Boko Membatik Invites Tourists to Care for World Cultural Heritage
PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko (TWC) presents a new and captivating experience to commemorate the National Batik Day which falls every October 2. One of the things that is done is by presenting the Boko Membatik agenda at the Taman Wisata Keraton Ratu Boko destination, Yogyakarta, on Saturday (7/10/2023).
Boko Membatik invites tourists to learn batik while enjoying the beautiful panorama of this 8th century AD cultural heritage site by the Syailendra Dynasty. The iconic view of the Ratu Boko Palace Gate is a charming view for tourists while learning batik. In addition, tourists also get batik facilities, including canting, malam, and batik cloth, the results of which can be taken home as souvenirs for tourists.
This activity is presented to foster visitor awareness of one of the UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. In addition, Batik as a wealth of Indonesian cultural arts, is not only of high artistic value, but also full of philosophical meaning of the nation's noble values.
This program is a collaboration between PT TWC and Dwilooka Batik as a local batik craftsman located around the Keraton Ratu Boko destination. This collaboration is also a form of support from PT TWC as a tourist destination manager to creative economy actors and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) located around it.
General Manager of Prambanan & Ratu Boko, I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana said that the Boko Membatik activity is a form of concern for one of the nation's cultural heritages while also supporting the existence of creative economic actors and Batik MSMEs as one of the tourist attractions that influence economic growth in the surrounding area.
"Boko Membatik combines two aspects, namely preservation efforts by echoing the spirit of caring, as well as efforts to support the existence of MSMEs in tourist destination areas, which also boost the economy around them. These two aspects are the main commitments of PT TWC in developing the potential of the tourist destinations it manages," explained I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana.
Participants in the Boko Membatik workshop will be guided by artisans from Dwilooka Batik. They will be introduced to the stages of the batik-making process, from designing the motif, transferring the pattern, applying the canting (canting), coloring, and finally, pelorodan (boiling), which removes the wax from the fabric. The resulting batik will serve as souvenirs for Boko Membatik participants.
"Boko Membatik invites participants to appreciate batik as an art craft, with the manufacturing process, coloring techniques, the meaning of each motif, and community involvement. We all have a role to play in preserving and preserving batik, not only as a clothing material, but also as a meaningful work of art," explained the initiator of Dwilooka Batik, Septiani Dwi Astuti.
Dwilooka Batik is a local batik artisan from Sumberharjo Village, Prambanan, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Founded in 2017, Dwilooka Batik offers hand-drawn batik using natural and synthetic dyes. Dwilooka also produces tie-dye and ecoprint fabrics.
Collaboration between PT TWC and Dwilooka has been done several times, including at the Pasar Medang event at TWC Ratu Boko and a batik workshop for tourists at the Prambanan Museum. Septiana Dwi Astuti hopes that this collaboration can continue to be done to support tourist destinations, while also growing the creative economy in tourist destination areas.
"This program can spur the development of MSMEs and the creative economy that support tourism. Batik can also be a promising tourist attraction. Through Boko Membatik, hopefully the preservation efforts by popularizing it, wearing it and continuing to create it," he concluded.
