Batik Began To Be Taught in America

Indonesia's Ambassador to United States (US), Dino Patti Jalal, said the current batik lesson has entered and became subjects in the
US schools.

"Just starting from one school in Chicago. We invite a batik worker to America to teach the art of batik as Indonesia art lessons," said Dino Patti Jalal while opening an exhibition "American Batik Exhibition" in Jakarta, Tuesday night.

In the future, added Dino, not only one school but will be many US schools. What's more, the US society is very appreciated and understood abbout Indonesian batik.

"We also should give space to them to interpret the batik to the world, in order batik could known by worldwide" said Dino.

Dino also hail to Indonesian peoples not looking at the growing popularity of batik in narrow sense.

"During its life still batik, I guess it doesn't matter. Don't we to be narrow-minded, with saying that our cultures were stolen. If different case, just like if you have an handphone, then i steal it, so that it called stolen. While batik is different case, because when we teach them about batik science, our knowledge about it not lost," explained him.



He also believed that batik would be the stronger and spread more throughout the world. Not only batik in Indonesia culture but also US, Japan, China and others.

"But do not be forgotten that the responsibility of keeping the batik lies in ourselves. If one day batik not be an art that dominate us, it because of our own mistakes," he added.

American Batik Exhibition featuring nine Indonesia's batik works designed by native American with a touch of message, variation, interpretation and American style. Batik is a reflection of cultural harmony between acculturation Indonesia and America, through batik.

Those nine batik were the best design choice of American Batik Design Competition in the last year, which has been processed into batik fabric by Brahma Tirta Sari Batik Studio, Yogyakarta.

The competition took inspiration from the existence of batik as cultural heritage relics which hav an expensive art value and become an integral part of the culture.

American Batik Design Competition received a very positive response among the american designer and has encouraged the american young designers and artists to learn the batik Indonesia closely and deeply.

source : http://oase.kompas.com/read/2012/02/22/17564649/