“Batik is more than fabric; it is a living art form shaped by centuries of cultural exchange, sustaining the livelihoods of millions, and symbolizing Indonesia’s enduring identity,” said Indonesian Ambassador to the US, Indroyono Soesilo, in a press release from KBRI Washington in Jakarta on Friday.
October 2 is commemorated as Indonesia's National Batik Day to mark global recognition of batik and encourage efforts to preserve it for future generations.
According to KBRI Washington, this year’s National Batik Day at the World Bank headquarters showcases the richness of Indonesian traditions through Indonesian textiles, music, dance, culinary arts, and handicrafts.
The celebration also provided an opportunity for visitors to experience a variety of Indonesian cultural expressions, including gamelan, angklung, and kulintang performances by Indonesian diaspora communities.
The event also featured a batik workshop, allowing visitors to learn firsthand the batik-making process, using wax and dyes, and an exhibition of batik motifs, offering insights into the diversity of batik patterns and philosophies from various regions of Indonesia.
KBRI also noted that Indonesian batik and textiles are preserved and displayed at various leading cultural institutions in the US, such as the George Washington University Textile Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven is presenting the exhibition “Nusantara: Six Centuries of Indonesian Textiles” from September 12, 2025, to January 11, 2026, featuring a collection of Indonesian textiles that is said to be the most comprehensive in the Western Hemisphere.
The Smithsonian Institution houses batik artifacts in its anthropology collection, affirming batik as a global Indonesian cultural heritage.
Batik is one of Indonesia's intangible cultural heritages, recognized by UNESCO on October 2, 2009, as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Since its recognition, October 2 has been commemorated as National Batik Day, a form of appreciation and pride in batik as a symbol of unity, creativity, and the local wisdom of the Indonesian people.
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Translator: Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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