Discover Indonesia: Batik and Tenun of Indonesia

When you type the word "batik" in the internet search engine, you would found a lot of description related "batik" and "Indonesia". Some archaeologists in their research paper

stated that batik is one of the local genius of the Indonesian people. It means that batik originality is from Indonesia which in the year 2009 has been added to the UNESCO world's heritage list.

It was on October 2, 2009 when UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. As part of the acknowledgement UNESCO insisted that Indonesia preserve the heritage.

The word of "batik" itself came from Javanese (one of the ethnic group in Indonesia) words "amba" (to write) and "titik" (dot or point). It is the method of dyeing a fabric by which parts of the fabric not intended to be dyed are covered by removable wax.

To make a batik, selected areas of the cloth are blocked out by brushing or drawing hot wax over them, then the cloth is then dyed. The parts covered in wax resist the dye and remain the original colour. This process of waxing and dyeing can be repeated to create more elaborate and colorful designs. After the final dyeing the wax is removed and the cloth is ready for wearing or showing.

From historical sources, the archaeologists found batik design at the temple relief, wayang (The Indonesian traditional puppet), and on palm leaves. Some sources said that batik already known around 6th or 7th century A.D. and devel-oped in the 14th century in the period of Majapahit Kingdom in Java. Although the "proof" artifacts were dated from the 18th centuries, from the period of Mataram Sultanate.

Batik no doubt was the most popular textile and cloth from Indonesia. But, there are many traditional textiles found in Indonesia. It was because Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world. More than 17,000 islands scattered along the 4,800 kilometers between Asia and Australia. Therefore, Indonesia has the largest diversity of art and culture in the world, including the traditional textile and clothing.