Pekalongan: The City of Batik at Central Java

Batik is one of the wealth of art owned by Indonesia and recognized by the world. Batik Indonesia officially recognized by UNESCO included in Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in the 4th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee (Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee) of the Heritage of non-object in Abu Dhabi.

When talking about batik is no escape from Pekalongan city in Central Java Province. People nicknamed the city because it has a very distinctive and varied motif of Batik. If you visit pekalongan then you will easily find many sellers of batik souvenir. This year is the right time for you to visit pekalongan because along with ongoing the Indonesia Java International Destination event.

To you who are unfamiliar with the word “batik”, this is not a kind of food. Batik is a fabric with specific patterns used by the people of Indonesia as a clothes and raw materials other objects such as bags, wallets and handicraft souvenir items.

Traditional batik is made by painting patterns by hand. To make a batik, the equipment required is: cloth (can be made from silk, cotton or polyester fabric mix), pencil for making batik designs, canting made of bamboo, copper and bercerat head or mouth, this canting function like a pen. Canting used to ladle the hot liquid wax, which is used as a cover or protector of pigments. gawangan (where to put a cloth), candles, pots and a small stove for heating.

Batik industry sector has been able to export to various countries including Australia, America, Middle East, Japan, China, Korea and Singapore. I bet Obama also will consider Batik as one of his favorite souvenir when he come to Indonesia.

For batik lovers, Pekalongan is a great place to find batik and accessories, as is the central market of batik, batik boutique as well as wholesale batik, both the original batik and printed batik, batik printing, batik painting and silk screening with varying prices. These industries contribute significantly to the progress of the economy in Pekalongan with the majority of the home industry.