TEMPO.CO, Pekalongan - Producers are expecting better appreciation of Batik Pekalongan as Indonesia celebrates National Batik Day on October 2.
Harris Riyadi, a hand-printed batik artist in Pekalongan City, wants Batik to not only be appreciated as an industrial product but also as an art. “Batik has been seen from industrial and marketing standpoint, not from its value as an art, culture and history,” Harris told Tempo yesterday.
He said that after years of engaging in the business, the art of hand-printed batik (known as batik tulis) has yet to gain a better appreciation despite the fact that it takes months to make the product. “Hand-printed batik is part of an artistic expression, it has not been appreciated enough,” he said.
In the past 10 years, Haris has also been producing batiks using recycled cement paper bags. The products are made for accessory and paintings instead of clothing. However, the response to such form of batik has been underwhelming as well. “It would have been appreciated more abroad because it’s environmentally friendly.”
Meanwhile, another batik artist named Shodikin expects that the National Batik Day can see artists getting out of the shadow of large merchants. He hopes that the government offers opportunities to batik producers to participate in exhibitions. “That way, we [batik makers] can directly sell our products to consumers, not through investors,” he said.
TEMPO