AMRI YAHYA'S BATIK CULTURAL DIPLOMACY In the Perspective of Indonesian Cultural Management Abstract - Article 2 for Rombel 207
AMRI YAHYA'S BATIK CULTURAL DIPLOMACY
In the Perspective of Indonesian Cultural Management
Abstract
Batik is a highly unique Indonesian cultural product and a constitution of an
Indonesian cultural wealth. Batik as a heritage of Indonesian ancestors has deep
philosophical values and serves as the identity of Indonesia; therefore it must be
preserved and kept from being claimed by other countries. This makes any
diplomacy efforts urgent. This research aims at describing the role of cultural
diplomacy by Amri Yahya at international level. The research method is
descriptive qualitative nature, with the data being obtained through
autobiography, observation and documentation. The data analysis flows through
data reduction, data presentation and, finally, conclusion. The research results
indicate that Amri Yahya, as one of Indonesian batik cultural diplomacy agents,
did his diplomacy through a set of activities, i.e. establishing organization,
holding exhibition, organizing discussion, demonstration and painting training
using batik as the media. Through organization, Amri formed Himpunan Seni
Rupawan Indonesia (HSRI) to bring visual artists to the international level by
organizing solo or collective exhibition, both in Indonesia and all major cities in
the five continents. Included therein was his traveling exhibition across Europe
and Middle East (during 1976 – 1979). His last solo exhibition was conducted in
the United States, i.e. in Asian Art Museum, San Fransisco. In 1977 Amri Yahya
served as an honorary member of International Association of Art (IAA). Batik
cultural diplomacy has had significant impact, i.e. on October 2nd, 2009,
Indonesian batik was officially acknowledged by UNESCO. Batik is one of
heritages of humanity produced by Indonesia. UNESCO’s acknowledgment was
given particularly due to their assessment on the diverse batik motives which
contained in-depth philosophical values.
Keywords: Amri Yahya, Batik Diplomacy, UNESCO’s Acknowledgment
INTRODUCTION
A country’s relationship with the outside world in the past, current time,
and in the future will always be dynamic. In the actualization of such relationship
with outside world, the art of diplomacy plays an important role. It has been
performed since the era of Majapahit Kingdom in the efforts to stabilize its
influence in this archipelago. The advancement of diplomacy in globalization era
has made it more and more diverse. One of them is cultural diplomacy. This
Diplomacy is one of the tools a country could use to gain a certain position at
international level. Therefore, it is important to analyze the role of culture as
diplomacy power.
The possession of various cultures and heritages constitutes Indonesian
additional value as a country. However, it is also a challenge in terms of how to
introduce cultures as our national heritage to the international society. In addition,
there is also the risk of its ownership being robbed by others. The fact that
Indonesia is located geographically between several other countries may be a
trigger for this risk. A problem potentially occurring in terms of its sovereignty of
culture is at stake, Andhika, R (2014)
It is from this point that the problem of Indonesian culture being claimed
by neighboring countries, e.g. Malaysia, frequently occurs. Malaysia made a claim
that batik culture was hers, despite the fact that it was actually owned by
Indonesia. While many cultures had once been claimed to be Malaysia’s, the peak
of them all was their claim over batik. Malaysia’s acquisition of batik triggered
the Indonesian government's anger and forced Indonesia to make a move to take
over their legitimate right over batik.
Batik is a heritage of highly noble value and fame inherited from the
ancestors of Indonesia. Batik is one of Indonesian identity for its specific
characteristics which are different from any other batiks to ever exist. Indonesian
batik has unique and specific motives in terms of both its decoration and coloring
depending on the geographic location and local customs. Indonesian batik is rich
in motives, full of deep philosophical meanings. (Sihono,T. 2012)
In order to realize Indonesian patent right over the national cultural
heritage of batik, Indonesia has performed cultural diplomacy using multi-track
diplomacy as embodied in 9 ways namely, Official channel of governmental
statehood nature (the embodiment of peace through diplomacy), informal channel
of non-governmental nature (the embodiment of peace through conflict
resolution), business (the embodiment of peace through trading), private citizen
(the embodiment of peace through personal involvement), research, training and
education (the embodiment of peace through learning), activism (the embodiment
of peace through advocacy), religion (the embodiment of peace through faith),
funding (the embodiment of peace through asset provision), and communication
and media (the embodiment of peace through information). These nine multi-track
diplomacy efforts have actually been performed by Indonesia to reach the national
goal of getting the acknowledgment of batik as its national heritage. This refers to
the acknowledgment of Indonesian batik by UNESCO (Lestari, Suci. 2011).
Cultural diplomacy can be done by either government or non-government
parties, individual and collective or any citizen. Therefore, the pattern of Cultural
Diplomacy relationship between nations could take place between anyone as its
actors where the main objective and goal of such Cultural Diplomacy are to
influence public opinion (international organization society who deals with
cultural issues).
Problem
Batik as Indonesian ancestor heritage is susceptible to another country's
claim. It is the responsibility of both government and non-government parties,
either individually or collectively, to fight for the patent right of batik culture.
Amri Yahya as an Indonesian Citizen was personally intrigued to take part and
participate in the batik cultural diplomacy in order to realize the main objective of
getting official acknowledgment from the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization UNESCO
Research Objectives
1. To describe the variety of batik cultural diplomacy to influence the
International society
2. To describe the types of batik cultural diplomacy approach made by Amri
Yahya to the International society.
3. To describe the impact of batik cultural diplomacy for Indonesia on UNESCO
RESEARCH METHOD
This research uses descriptive qualitative approach to make a description
or to take a picture in a systematic, factual, and accurate manner regarding the
facts, natures and correlation between phenomena concerning Indonesian batik
culture. The data were obtained from primary and secondary source. The data
were collected through autobiography, observation and documentation. The
instrument is the researcher himself, and data in this research were analyzed using
Mills and Haberman interactive analysis model (in Sugiyono 2006, P.247). The
data analysis procedure has three steps, namely data reduction, data presentation,
and conclusion.
The research is approached through Indonesian batik diplomacy model,
focusing on gaining acknowledgment from the world organization UNESCO.
