Batik World Heritage – How Much The Artisans Get
The United Nation Agency in the field of education and culture, UNESCO, had appointed Batik as one of Human Inheritance for oral and non-material culture since October 2, 2009. But ironically, there are still a lot of Batik artisans especially in Yogyakarta, still didn’t get the remuneration over their creations that has been made. Many people know Batik word heritage but they still not get much touch cause of this issue. – INDONESIA NEWS.
Indonesian Batik
Batik Word Heritage
“We had gotten paid weekly per fabric, a week cost for Rp. 200.000,-“ one of Batik artisans has said that would not like to mention his/her name.They had said that those wage is just barely enough for daily needs only. While, the artisan make one Batik Tulis with size 2.5 meters, they had took around 3 weeks up to 1 month to produce a high quality Batik. “Initially, the fabric is painted, and the canting process (painting with candle), then the fabric should be boiled to add the color. Those kinds of processes that takes quite long time” said them.
Those Batik artisans said that someday they listened to press conference of local government on radio airing. The government had said that Batik is a world heritage. So, we must also appreciate the artisans. The government had proposed that the artisans at least should get the standard salary. But for Batik artisans that thing is just a hope. The entry of batik as a world heritage by UNESCO is expected to motivate and raise the dignity of batik artisans. Not only that, the artisans expect the efforts to improve the welfare of society.