Indonesia
Fatmawati, M.Sn. with Students of Batik Course Class from Vietnam
Batik is one of the Indonesian cultures which is well-known internationally. We can find batik with a variety of different motifs in several regions. For instance, the Cirebon area is famous for its iconic Mega Mendung, Singa Barong, and Paksinaga Liman; Yogyakarta and Solo are known for Parang, Sidomukti, and Kawung batik. Then, Pekalongan with natural motifs such as Terang Bulan, Lung-lungan, Jlamprang, and Buketan motifs. Also, Malang with patterns such as Malangan Mask, Malangan Monument, and Lotus Flowers.
Currently, there is no need to visit a batik studio or a batik craftsman to learn batik. Especially if we are in Malang City, the Language Services and Creative Economy Unit (Layanan Bahasa dan Ekonomi Kreatif or LBEKRAF) Faculty of Cultural Studies (FCS), Universitas Brawijaya (UB) opens private and regular batik course classes that can be attended by students and public.
Before 2022, batik classes were only intended for foreign students who took this subject as one of their required classes. There were various BIPA (Indonesian Language for Foreign Speakers) programmes that take the Batik Course in their study plans. These programmes include Darmasiswa RI for a one-year programme and Private BIPA classes for 2-3 meetings.
However, currently, LBEKRAF is also holding batik classes that can be attended by non-BIPA FCS foreign students. The programme that has been implemented in 2022 is a batik class with inbound students from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine UB. This class was held on Thursday (10/14/2022) at the Batik Studio Building B, FCS UB. The five students from Vietnam took part in a batik class guided by Fatmawati, M.Sn., a Lecturer of the Study Programme of Fine Arts FCS UB.
Cha Jihyeon, a Student from South Korea, is Doing the Batik Coloring Process
Currently, the active participants in batik course are Cha Jihyeon, an exchange student from Busan University of Foreign Studies, South Korea, and Kuniko Kiriake who is also known as Yamamoto Sensei, a native lecturer of Japanese language learning at FCS UB.
This batik class can not only be enjoyed by foreign students but this course can also be attended by the general public with various scheme options. The schemes offered include regular classes and private classes with the choice of learning one-color batik, two-color batik, and three-color batik. For regular classes, the number of meetings is held 16 times with a minimum of five participants per programme. As for private classes, participants will get 10 meetings.
The costs incurred by the participants include the batik materials. The materials needed for batik activities are mori cloth, wax, naphthol, remasol in red, yellow, blue, canting, water glass, and small and medium-sized brushes.
So, we don’t have to go all the way to a batik village just to learn how to make batik. Likewise, the funds spent are not too much. Moreover, we can propose batik classes with a mutually agreed schedule between the course participants and the instructor. Further information and registration can be directly obtained from LBEKRAF which is located on the 1st floor of Building A FCS UB. [ny/dts/aaz/PR FCS]