Indonesian batik diplomacy model
1 Organization
2 Exhibition
3 Discussion
4 Demonstration
6
UNESCO
5
1. HSRI organization
2. Solo/collective
exhibition
3. Discussion on
Indonesian Batik
4. Demonstration/
training on how to
paint batik
5. Information
6. UNESCO’s
acknowledgment
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Previous research on Indonesian batik was conducted by (1) Kusuma, Wardani
(2006) Sejarah Perkembangan Industri Kreatif Tradisional di Laweyan Surakarta
tahun 1965 – 2000. It discusses batik’s golden age until the decline of batik
industry, where its businessmen changed tracks. (2) Yasa, Bertha Pramesti,
(2016).
Strategi Indonesia Menggunakan Rumah Budaya Sebagai Sarana
Diplomasi Kebudayaan Terhadap Jerman, Riau: Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu
Politik describes Indonesian cultural house as a place to introduce Indonesian
cultural resources to the world. (3) Lussiani, LP & Rani Faisal (2009) Model
Diplomasi Indonesia Terhadap UNESCO dalam Mematenkan Batik Warisan
Budaya Indonesia. In essence, it is a research on batik as Indonesian cultural
heritage which studies the cultural wealth inherited to Indonesia, a heritage from
ancestors which is full of culture diversity. (4) Toni, Ahmad (tt). Konsep Budaya
“Nusantara” Dalam Diplomasi Indonesia – Malaysia. Presented at UNAIR
International Seminar. It discusses the birth of Indonesia-Malaysia sentiment
which is a form of inheritance of past European colonialism that tried to separate
all regions of Nusantara.(5). (5). Suryanto, Irham Suryo. (2015). Diplomasi Batik
Indonesia di Amerika Serikat pada Masa Pemerintahan Susilo Bambang
Yudoyono. It suggests that the introduction of batik culture in the United States
gives a positive impact to the bilateral relationship of Indonesia and US.
According to Wahyuni Kartika (in Muhaimin, Yahya. A (2007)) cultural
diplomacy is the effort of employing cultural aspects to fight for one's national
interest in the international society arena .Cultural diplomacy is a tool to show the
level of a nation’s civilization. In addition, cultural diplomacy is a technique of
utilizing the wealth dimension in inter-nation relationship arena. Culture is
utilized by diplomats to influence or to repair the society’s attitude and view
towards their country. Indonesia also employs culture as its means of diplomacy.
Cultural Diplomacy is performed as an attempt to achieve national interest
in planting an understanding to, informing to and influencing (building image)
other nations through culture. Actually, the most effective action to change an
image is to change the reality, yet, cultural diplomacy could also be an effective
means of achieving a national interest, in order for other nations to understand,
gain information and get influenced for various interests of our nation. When
cultural diplomacy is performed, it could improve the appreciation and
understanding to improve the positive image, to build mutual understanding and
to improve Indonesian image to the international society.
Cultural Diplomacy has frequently and long been implemented by
Indonesia in many diplomacy missions abroad resulting in fairly sound impacts.
Cultural Diplomacy could be defined as “a country’s effort to fight for its national
interest through the dimension of culture, both in micro manner such as education,
science, sports and arts, and in macro manner according to the main
characteristics, such as: propaganda and so forth, which in conventional sense
could be deemed as non-political, non-economic or non-military” (Lestari, Suci,
2011).
Cultural Diplomacy Concept
Diplomacy is one of important instruments in the implementation of a
nation's interest. Diplomacy serves as the main tool in reaching national interest in
relation with other countries or international organizations like UNESCO, UN,
etc. It is through diplomacy that a country could build an image of its own
identity.
Diplomacy tightly relates to those activities under a peaceful circumstance,
although it can also occurs during wartime or armed conflict, because the main
task of diplomacy is not just to manage conflict, rather to manage changes and
their maintenance through continuous persuasion. (Lusiani, SP & Rani F. 2009)).
The heart of diplomacy is the willingness to take and to give in order to achieve a
mutual understanding between two countries (bilateral) or three countries
(trilateral), or several countries (multilateral). (Toni, Ahmad,th..).
Diplomacy should deliver a result in the form of better understanding or
approval of an issue at hand. An example of it is an agreement to appreciate arts in
a concerned country. The objective is for the international society to have a good
perception towards a country, as the social base for a relationship in achieving a
broader interest. Arts and cultures are some of diplomacy devices which could
support inter-country public relationships, and it has universal language
understandable among cultures, hence arts and cultures give positive contribution
to the realization of the world’s peace. (Lusiani, SP & Rani, 2009)).
The diverse Indonesian cultures are not treated merely as “subjects”, rather
they act as “objects”. As subjects, the diverse Indonesian cultures which include
cultural heritages, arts, and human rights, custom and tradition, are used to their
maximum extent in performing diplomacy. As objects, other countries’
appreciation to Indonesian arts and cultures would be able to promote numerous
positive impacts for the implementation of Indonesian free and active foreign
policy.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Amri Yahya was born in Sukaraja, Ogan Ilir, Palembang, South Sumatera,
on September 29, 1939. He studied arts in ASRI Yogyakarta (Certificate I, 1961;
Certificate II, 1963), IKIP Yogyakarta (Faculty of Languages and Arts Education,
Visual Arts Department, 1971), Wall Ceramic Certificate from Struktur 68 Bv,
The Hague Holland (1980), and had been granted with the honorary title of
Doctor Honoris Causa in Arts Education Evaluation by State University of
Yogyakarta, 2001.
Since 1977, he was registered as an honorary member of International
Association of Art (IAA), UNESCO, Paris. In 1996, Amri Yahya represented
Indonesia in a worldwide Islamic Arts and Cultures Conference in Hofsra
University, New York. In 1972, he established Galeri Amri when Indonesia
prepared itself as the host of 1974 PATA Conference, while also promoted
Muslim fashion to the national level (1977), supported by Perwanida DIY. In
1979, he formed HSRI (Himpunan Senirupawan Indonesia/Association of
Indonesian Visual Artists). In 1990 in collaboration with Joop Ave, A. Sadali and
AD Pirous he participated in pioneering Festival Istiqlal and suggested the
establishment of Al Quran Museum in Jakarta.
His artworks have been collected by individuals, state officials and
institutions, both domestic and foreign ones, which he had exhibited since 1957,
including his solo traveling exhibition across Europe and Middle East during a
period of 1976-1979. His last solo exhibition, also his fifth one, was in the United
States, in Asian Art Museum, San Fransisco (1996). His final solo exhibition in
Indonesia was held in Palembang (1999) and Jakarta (2000) consecutively in
Taman Ismail Marzuki and Komplek Bidakara.
