Indonesian govt needs to frame batik law: GKBI

11 Mar '14

1 min read

The Government of Indonesia needs to frame a batik law to protect the country’s cultural heritage of batik weaving, Romi Oktobirawa, chairman of Gabungan Koperasi Batik Indonesia (GKBI or Indonesian Batik Cooperatives Association), has said, Antara news agency reported.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event ‘Deklarasi Busana Indonesia’ (Indonesian Clothing Declaration) in Jakarta last week, Romi said there needs to be a batik legislation which clearly states that whenever the Government refers to promotion of batik, it means the original hand-made batik and not batik printing.

Romi said the traditional batik weaving has been recognized by the UNESCO as cultural heritage, but many people, especially young people, cannot differentiate between original batik and batik printing.

Young people like batik, but they do not know the essence of batik; they need to be educated on the difference between original batik and batik patterned shirt, Mr. Oktobirawa said. He added that many young people do not know whether they are wearing a batik shirt made of hand or simply printed using a machine.

Batik is not just the motifs, but the process, he emphasized.

The batik industry in Indonesia contributes about 2 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

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