On October 2, UNESCO officially acknowledged that batik originates from Indonesia, not from that country across the strait. To celebrate the occasion, Indonesians proudly wore their best batik everywhere they were for whatever they did. The president’s call to wear batik together on that day took the celebration to another height. Government offices, schools, and private companies also urged their guys and girls to wear batik. On personal level, in a break from my typical polo shirt and non-blue jeans attire, I joined the fashion festival of the people by wearing my batik uniform from the days of high school. Congratulate me, because I proudly appreciated one of my country’s treasures – and because it took a lot of guts to wear a shocking green batik in public.
Celebrations aside, there are several questions that UNESCO’s acknowledgement, and its protection, has not yet answered about the fate of batik. I heard some of these questions from the news, and I formulated some myself based on a class on batik I took in my first semester.
First off, does the UNESCO protect the processes of making a traditional batik? Batik has a very unique production process, traditionally called mbatik, which takes a lot of time, effort, and skill. While similar processes exist in other places, I am quite certain that Indonesia’s batik production has its defining characteristics that we need to preserve. When people try to visualize the making of a batik, they will see a kind old Javanese lady in kebaya sitting with a sheet of fabric (the batik-to-be) in one hand and a canthing (the wax applier) in the other. If their imagination is animated, she will be delicately tracing the batik patterns she made earlier on the fabric with melted wax. Ask me to describe the scene, and I will answer “powerfully serene”.
This question is related to the booming of factory-made batiks, an awful lot of them coming from China. You see, there are at least three types of batik production. (1) Fully handmade; the product is labeled batik tulis, which literally means written batik. This method means no two batik is the same. (2) Stamp batik or batik cap, in which stamps are used to make blocks of patterns to speed up the process. (3) Factory-made batik, in which batik is just another insignificant stuff made in a factory.. That brings us to question number two, Will this UNESCO mumbo-jumbo help traditional batik makers survive the storm of mass-produced batik?
Despite the fact that it can take months, or years, to make a sheet of batik, people refuse to pay a fair price for a real batik tulis. I don’t know what factor to blame for this: cheap batik from China, lack of appreciation, or well, just too expensive for a piece of cloth. If this goes on, even an acknowledgement from a world body cannot help prevent batik workshops from closing and potential batik makers from choosing another profession.
Third question, because when I say batik you will think of exquisite complicated patterns, it is very appropriate to ask, Are our batik patterns properly protected? There are numerous examples of batik motifs: parang, parang rusak, parang kusumo, garuda, naga, and a broad range of images – not to mention endless combinations of geometric patterns. And we have not talked about new designs that emerged after batik reclaimed the spotlight. We need some kind of a registry of batik patterns to make sure that they are not lost through the time. After all, we cannot expect the masses to care about what kind of batik they are wearing and to know its details, let alone the deep philosophy contained within.
The last sentence popped up another question, How can we safeguard and disseminate the rich philosophy in batik and mbatik? You will have a hard time looking for someone knowledgeable enough about this issue. I don’t really know what means what in the mesmerizing details of batik, but I'd love to enrich my knowledge. Furthermore, understanding the priceless values hidden in each batik cloth will make people appreciate the art even more, especially batik tulis.
Finally, How will we actually help preserve batik as a whole? I honestly don’t think that simply wearing batik everyday or every hour does any good for batik. Most people are contributing to the income of made-in-China batik businessmen without even thinking to at least scrutinize batik the patterns. If traditional batik makers are thrown out of business by the endless tornado of cheap batik, are we still protecting our heritage? If we don’t know anything about the batik that we wear, are we guarding the art of batik?
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