In each of his solo exhibitions abroad, Amri Yahya always included a
discussion session, a session to play slides on Indonesian arts, and a
demonstration of painting with batik as the media.
Analysis of Batik Cultural Diplomacy
Batik is a superb heritage of Indonesian ancestor with philosophical values and
rich in motives that we need to maintain and preserve. Never let other countries
rob our country's wealth from us. Many efforts have been done by all people in
their struggle for batik to be patented by UNESCO as an Indonesian cultural
heritage. They were done to make batik culture well-known again and loved by
Indonesian people, and to prevent it from being claimed by Malaysia, just as what
they had previously done to Pendet dance, Reog Ponorogo. (Lusiani, SP & Rani
F, 2009).
Based on the foregoing, Indonesia finally took an initiative to apply for
patent right/copy right of batik culture which had been a polemic with Malaysia
for the claim they made. This move that Indonesia had made was through the use
of diplomacy in order to prevent the same from re-occurring, i.e. the claim of its
cultures by other countries, (Toni Ahmad th.).
The effort to deal with this problem between Malaysia and Indonesia
needed to include cultural diplomacy with a third party, in this case, UNESCO
which was the world’s cultural authority as the place to apply for a country’s
national heritage in order for its existence to be acknowledged and to gain
international acknowledgment. It is undoubted that batik belongs to a cultural
sector which has been a characteristic of Indonesia. (Suryanto, 2009)
Amri Yahya was a character who, other than good at painting, became
concerned and, therefore, criticized Indonesian attitude in treating batik. He was
utterly sorrowful when it came to his knowledge that Malaysia tried to have batik
patented as the work of this neighboring country of ours. This was our own
mistake, since we were lacked of appreciation to the so-called patent right,
(Salma, IR, 2014).
He was well-known as a famous batik painter abroad. His loyalty to the
world of arts had brought him the title of doctor and professor honoris causa.
Amri, who was a lecturer in his daily life, was also said to be a renowned pioneer
in contemporary batik painting arts. His choice to be batik painter was based on
his desire to maintain one of Indonesian traditional arts roots. Therefore, in his
interview with journalists prior to his death, Amri said how sad he was when
another country tried to claim batik as their culture. It was quite normal given that
for his whole lifetime he totally dedicated himself for the effort of maintaining
and preserving Indonesian batik (Salma, IR, 2014).
The birth of batik painting arts (SLB) genre was a result of “stagnancy” in
clothing batik arts development around 1960’s. Those called the masters of batik
arts were Amri Yahya, Sokardjo, Soemihardjo, Kuswadi, Kawindro Susanto, and
Bagong Kusudiardjo. (Yahya, A, 2002. P. 17). Only after batik painting arts
exhibition in 1969 in Hotel Indonesia, which was attended by Bagong
Kusudiardjo, Mudjito, Widrajat, Abas Th Basyah, V.A. Sudiro dan Amri Yahya,
did SLB enrich the treasure of Indonesian painting arts in the world. Even batik
fever had been a phenomenon; people everywhere followed the trend of batik
painting “fever”. SLB had reached such countries as US, Germany, Australia,
Malaysia and Singapore. Until recently, a number of batik painters from
Singapore are quite well-known. They include Sarkasi Said, Tay Chee Toh, Seah
Knis Yoo, Jaafer Latief. In 1974 Asian batik painter association was officially
formed. Its chief was Bagong Kusudiardjo and Amri Yahya served as its
Secretary General (Yahya, A.2002 P.32).
Some observers considered that Amri Yahya’s experiments were
successful as suggested by Darmawan T, where Amri’s name then inspired
craftsmen to imitate his batik paintings which were exotic and easy to sell. Since
then, many forged paintings with Amri Yahya’s typical jammed in Taman Sari
area, Yogyakarta, hanged with a signature of Amri Y., Amri Yahya, A. Yahya.
(Yahya, A,2002.P.33)
In 1982, Amri fought to make cultures (arts in particular) to be one of
main parts of national development. Upon the establishment of the institution,
Amri Yahya thought that the time had come for the institution to demand the
existence of national art gallery (visual arts), an arts building for performing arts
in every province capital throughout Indonesia. (Yahya, A, 2002, P.32)
Batik Cultural Diplomacy
Indonesia tried every possible way to convince UNESCO to acknowledge
Indonesian batik culture as Indonesian original cultural heritage and for this
reason cultural diplomacy had been urgent. Diplomacy is the organization of
inter-country relationship. In international relationship, there are several types of
diplomacy. It is undeniable that the settlement of inter-country issue could be
done using diplomacy.
Cultural diplomacy can be done by either government or non-government
parties, individually and collectively in each country. Therefore, the pattern of
inter-country cultural diplomacy relationship may take place to anyone as its
agents, where the main objective and goal of cultural diplomacy is to influence
public opinion (of another country’s society), at both national and international
levels (Lestari, Suci 2011). The main target of batik cultural diplomacy was to
obtain a representative acknowledgment that batik is Indonesian original cultural
heritage by a World Organization, i.e. the official body of United Nations
Educational Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO).
The diplomacy to introduce batik was performed through various ways,
with the simplest one using batik as a souvenir given to representatives of other
countries as a sign of friendship. Building a culture center abroad and organizing
promotions about batik through mass media were also part of it. In addition,
events at international level with batik as their main objects were also performed
both within the country and abroad. (Azis, Ahmad Idham,th..)
In foreign countries, KBRI organized events in the form of exhibitions,
fashion show, and so on. The goal of organizing those events was to promote
batik in such a way that the world’s society would be attracted to know batik a
little bit deeper. (Salma, IR. 2014)
Amri Yahya's Batik Cultural Diplomacy
As one of Indonesian batik cultural diplomacy agents, Amri Yahya used
several approaches as his means of diplomacy. A batik maestro, Amri Yahya
seriously dedicated his life to fight in order for batik culture to be loved by both
Indonesians and others around the world. To make his ideal of batik being loved
by the entire mankind in the world a reality, Amri designed some forms of
cultural diplomacy approach. There are at least four types of activities he had
designed, such as forming an organization to hold exhibitions, discussions,
demonstrations and trainings. In order to have a place to channel his batik
aspiration, he then established organizations. One of them was HSRI or
Himpunan Seni Rupawan Indonesia (Association of Indonesian Visual Artists)
whose main mission was to persuade visual artists to perform at world level,
focusing particularly on convincing UNESCO to acknowledge Indonesian batik
culture as heritage of humanity coming from the work of Indonesia. In 1977,
Amri Yahya served as an honorary member of International Association of Art
(IAA) in Paris. This organization served a strategic and potential function of
reaching the goal to have batik culture acknowledged by UNESCO as Indonesian
original work.
