"The West Java Batik Academy will train batik sector professionals for the industrial sector," said the Foundation`s chairman Komarudin Hudiya here Tuesday.
The vocational institute would be established in 2012 and admit 100 students for every course. Students would undergo a three months batik training and were expected to establish their own batik business after graduating.
"We are targeting youths from all over West Java in the hope they can set up a batik business of their own after they return to their respective regions," said Komarudin.
A batik academy was necessary to ensure regeneration in the industry`s players and its continuity over time, he said.
The problems being faced by batik artisans in Indonesia included the absence of a regeneration process with present craftsmen lacking likely successors and some craftsmen even having to stop their activity due to lack of assistant manpower.
"Regeneration is not the only problem faced by batik artisan, they are also need to encourage the market, because batik printing invasion has hit the traditional batik industry pretty hard," he said.
Furthermore, the establishment of the Batik Academy is done as an effort to increase production of West Java`s batik that had been stagnated due to lack of development.
"The batik market is still good, although it was booming in 2009. We strive to maintain the interest of batik market, one of them by developing a motive based on the uniqueness of the area," komarudin said.
He pointed out on several new motifs developed by batik generations in areas such as in Subang and Cianjur who developed batik Ganasan, crocodile motif, motif Beasan also several other new motifs.
"So far there are about 200 batik motifs in West Java and has been recorded in the form of a paperback book motif," Komarudin Hudiya said.
(Uu.A050/HAJM/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
