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Solo Batik Carnival 2018 shines light on batik diversity
This year, the Solo Batik Carnival (SBC) focuses on unifying each region’s batik, from Sabang to Merauke.
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A participant in the 10th Solo Batik Carnival 2017 shows off her costume for the crowd. This year, the carnival will feature batik from eight provinces in Indonesia. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
T
he Solo Batik Carnival (SBC) will be held in mid-June and aims to shine a light on the archipelago’s batik diversity with the theme "Ika Paramartha".
The head of the SBC foundation, Lia Imelda, said to Antara on Wednesday, “Ika is derived from ‘Bhinneka tunggal ika’ [unity in diversity], while 'Paramartha' means the good things that bind us together.”
Lia said the theme was highlighted due to recent political and social tensions, and because many people have been self-righteous lately. The event organizers want to unify tribes, religions, races and other elements in Indonesia.
SBC coordinator, Ragowo Ade Kurniawan, said in previous years, the SBC highlighted only Solo's batik, while this year the SBC focuses on unifying each region’s batik, from Sabang to Merauke.
“We will feature batik from various provinces in Indonesia. There are eight provinces that will be highlighted, namely Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua, Nusa Tenggara, Bali, Java and DKI Jakarta,” he said.
Read also: Semarang State University pushes naturally colored batik development
Java will feature the Jawa Dwipa collection, while Sumatra will highlight Nagari Minangkabau. Kalimantan’s collection will be named Dayak Borneo, while Bali will have Janger Dewata, Sulawesi with Mappalili Mamiri, Papua with Tana Sajojo, Nusa Tenggara with Sasando and Jakarta with Lenggang Batavia.
Submissions are already open and organizers target 20 adult participants and 30 children for each theme.
“We want SBC participants to be creators, designers and performers. We don’t want them to just order the costumes and pay; we want them to design the costumes that they will wear,” added Ragowo.
To be able to perform in the carnival, 75 percent of the costumes used should be batik (stamped or printed). Like in previous years, organizers have banned hand-drawn batik due to concerns about disturbing its standards when used as carnival costumes.
The head of creative economy development in the Surakarta tourism office, Nunuk Mari Hastuti, said the Solo Batik Carnival has made it onto the Tourism Ministry’s list of "100 Wonderful Events in Indonesia".
“The Solo Batik Carnival event aims to preserve batik in an interesting way, because Solo is a batik city,” said Nunuk. (asw)
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