His activity of organizing exhibitions at international level included solo
and collective batik exhibitions, both within his own country and in almost all
important cities in the five continents, including a solo traveling exhibition across
Europe and Middle East during the period of 1976 – 1979. His last solo exhibition
abroad, also his fifth one, was in the United States, in Asian Art Museum, San
Francisco (1996). His last domestic solo exhibitions were in Palembang (1999)
and Jakarta (2000) consecutively in TIM (June) and Kompleks Bidakara
(November), (Yahya, A 2002, P.32).
The international level batik arts exhibition aimed mainly at introducing
and promoting the appreciation of Indonesian batik painting artworks in foreign
countries. It also serves as a form of diplomatic cooperation and information on
Indonesian batik arts and culture with our allies, and in detail those countries
where these batik arts exhibitions had been organized included the United States,
Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Korea, Japan,
Singapore and many more. This was highly effective in the implementation of
batik cultural diplomacy.
(Salma, IR. 2014)
The objective of organizing these batik exhibitions was to promote batik in
such a way that the world’s society would be attracted to know batik a little bit
deeper and to study the origin of batik. Hence, in each of these exhibitions a
discussion session about batik would always follow.
The discussion topics ranged from batik as a tradition and its role as a
heritage from Indonesian ancestors to the deep philosophical values it has. The
theme offered to the international society also included the history of Indonesian
batik arts which dated from XVII century and continued to develop and was then
followed by new inventions regarding the technique to draw batik, until the
invention of canting as a tool to make it. The main goal of this discussion on batik
was to convince the world’s society that batik was truly an original culture
inherited by the Indonesian ancestors. (Lestari, Suci, 2011)
The participants of batik discussion consisted of important people from the
country where the exhibitions were organized. These very important people
included prime ministers and their wives, ambassadors and their wives and a
number of other important state officials who could significantly influence the
formation of memorandum of understanding regarding batik arts which was then
found out that Indonesian batik was specifically different from other batik to ever
exist (Rani, LP. 2011).
Demonstration and Training on Painting using Batik
Amri Yahya, in every batik exhibition he organized, always brought along
the complete kit to paint batik, such as small stove, canting, coloring substance,
wax as his equipments to demonstrate how to paint with batik as the media and
followed with training on painting batik. This demonstration and training sessions
on how to paint batik were attended by important people in the country where the
exhibitions were organized. They included the wives of those people in the
countries, stakeholders of allied countries (Azis, Ahmad Idham, dkk, th). They
learned, particularly arts female enthusiasts, to discover a little bit deeper about
Indonesian traditional batik where the demonstration itself was performed
personally by the maestro, Amri Yahya.
The goal of demonstration and training on how to make batik was to show
the process of batik production from the beginning until a batik work was
produced. It started from making a design, drawing motives with canting,
covering the drawing with wax and followed by lorotan (removal of wax), tutup
celup process and batik product. The demonstration session of how to paint
traditional batik was covered by some local media. The guests expressed their
gratitude for the event which had been held as it helped them gain more
knowledge about Indonesian batik, particularly on how to make batik (Azis,
Ahmad Idham, th).
Batik Cultural Diplomacy Impact
Several types of batik cultural diplomacy approach had been performed by
Indonesian people. One of them was Amri Yahya. These efforts finally came to
fruition, when the government officially supported it. On September 3rd, 2008
Indonesia applied for patent right to UNESCO. The application was officially
received by UNESCO on January 9, 2009 for further processing. Finally, on
October 2, 2009 it was decided that UNESCO confirmed that Indonesian Batik
was included in the representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Rani, LP. 2011)
In the beginning of October, the entire people of Indonesia deserved the
joy for the publication of UNESCO as UN’s institution for cultural affairs which
stated that Batik was a World Cultural Heritage originated from Indonesia. The
acknowledgment of Batik as a world heritage would promote batik image even
better as a superb product of universal nature that it deserved for preservation and
lifted Indonesian reputation as its state of origin. (Suryanto, 2009, Salma, IR.
2014, and Prayogo, HD. 2012). Thanks to the acknowledgment from UNESCO,
Batik became Indonesian third original arts and cultures to have obtained the title
“World Heritage” after Wayang and Keris which each of them was granted the
reward as “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2003 for
Wayang and November 2005 for Keris.
The joy for World Heritage acknowledgment in UNESCO’s publication
on October 2nd, 2009 looked as if it was the peak culmination point of a series of
batik arts performance events both in the country and abroad. The entire world
acknowledged that Batik was a superb arts and culture product of Indonesian
ancestors which had existed since long ago, particularly starting from its birth and
development in the Javanese arts and culture treasure to its extension throughout
the Archipelago and all parts of the world. (Rani,LP. 2011)
CONCLUSION
1. Batik cultural diplomacy could be done by government, private, individual and
group through various ways. The simplest way was by using batik as a
souvenir given to partner countries; also included in such diplomacy were the
establishment of culture center abroad, promotion via mass media, organization
of events at international level by KBRI, and batik fashion show.
2. Amri Yahya performed batik cultural diplomacy through several channels, both
nationally and internationally, including by forming organizations, holding
exhibitions, discussions, demonstrations and training on how to paint using
batik as the media. One of the organizations he formed was HSRI (Himpunan
Seni Rupawan Indonesia/Association of Indonesian Visual Artists) in 1979
whose main mission was to persuade visual artists to perform at world’s level.
In 1977, Amri Yahya served as an honorary member of International
Association of Art (IAA) in Paris. In 1996, he participated in a worldwide
Islamic culture conference in Hofera University, New York.
3. The impact that batik cultural diplomacy had through a set of activities by the
government (KBRI), private, individual and group, at its culmination peak, was
significant. This was as indicated by the fact that the world acknowledged that
batik was one of heritages of humanity produced by Indonesia. That
acknowledgment was officially made by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Culture Organization (UNESCO) on September 28, 2009 and
the official award was given on October 2, 2009 in Abu Dhabi.
