It cannot be denied that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on society in various walks of life, including the batik industry sector which has experienced quite a severe impact both from the side of batik craftsmen and from the decline in people's purchasing power.
Luckily, in the last few years the Covid-19 virus has gradually slowed down and this has been marked by a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases and the re-emergence of economic activity in society.
However, it cannot be said that the batik industry has completely recovered because the process of increasing the economic speed of the batik industry takes a long time to return to its original point.
Therefore, at the celebration of National Batik Day 2023, the Indonesian Batik Foundation is carrying the theme "Batik Bangkit" which has an agenda to revive the batik industry from the pandemic period which was in decline, so that the batik industry can rise again from all aspects, including production, trade, development, and innovation.
In order to support this noble intention, the Indonesian Batik Foundation is collaborating with the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology to support the revival of the Indonesian batik industry.
Attended by Mrs. Wury Ma'ruf Amin with the agenda of making batik together
At the 2023 National Batik Day which was held at the Indonesian Batik Museum on October 2 2023, the Indonesian Batik Foundation also invited the wife of the Vice President of Indonesia, Mrs. Wury Ma'ruf Amin, the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Mr. Nadiem Makarim and his staff, Mrs. Shanty Leksono as the chief organizer of National Batik Day 2023, Mrs. Diana Sentosa as Deputy Chair of the Indonesian Batik Foundation and of course batik activists from all over Indonesia.
"The presence of National Batik Day with the theme 'Batik Rises' is an important moment for the batik industry so that it can grow and progress after being hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Apart from that, the commemoration of National Batik Day also marks the progress of batik as a global national cultural heritage through exhibitions. and international fashion shows, batik may be global but still belongs to Indonesia!" Said the wife of the Indonesian Vice President, Mrs. Wury Ma'ruf Amin.
The opening of the peak of the 2023 National Batik Day celebration was marked by Mrs. Wury Ma'ruf Amin who made batik using the IKN motif batik cloth canting technique, accompanied by Mr. Nadiem Makarim and Mrs. Shanty Laksono. Mrs. Wury Ma'ruf Amin also visited the Indonesian Batik Museum which exhibited various Indonesian batik cloth as well as the history of batik that developed in the archipelago.
Batik Preservation Efforts by Embracing Batik Craftsmen
In order to smooth the agenda to revive the batik industry, this year the celebration of Indonesian Batik Day through the Indonesian Batik Foundation is inviting all batik craftsmen from Indonesia to be directly involved as part of the 2023 National Batik Day celebration activities.
"At this 2023 National Batik Day celebration, we are still with the same theme, namely Batik, Rise. Its popularity, its industry and its craftsmen can rise. "This event would not have been possible if there was no support from batik craftsmen throughout Indonesia." said Mrs. Diana Sentosa as Deputy Chair of the Indonesian Batik Foundation.
Decorated with Various Activities
Indonesian Batik Day 2023 is decorated with a variety of interesting activities that are in line with the theme "Batik Rises" carried out at this year's event, among these various activities are.Muri Batik Record Breaking
Also present were 125 batik craftsmen from all over Indonesia who had been curated and had high skills who had succeeded in breaking the MURI record "Simultaneous Batik Making with the Most Motifs" which event was held on October 1 2023 and was directly attended by MURI.Announcement of Batik Writing Competition
With a mission to educate, the 2023 National Batik Day celebration also presents a scientific writing competition about batik which is divided into several categories including pupils, university students and the general public, the results of which will be announced at the peak of the celebration.Batik education for students
The activity will also be enlivened by introducing batik education for students to jointly explore the Indonesian Batik Museum and make batik with batik makers from all over Indonesia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.Watching the Batik Making Process Directly
All the batik craftsmen who attended the record-breaking event on October 1 2023 returned on the peak day of the 2023 National Batik Day celebration to show the batik process they carried out to the invited guests.
Inauguration of the Indonesian Batik Museum
National Batik Day 2023 is also the momentum for the grand launching of the Indonesian Batik Museum which will become an information and education center for anyone to get to know all the batik motifs spread throughout Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke.
This inauguration was also marked by the signing of an inscription by Mr. Nadiem Makarim which is part of the agenda for this year's National Batik Day.
Educational Forum for the Young Generation
This year, the Indonesian Batik Foundation, apart from being committed to reviving the national batik industry today, YBI also has a mission and agenda to regenerate batik through education about batik to the younger generation, especially Gen Z, so that batik culture can continue to be maintained and passed on from generation to generation. generation.
"One important thing about celebrating National Batik Day is the transfer of knowledge carried out by master craftsmen to the younger generation with the aim that batik culture can continue to be preserved from generation to generation and the presence of 125 batik makers to work together to make batik is a very important step. "It is important to realize this inheritance through this year's National Batik Day. There is great hope that more and more young people will be interested in and learn batik skills and that young batik makers will be born who innovate and contribute to the development of batik in the future," said Mr. Nadiem Makarim as Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology.
Apart from providing education to the younger generation, the Indonesian Batik Foundation has also prepared various programs aimed specifically at the younger generation and one of them is collaborating with batik craftsmen to produce batik that is relevant to the times, fun, modern and of course affordable for the younger generation. young.
It is hoped that with this education and program, batik will not only become a trend, but more than that, it is hoped that batik will become an identity for the younger generation and batik regeneration can occur as well as an opportunity to combine new ideas from the younger generation which can provide development for national batik.