Vice President Jusuf Kalla has suggested batik become fashionable in its country of origin and has called on Indonesian people to use batik apparel for formal occasions.
"We should become more accustomed to dressing in batik on formal occasions and make it a part of our lifestyle," Kalla was quoted as saying by Antara news wire Saturday while opening the International Batik Exhibition in Pekalongan, Central Java.
"Batik is part of our cultural heritage. Therefore, we should wear batik instead of jackets (on formal occasions)."
He also asked government officials to make batik their formal uniform.
He said batik was not only a tradition but it had become a valuable commodity.
"I hope entrepreneurs will continue developing their batik products to help revive our country‘s economy."
Separately, businesswoman Kemala Motik suggested wearing batik at least once a week in the hope it would make Indonesian people appreciate batik as part of their culture.
She said poor marketing strategies had hampered the widespread use of batik despite its good quality.
The exhibition, the first of such an event, is expected to inspire people to wear batik and encourage batik entrepreneurs to create more batik products, Kalla said.
Some 1,200 participants from 11 countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Laos will man 130 booths in the exhibition, which runs until Wednesday.
Pekalongan, which is known as "batik city", has been the center of batik for many years, along with Yogyakarta and Surakarta.
Batik from Pekalongan is famous for its eye-catching colors and designs, in comparison to the softer batik from Yogyakarta and Surakarta.
The Culture and Tourism Ministry has registered batik with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a masterpiece of world heritage in an attempt to gain worldwide acknowledgement of the art.
During the Pekalongan exhibition, Kalla reassured batik entrepreneurs they did not need to worry about Malaysia‘s attempt to claim and patent batik as part of its cultural heritage.
"We don‘t need to worry. There‘s no way Malaysia will patent batik," Kalla said.
He said although Malaysia also produced batik, its design had its own uniqueness and was different to that of Indonesia‘s.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (4 September 2007)