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In the Perspective of Indonesian Cultural Management
Abstract
Batik is a highly unique Indonesian cultural product and a constitution of an
Indonesian cultural wealth. Batik as a heritage of Indonesian ancestors has deep
philosophical values and serves as the identity of Indonesia; therefore it must be
preserved and kept from being claimed by other countries. This makes any
diplomacy efforts urgent. This research aims at describing the role of cultural
diplomacy by Amri Yahya at international level. The research method is
descriptive qualitative nature, with the data being obtained through
autobiography, observation and documentation. The data analysis flows through
data reduction, data presentation and, finally, conclusion. The research results
indicate that Amri Yahya, as one of Indonesian batik cultural diplomacy agents,
did his diplomacy through a set of activities, i.e. establishing organization,
holding exhibition, organizing discussion, demonstration and painting training
using batik as the media. Through organization, Amri formed Himpunan Seni
Rupawan Indonesia (HSRI) to bring visual artists to the international level by
organizing solo or collective exhibition, both in Indonesia and all major cities in
the five continents. Included therein was his traveling exhibition across Europe
and Middle East (during 1976 – 1979). His last solo exhibition was conducted in
the United States, i.e. in Asian Art Museum, San Fransisco. In 1977 Amri Yahya
served as an honorary member of International Association of Art (IAA). Batik
cultural diplomacy has had significant impact, i.e. on October 2nd, 2009,
Indonesian batik was officially acknowledged by UNESCO. Batik is one of
heritages of humanity produced by Indonesia. UNESCO’s acknowledgment was
given particularly due to their assessment on the diverse batik motives which
contained in-depth philosophical values.
Keywords: Amri Yahya, Batik Diplomacy, UNESCO’s Acknowledgment
INTRODUCTION
A country’s relationship with the outside world in the past, current time,
and in the future will always be dynamic. In the actualization of such relationship
with outside world, the art of diplomacy plays an important role. It has been
performed since the era of Majapahit Kingdom in the efforts to stabilize its
influence in this archipelago. The advancement of diplomacy in globalization era
has made it more and more diverse. One of them is cultural diplomacy. This
Diplomacy is one of the tools a country could use to gain a certain position at
international level. Therefore, it is important to analyze the role of culture as
diplomacy power.
The possession of various cultures and heritages constitutes Indonesian
additional value as a country. However, it is also a challenge in terms of how to
introduce cultures as our national heritage to the international society. In addition,
there is also the risk of its ownership being robbed by others. The fact that
Indonesia is located geographically between several other countries may be a
trigger for this risk. A problem potentially occurring in terms of its sovereignty of
culture is at stake, Andhika, R (2014)
It is from this point that the problem of Indonesian culture being claimed
by neighboring countries, e.g. Malaysia, frequently occurs. Malaysia made a claim
that batik culture was hers, despite the fact that it was actually owned by
Indonesia. While many cultures had once been claimed to be Malaysia’s, the peak
of them all was their claim over batik. Malaysia’s acquisition of batik triggered
the Indonesian government's anger and forced Indonesia to make a move to take
over their legitimate right over batik.
Batik is a heritage of highly noble value and fame inherited from the
ancestors of Indonesia. Batik is one of Indonesian identity for its specific
characteristics which are different from any other batiks to ever exist. Indonesian
batik has unique and specific motives in terms of both its decoration and coloring
depending on the geographic location and local customs. Indonesian batik is rich
in motives, full of deep philosophical meanings. (Sihono,T. 2012)
In order to realize Indonesian patent right over the national cultural
heritage of batik, Indonesia has performed cultural diplomacy using multi-track
diplomacy as embodied in 9 ways namely, Official channel of governmental
statehood nature (the embodiment of peace through diplomacy), informal channel
of non-governmental nature (the embodiment of peace through conflict
resolution), business (the embodiment of peace through trading), private citizen
(the embodiment of peace through personal involvement), research, training and
education (the embodiment of peace through learning), activism (the embodiment
of peace through advocacy), religion (the embodiment of peace through faith),
funding (the embodiment of peace through asset provision), and communication
and media (the embodiment of peace through information). These nine multi-track
diplomacy efforts have actually been performed by Indonesia to reach the national
goal of getting the acknowledgment of batik as its national heritage. This refers to
the acknowledgment of Indonesian batik by UNESCO (Lestari, Suci. 2011).
Cultural diplomacy can be done by either government or non-government
parties, individual and collective or any citizen. Therefore, the pattern of Cultural
Diplomacy relationship between nations could take place between anyone as its
actors where the main objective and goal of such Cultural Diplomacy are to
influence public opinion (international organization society who deals with
cultural issues).
Problem
Batik as Indonesian ancestor heritage is susceptible to another country's
claim. It is the responsibility of both government and non-government parties,
either individually or collectively, to fight for the patent right of batik culture.
Amri Yahya as an Indonesian Citizen was personally intrigued to take part and
participate in the batik cultural diplomacy in order to realize the main objective of
getting official acknowledgment from the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization UNESCO
Research Objectives
1. To describe the variety of batik cultural diplomacy to influence the
International society
2. To describe the types of batik cultural diplomacy approach made by Amri
Yahya to the International society.
3. To describe the impact of batik cultural diplomacy for Indonesia on UNESCO
RESEARCH METHOD
This research uses descriptive qualitative approach to make a description
or to take a picture in a systematic, factual, and accurate manner regarding the
facts, natures and correlation between phenomena concerning Indonesian batik
culture. The data were obtained from primary and secondary source. The data
were collected through autobiography, observation and documentation. The
instrument is the researcher himself, and data in this research were analyzed using
Mills and Haberman interactive analysis model (in Sugiyono 2006, P.247). The
data analysis procedure has three steps, namely data reduction, data presentation,
and conclusion.
The research is approached through Indonesian batik diplomacy model,
focusing on gaining acknowledgment from the world organization UNESCO.
