Indonesian batik proposed for UNESCO cultural heritage list (Feature)

By Christiane Oelrich Jul 29, 2009, 3:07 GMT

   Jakarta - In Indonesia, no state function, celebration or festive dinner is complete without the most important accessories: gentlemen's batik shirts.

   The famous shirts are colourfully patterned with large images of flowers, birds or geometric designs and often are tailored from the finest fabrics.

   The government has applied to have batik included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and a decision is expected in September.

   Such batik, which is also used to make sarongs and other clothing, often starts in a place like the small atelier in a Jakarta backyard where nine women sit on low stools, slumping over long pieces of fabric in their laps.

   From a central stove, they ladle liquid wax into small copper jugs fitted with a bamboo handle and a pointed nozzle with a tiny opening.

   Using that nozzle, they then trace patterns on the fabric, leaving a hardening wax trail, work that requires concentration and a steady hand.

   'Batik is part of the soul of the people and influenced by Indonesian art, music, legends, religion and dance,' says Nursjirwan Tirtaamidjaja, the country's most famous batik designer. 'It is not just a matter of putting wax on cloth.'

   In the workshop, the waxed fabrics are pulled through a long, narrow dying tub by a couple of men in yellow rubber boots.

   Once the desired hue has been achieved, the fabric goes into a large vat with boiling water, which removes the wax.

   The process of drawing new patterns with wax, dying and subsequent boiling off of the wax is repeated many times until finally a new piece of batik fabric is ready.

   The residence of Tirtaamidjaja, 75, better known by his pseudonym Iwan Tirta, is like a museum. Doors and room dividers in the house in a wealthy Jakarta suburb are adorned with intricate wood carvings. Heavy chests of drawers are topped by pieces of porcelain.

   And, of course, batik is everywhere.

   'I am inspired by everything: gamelan music, wood carvings, flowers and books,' he says. 'I read everything [from] the Weimar Constitution [to] Vogue Magazine, pornography and cooking books.'

   His interest in batik was awakened when he was a student in the Netherlands, he says.

   'I realized that I understood more about Western culture than about my own,' he recalls, adding that he returned to Indonesia and dedicated himself to historical batik research.

   'Good batik has snob appeal,' he says. 'The batik patterns are drawn, waxed and dyed on both sides, so that it is really sharp.'

   Asserting that he 'never made big business,' he says he still 'doesn't want to see every taxi driver' in his shirts.

   Tirta's shirts costs 3.5 million rupees (250 euros) on average.

   'My batik is the Rolls Royce or Mercedes of batik,' he says.

   UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List currently includes about 100 items.

   Among them are the carnival of Binche in Belgium, Sardinian pastoral songs, the Manding initiatory rite from the West African countries of Senegal and Gambia, and the samba de roda of north-eastern Brazil's Bahia province.

   Indonesian entries so far comprise the kris, a traditional dagger, and the wayang puppet theatre.

   Tirta sees the expected inclusion of batik as an appreciation of art but rejects promotional efforts by the government to establish batik as a 'creative industry.'

   'Creativity and industry, those two terms don't go together,' he insists.