Batik has a rich symbolism related to social status, local community, nature, history and cultural heritage; provides Indonesian people with a sense of identity and continuity as an essential component of their life from birth to death; and continues to evolve without losing its traditional meaning;
R2: Inscription on the Representative List would contribute to ensuring the visibility of intangible cultural heritage at the local, national and international levels, raising awareness about its value and motivating practitioners, in particular younger generations, to continue its practice;
R3: Various actors such as governmental and non-governmental institutions and community-based associations have jointly carried out safeguarding measures including awareness-raising, capacity-building and educational activities, and intend to continue these efforts;
R4: The communities concerned were widely involved in the nomination process through field research in the communities; they also participated in the file preparation team and in a series of seminars to discuss the file contents, and provided their free, prior and informed consent;
R5: The element is inscribed on the inventory of cultural elements maintained by the Department of Culture and Tourism.