Indonesian batik diplomacy model
1 Organization
2 Exhibition
3 Discussion
4 Demonstration
6
UNESCO
5
1. HSRI organization
2. Solo/collective
exhibition
3. Discussion on
Indonesian Batik
4. Demonstration/
training on how to
paint batik
5. Information
6. UNESCO’s
acknowledgment
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Previous research on Indonesian batik was conducted by (1) Kusuma, Wardani
(2006) Sejarah Perkembangan Industri Kreatif Tradisional di Laweyan Surakarta
tahun 1965 – 2000. It discusses batik’s golden age until the decline of batik
industry, where its businessmen changed tracks. (2) Yasa, Bertha Pramesti,
(2016).
Strategi Indonesia Menggunakan Rumah Budaya Sebagai Sarana
Diplomasi Kebudayaan Terhadap Jerman, Riau: Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu
Politik describes Indonesian cultural house as a place to introduce Indonesian
cultural resources to the world. (3) Lussiani, LP & Rani Faisal (2009) Model
Diplomasi Indonesia Terhadap UNESCO dalam Mematenkan Batik Warisan
Budaya Indonesia. In essence, it is a research on batik as Indonesian cultural
heritage which studies the cultural wealth inherited to Indonesia, a heritage from
ancestors which is full of culture diversity. (4) Toni, Ahmad (tt). Konsep Budaya
“Nusantara” Dalam Diplomasi Indonesia – Malaysia. Presented at UNAIR
International Seminar. It discusses the birth of Indonesia-Malaysia sentiment
which is a form of inheritance of past European colonialism that tried to separate
all regions of Nusantara.(5). (5). Suryanto, Irham Suryo. (2015). Diplomasi Batik
Indonesia di Amerika Serikat pada Masa Pemerintahan Susilo Bambang
Yudoyono. It suggests that the introduction of batik culture in the United States
gives a positive impact to the bilateral relationship of Indonesia and US.
According to Wahyuni Kartika (in Muhaimin, Yahya. A (2007)) cultural
diplomacy is the effort of employing cultural aspects to fight for one's national
interest in the international society arena .Cultural diplomacy is a tool to show the
level of a nation’s civilization. In addition, cultural diplomacy is a technique of
utilizing the wealth dimension in inter-nation relationship arena. Culture is
utilized by diplomats to influence or to repair the society’s attitude and view
towards their country. Indonesia also employs culture as its means of diplomacy.
Cultural Diplomacy is performed as an attempt to achieve national interest
in planting an understanding to, informing to and influencing (building image)
other nations through culture. Actually, the most effective action to change an
image is to change the reality, yet, cultural diplomacy could also be an effective
means of achieving a national interest, in order for other nations to understand,
gain information and get influenced for various interests of our nation. When
cultural diplomacy is performed, it could improve the appreciation and
understanding to improve the positive image, to build mutual understanding and
to improve Indonesian image to the international society.
Cultural Diplomacy has frequently and long been implemented by
Indonesia in many diplomacy missions abroad resulting in fairly sound impacts.
Cultural Diplomacy could be defined as “a country’s effort to fight for its national
interest through the dimension of culture, both in micro manner such as education,
science, sports and arts, and in macro manner according to the main
characteristics, such as: propaganda and so forth, which in conventional sense
could be deemed as non-political, non-economic or non-military” (Lestari, Suci,
2011).
Cultural Diplomacy Concept
Diplomacy is one of important instruments in the implementation of a
nation's interest. Diplomacy serves as the main tool in reaching national interest in
relation with other countries or international organizations like UNESCO, UN,
etc. It is through diplomacy that a country could build an image of its own
identity.
Diplomacy tightly relates to those activities under a peaceful circumstance,
although it can also occurs during wartime or armed conflict, because the main
task of diplomacy is not just to manage conflict, rather to manage changes and
their maintenance through continuous persuasion. (Lusiani, SP & Rani F. 2009)).
The heart of diplomacy is the willingness to take and to give in order to achieve a
mutual understanding between two countries (bilateral) or three countries
(trilateral), or several countries (multilateral). (Toni, Ahmad,th..).
Diplomacy should deliver a result in the form of better understanding or
approval of an issue at hand. An example of it is an agreement to appreciate arts in
a concerned country. The objective is for the international society to have a good
perception towards a country, as the social base for a relationship in achieving a
broader interest. Arts and cultures are some of diplomacy devices which could
support inter-country public relationships, and it has universal language
understandable among cultures, hence arts and cultures give positive contribution
to the realization of the world’s peace. (Lusiani, SP & Rani, 2009)).
The diverse Indonesian cultures are not treated merely as “subjects”, rather
they act as “objects”. As subjects, the diverse Indonesian cultures which include
cultural heritages, arts, and human rights, custom and tradition, are used to their
maximum extent in performing diplomacy. As objects, other countries’
appreciation to Indonesian arts and cultures would be able to promote numerous
positive impacts for the implementation of Indonesian free and active foreign
policy.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Amri Yahya was born in Sukaraja, Ogan Ilir, Palembang, South Sumatera,
on September 29, 1939. He studied arts in ASRI Yogyakarta (Certificate I, 1961;
Certificate II, 1963), IKIP Yogyakarta (Faculty of Languages and Arts Education,
Visual Arts Department, 1971), Wall Ceramic Certificate from Struktur 68 Bv,
The Hague Holland (1980), and had been granted with the honorary title of
Doctor Honoris Causa in Arts Education Evaluation by State University of
Yogyakarta, 2001.
Since 1977, he was registered as an honorary member of International
Association of Art (IAA), UNESCO, Paris. In 1996, Amri Yahya represented
Indonesia in a worldwide Islamic Arts and Cultures Conference in Hofsra
University, New York. In 1972, he established Galeri Amri when Indonesia
prepared itself as the host of 1974 PATA Conference, while also promoted
Muslim fashion to the national level (1977), supported by Perwanida DIY. In
1979, he formed HSRI (Himpunan Senirupawan Indonesia/Association of
Indonesian Visual Artists). In 1990 in collaboration with Joop Ave, A. Sadali and
AD Pirous he participated in pioneering Festival Istiqlal and suggested the
establishment of Al Quran Museum in Jakarta.
His artworks have been collected by individuals, state officials and
institutions, both domestic and foreign ones, which he had exhibited since 1957,
including his solo traveling exhibition across Europe and Middle East during a
period of 1976-1979. His last solo exhibition, also his fifth one, was in the United
States, in Asian Art Museum, San Fransisco (1996). His final solo exhibition in
Indonesia was held in Palembang (1999) and Jakarta (2000) consecutively in
Taman Ismail Marzuki and Komplek Bidakara.
