T

he Banjarnegara regency administration in Central Java has demanded civil servants in the regency show their appreciation for batik by wearing it from Oct. 5 to Oct. 10, following the UNESCO declaring Indonesia's batik as part of the world's intangible cultural heritage earlier this month.

Rahmawati, head of the organizational division at the Banjarnegara regency administration, said every civil servant, irrespective of which agency they worked for, had to wear batik for a week. "We are proud holders of the batik culture, including Banjarnegara regency, where batik is also produced in one of its villages," she said.

She added the order to wear the batik had been extended to a week.

"Subsequently, we will hold a meeting with all related agencies. We have proposed that batik be worn on Fridays and Saturdays in Banjarnegara."

She said that if the proposal was approved, civil servants would use batik produced in Gumelem village.

She acknowledged the Gumelem batik center was still in financial trouble. "We, from the organizational division, have proposed the administration review the policy on civil servant uniforms, for example requiring the use of the Gumelem batik on Fridays and Saturdays," said Rahmawati.

She added Gumelem batik had a reputation for being expensive because it was mostly handmade batik.

"We will develop it further so everyone can wear it, by producing print batik," she said.

In Yogyakarta, over 60 journalists joined a batik-making seminar over the weekend at the Giriloyo batik village in Wukirsari subdistrict, Imogiri, Bantul, as a way of showing their support for batik as a world cultural heritage.

"This is our way of showing our support for the tradition of batik and the efforts to make it popular again," said Sulistiono from the daily Media Indonesia.

He said journalists wanted to understand more about batik, the traditional wax-resistant dyeing technique used on textiles.

A better understanding, he added, would lead to better media coverage that could later also help support the development of batik.

Another participating journalist, M. Syaifullah of Tempo, said Giriloyo was deliberately chosen because the village had embraced the handmade batik tradition several hundred years ago.

The village is still home to some 800 batik makers.