What is Batik, and why is it celebrated?

Batik Day (Hari Batik Nasional) is an Indonesian cultural day for celebrating batik – the traditional cloth of Indonesia. It is celebrated on October 2 and marks the anniversary of when UNESCO recognized batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2009.

The word batik comes from the Javanese word amba, which means “writing,” and titik, which means “dot.” In other words, membatik is writing a series of dots to form a beautiful pattern.

Indonesia celebrates national Batik Day each year in appreciation and admiration of the art of colouring clothing and other textiles via the Indonesian batik method. The method involves using wax material. Most of the wax is obtained from the excretion of plants, in the form of damar (coniferous timber) or resin. Animal sources of wax includes includes wasps and bee-hives.  Batik that comes from Sumatra Island is called Minangkabau Batik in which the coloring technique uses clay. The fabric is first soaked in clay for a week, then it is washed and other natural colors from plants are applied. Batik Pekalongan has now been recorded by the Guiness Book of Records as the biggest batik. It is made on a fabric 1,000 meters long and worked by 1,000 batik artisans on the main highway of Pekalongan City.

Now, Batik Day is celebrated across a number of platforms all over the world. Particularly, in Indonesian organizations ranging from universities, church groups, and communities all around the world. These Indonesian organizations usually celebrate Batik Day to create awareness of Indonesia’s traditional fabric to other cultures.

There are various festivals held in several provinces. One of the most famous is Festival Batik Solo (Solo Batik Festival) that is in the form of a batik parade on the main street of the city. In 2008, 250 instant models participated in Festival Batik Solo, parading a distance of 4.2 kilometres (about two and a half miles) wearing various batik creations. Batik patterns are not only painted on fabrics, but also on everything from tarps, nets, papers, CDs, plastic glasses, balloons, and chicken feathers. Batik Day celebrated in Indonesia is certainly a colourful and intriguing spectacle!

The Indonesian government strongly encourage Indonesian people (especially government officials, employees of state-owned enterprises, and students) to wear batik annually on the holiday and on Fridays to commemorate the day. Wearing batik every Friday has also been encouraged in private companies.

Bring some Batik designs in to your home with our printed scatter cushion collection.

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