In each of his solo exhibitions abroad, Amri Yahya always included a
discussion session, a session to play slides on Indonesian arts, and a
demonstration of painting with batik as the media.
Analysis of Batik Cultural Diplomacy
Batik is a superb heritage of Indonesian ancestor with philosophical values and
rich in motives that we need to maintain and preserve. Never let other countries
rob our country's wealth from us. Many efforts have been done by all people in
their struggle for batik to be patented by UNESCO as an Indonesian cultural
heritage. They were done to make batik culture well-known again and loved by
Indonesian people, and to prevent it from being claimed by Malaysia, just as what
they had previously done to Pendet dance, Reog Ponorogo. (Lusiani, SP & Rani
F, 2009).
Based on the foregoing, Indonesia finally took an initiative to apply for
patent right/copy right of batik culture which had been a polemic with Malaysia
for the claim they made. This move that Indonesia had made was through the use
of diplomacy in order to prevent the same from re-occurring, i.e. the claim of its
cultures by other countries, (Toni Ahmad th.).
The effort to deal with this problem between Malaysia and Indonesia
needed to include cultural diplomacy with a third party, in this case, UNESCO
which was the world’s cultural authority as the place to apply for a country’s
national heritage in order for its existence to be acknowledged and to gain
international acknowledgment. It is undoubted that batik belongs to a cultural
sector which has been a characteristic of Indonesia. (Suryanto, 2009)
Amri Yahya was a character who, other than good at painting, became
concerned and, therefore, criticized Indonesian attitude in treating batik. He was
utterly sorrowful when it came to his knowledge that Malaysia tried to have batik
patented as the work of this neighboring country of ours. This was our own
mistake, since we were lacked of appreciation to the so-called patent right,
(Salma, IR, 2014).
He was well-known as a famous batik painter abroad. His loyalty to the
world of arts had brought him the title of doctor and professor honoris causa.
Amri, who was a lecturer in his daily life, was also said to be a renowned pioneer
in contemporary batik painting arts. His choice to be batik painter was based on
his desire to maintain one of Indonesian traditional arts roots. Therefore, in his
interview with journalists prior to his death, Amri said how sad he was when
another country tried to claim batik as their culture. It was quite normal given that
for his whole lifetime he totally dedicated himself for the effort of maintaining
and preserving Indonesian batik (Salma, IR, 2014).
The birth of batik painting arts (SLB) genre was a result of “stagnancy” in
clothing batik arts development around 1960’s. Those called the masters of batik
arts were Amri Yahya, Sokardjo, Soemihardjo, Kuswadi, Kawindro Susanto, and
Bagong Kusudiardjo. (Yahya, A, 2002. P. 17). Only after batik painting arts
exhibition in 1969 in Hotel Indonesia, which was attended by Bagong
Kusudiardjo, Mudjito, Widrajat, Abas Th Basyah, V.A. Sudiro dan Amri Yahya,
did SLB enrich the treasure of Indonesian painting arts in the world. Even batik
fever had been a phenomenon; people everywhere followed the trend of batik
painting “fever”. SLB had reached such countries as US, Germany, Australia,
Malaysia and Singapore. Until recently, a number of batik painters from
Singapore are quite well-known. They include Sarkasi Said, Tay Chee Toh, Seah
Knis Yoo, Jaafer Latief. In 1974 Asian batik painter association was officially
formed. Its chief was Bagong Kusudiardjo and Amri Yahya served as its
Secretary General (Yahya, A.2002 P.32).
Some observers considered that Amri Yahya’s experiments were
successful as suggested by Darmawan T, where Amri’s name then inspired
craftsmen to imitate his batik paintings which were exotic and easy to sell. Since
then, many forged paintings with Amri Yahya’s typical jammed in Taman Sari
area, Yogyakarta, hanged with a signature of Amri Y., Amri Yahya, A. Yahya.
(Yahya, A,2002.P.33)
In 1982, Amri fought to make cultures (arts in particular) to be one of
main parts of national development. Upon the establishment of the institution,
Amri Yahya thought that the time had come for the institution to demand the
existence of national art gallery (visual arts), an arts building for performing arts
in every province capital throughout Indonesia. (Yahya, A, 2002, P.32)
Batik Cultural Diplomacy
Indonesia tried every possible way to convince UNESCO to acknowledge
Indonesian batik culture as Indonesian original cultural heritage and for this
reason cultural diplomacy had been urgent. Diplomacy is the organization of
inter-country relationship. In international relationship, there are several types of
diplomacy. It is undeniable that the settlement of inter-country issue could be
done using diplomacy.
Cultural diplomacy can be done by either government or non-government
parties, individually and collectively in each country. Therefore, the pattern of
inter-country cultural diplomacy relationship may take place to anyone as its
agents, where the main objective and goal of cultural diplomacy is to influence
public opinion (of another country’s society), at both national and international
levels (Lestari, Suci 2011). The main target of batik cultural diplomacy was to
obtain a representative acknowledgment that batik is Indonesian original cultural
heritage by a World Organization, i.e. the official body of United Nations
Educational Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO).
The diplomacy to introduce batik was performed through various ways,
with the simplest one using batik as a souvenir given to representatives of other
countries as a sign of friendship. Building a culture center abroad and organizing
promotions about batik through mass media were also part of it. In addition,
events at international level with batik as their main objects were also performed
both within the country and abroad. (Azis, Ahmad Idham,th..)
In foreign countries, KBRI organized events in the form of exhibitions,
fashion show, and so on. The goal of organizing those events was to promote
batik in such a way that the world’s society would be attracted to know batik a
little bit deeper. (Salma, IR. 2014)
Amri Yahya's Batik Cultural Diplomacy
As one of Indonesian batik cultural diplomacy agents, Amri Yahya used
several approaches as his means of diplomacy. A batik maestro, Amri Yahya
seriously dedicated his life to fight in order for batik culture to be loved by both
Indonesians and others around the world. To make his ideal of batik being loved
by the entire mankind in the world a reality, Amri designed some forms of
cultural diplomacy approach. There are at least four types of activities he had
designed, such as forming an organization to hold exhibitions, discussions,
demonstrations and trainings. In order to have a place to channel his batik
aspiration, he then established organizations. One of them was HSRI or
Himpunan Seni Rupawan Indonesia (Association of Indonesian Visual Artists)
whose main mission was to persuade visual artists to perform at world level,
focusing particularly on convincing UNESCO to acknowledge Indonesian batik
culture as heritage of humanity coming from the work of Indonesia. In 1977,
Amri Yahya served as an honorary member of International Association of Art
(IAA) in Paris. This organization served a strategic and potential function of
reaching the goal to have batik culture acknowledged by UNESCO as Indonesian
original work.
