First Lady to Attend National Batik Day Commemoration

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - First Lady Ani Yudhoyono is scheduled to attend the commemoration of National Batik Day, which will feature a batik exhibition here on Thursday.

Based on Presidential Decree No. 33/2009, Indonesia annually observes the commemoration of National Batik Day on October 2, following United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) decision to include batik in its list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" items.

To highlight the Batik Day commemoration, the industry ministry and the Foundation of Indonesian Batik have organized a batik exhibition dubbed "The Seventh Exhibition of Batik as Cultural Heritage" from September 30 to October 3, 2014.

Ancient batiks dating back to the sultanate of Ngayokyakarta Hadiningrat, Pura Pakualaman, Pura Mangkunagaran, and Surakarta Hadiningrat, are also on display during the expo.

Chairperson of the expo organizing the exhibition Rosati Kadarisma noted that the ancient batiks are from the collections of batik lovers, 10 of which belong to the Foundation of Indonesian Batik.

The expo has the participation of 54 batik producers, and the highlight of the event will be a fashion show exclusively featuring batik clothing from eight prominent designers.

Indonesia's Batik along with the Tango of Argentina and Uruguay, the traditional Ainu dance of Japan, and France's Aubusson tapestries, were among the 76 elements inscribed on September 30 in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the United Arab Emirates news agency (WAM) reported on Wednesday (Sept. 30).

UNESCO 's list describes Indonesian Batik as "the techniques, symbolism, and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments known as Indonesian Batik that permeate the lives of Indonesians from beginning to end: infants are carried in batik slings decorated with symbols designed to bring the child luck, and the dead are shrouded in funerary batik." (WDY)