His activity of organizing exhibitions at international level included solo
and collective batik exhibitions, both within his own country and in almost all
important cities in the five continents, including a solo traveling exhibition across
Europe and Middle East during the period of 1976 – 1979. His last solo exhibition
abroad, also his fifth one, was in the United States, in Asian Art Museum, San
Francisco (1996). His last domestic solo exhibitions were in Palembang (1999)
and Jakarta (2000) consecutively in TIM (June) and Kompleks Bidakara
(November), (Yahya, A 2002, P.32).
The international level batik arts exhibition aimed mainly at introducing
and promoting the appreciation of Indonesian batik painting artworks in foreign
countries. It also serves as a form of diplomatic cooperation and information on
Indonesian batik arts and culture with our allies, and in detail those countries
where these batik arts exhibitions had been organized included the United States,
Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Korea, Japan,
Singapore and many more. This was highly effective in the implementation of
batik cultural diplomacy.
(Salma, IR. 2014)
The objective of organizing these batik exhibitions was to promote batik in
such a way that the world’s society would be attracted to know batik a little bit
deeper and to study the origin of batik. Hence, in each of these exhibitions a
discussion session about batik would always follow.
The discussion topics ranged from batik as a tradition and its role as a
heritage from Indonesian ancestors to the deep philosophical values it has. The
theme offered to the international society also included the history of Indonesian
batik arts which dated from XVII century and continued to develop and was then
followed by new inventions regarding the technique to draw batik, until the
invention of canting as a tool to make it. The main goal of this discussion on batik
was to convince the world’s society that batik was truly an original culture
inherited by the Indonesian ancestors. (Lestari, Suci, 2011)
The participants of batik discussion consisted of important people from the
country where the exhibitions were organized. These very important people
included prime ministers and their wives, ambassadors and their wives and a
number of other important state officials who could significantly influence the
formation of memorandum of understanding regarding batik arts which was then
found out that Indonesian batik was specifically different from other batik to ever
exist (Rani, LP. 2011).
Demonstration and Training on Painting using Batik
Amri Yahya, in every batik exhibition he organized, always brought along
the complete kit to paint batik, such as small stove, canting, coloring substance,
wax as his equipments to demonstrate how to paint with batik as the media and
followed with training on painting batik. This demonstration and training sessions
on how to paint batik were attended by important people in the country where the
exhibitions were organized. They included the wives of those people in the
countries, stakeholders of allied countries (Azis, Ahmad Idham, dkk, th). They
learned, particularly arts female enthusiasts, to discover a little bit deeper about
Indonesian traditional batik where the demonstration itself was performed
personally by the maestro, Amri Yahya.
The goal of demonstration and training on how to make batik was to show
the process of batik production from the beginning until a batik work was
produced. It started from making a design, drawing motives with canting,
covering the drawing with wax and followed by lorotan (removal of wax), tutup
celup process and batik product. The demonstration session of how to paint
traditional batik was covered by some local media. The guests expressed their
gratitude for the event which had been held as it helped them gain more
knowledge about Indonesian batik, particularly on how to make batik (Azis,
Ahmad Idham, th).
Batik Cultural Diplomacy Impact
Several types of batik cultural diplomacy approach had been performed by
Indonesian people. One of them was Amri Yahya. These efforts finally came to
fruition, when the government officially supported it. On September 3rd, 2008
Indonesia applied for patent right to UNESCO. The application was officially
received by UNESCO on January 9, 2009 for further processing. Finally, on
October 2, 2009 it was decided that UNESCO confirmed that Indonesian Batik
was included in the representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Rani, LP. 2011)
In the beginning of October, the entire people of Indonesia deserved the
joy for the publication of UNESCO as UN’s institution for cultural affairs which
stated that Batik was a World Cultural Heritage originated from Indonesia. The
acknowledgment of Batik as a world heritage would promote batik image even
better as a superb product of universal nature that it deserved for preservation and
lifted Indonesian reputation as its state of origin. (Suryanto, 2009, Salma, IR.
2014, and Prayogo, HD. 2012). Thanks to the acknowledgment from UNESCO,
Batik became Indonesian third original arts and cultures to have obtained the title
“World Heritage” after Wayang and Keris which each of them was granted the
reward as “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2003 for
Wayang and November 2005 for Keris.
The joy for World Heritage acknowledgment in UNESCO’s publication
on October 2nd, 2009 looked as if it was the peak culmination point of a series of
batik arts performance events both in the country and abroad. The entire world
acknowledged that Batik was a superb arts and culture product of Indonesian
ancestors which had existed since long ago, particularly starting from its birth and
development in the Javanese arts and culture treasure to its extension throughout
the Archipelago and all parts of the world. (Rani,LP. 2011)
CONCLUSION
1. Batik cultural diplomacy could be done by government, private, individual and
group through various ways. The simplest way was by using batik as a
souvenir given to partner countries; also included in such diplomacy were the
establishment of culture center abroad, promotion via mass media, organization
of events at international level by KBRI, and batik fashion show.
2. Amri Yahya performed batik cultural diplomacy through several channels, both
nationally and internationally, including by forming organizations, holding
exhibitions, discussions, demonstrations and training on how to paint using
batik as the media. One of the organizations he formed was HSRI (Himpunan
Seni Rupawan Indonesia/Association of Indonesian Visual Artists) in 1979
whose main mission was to persuade visual artists to perform at world’s level.
In 1977, Amri Yahya served as an honorary member of International
Association of Art (IAA) in Paris. In 1996, he participated in a worldwide
Islamic culture conference in Hofera University, New York.
3. The impact that batik cultural diplomacy had through a set of activities by the
government (KBRI), private, individual and group, at its culmination peak, was
significant. This was as indicated by the fact that the world acknowledged that
batik was one of heritages of humanity produced by Indonesia. That
acknowledgment was officially made by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Culture Organization (UNESCO) on September 28, 2009 and
the official award was given on October 2, 2009 in Abu Dhabi.
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